∞ Things to Remember
∞ Wounds and Ichoring
∞ Infections
∞ Threadscore and Complications
∞ Bone, Joint & Muscles
∞ Miscellaneous Treatments

THINGS TO REMEMBER

• Get a gold dragon to control the dragon if necessary, they can ease pain and still movement of an injured dragon. Other colours can also aid somewhat, although this is to a much lesser extent.
  
• Take control of the situation, but never forget to ask the Rider of the injured dragon for permission to start work on their lifemate.
  
• Wash all instruments in redwort solution.
  
• Wash your hands and those of helpers in redwort solution, then coat liberally in oil if you will be using numbweed. Through a major injury, ie. wingsail damage, you will need to protect your hands more than this once. If you do not, you are putting the injured dragon at risk through your hands being too numb to work. Remember your hands may become scratched and nicked after healing, therefore re-coat your hands to protect them on going between.
  
• Dragons may need to be convinced that the pain of a Threadscore will dissipate, since numbweed will take a few seconds to penetrate the epidermis of the hide.
  
• Stitching should be performed so as not to pucker the hide but still provide a barrier to infection (ie. not too tight and not too loose).
  
• Remember dragons are large. To work on most of their injuries you will need some kind of height advantage, ie. a table or a ladder.
  
• Afterwards, you will need to get the dragon to the infirmary or ground weyr. Other dragons can be used to support the injured one.
  
• Make sure plenty of water is available for the dragon to enable dehydration to be held at bay.
  
• In cases of emergency, a Beastcrafter or Healer can be called upon to assist a Dragonhealer.

WOUNDS AND ICHORING
Any abnormal disruption of Dragon hide or surrounding the body surfaces is known as a wound. Most wounds can be classified as open -- with a break in the hide through which ichor and other body fluids may escape. This also permits the subsequent entry of germs, which may in turn cause infection. A closed wound allows ichor to escape from the circulatory system, but not the body and is known as internal ichoring. The nature of the force creating the wound determines the type of wound and influences the treatment given.

Types of Ichoring:

Arterial - the ichor is under pressure from the pumping hearts. Therefore, ichor is spurted from the wound in time with the hearts beat. A severed artery may produce a jet of ichor several feet high and can rapidly empty the circulation of ichor.
Venous - the ichor is under less pressure than arterial ichor, but since the vein walls are capable of great distention, ichor may pool. Thus, ichor from a severed major vein may gush profusely.
Capillary - can be characterized as oozing and occurs at the site of all wounds. Although capillary ichoring may at first be brisk, ichor loss is generally negligible.

External Ichoring:

Slight - Slight ichoring is not a danger and will eventually stop on its own, the flow of ichor helping to cleanse the wound.
Moderate - More moderate ichoring is often stopped by the sealing action of Numbweed once applied to the wound. If the ichoring still does not stop, a pressure bandage should be applied. A pad of bandaging material should be applied to the wound and held tightly in place. If this soaks through, it should not be removed; instead, a second bandage should be applied on top of the first. In most cases, this will be enough to stop ichoring.
Severe - If ichoring is severe and does not respond to a pressure bandage, or if ichor is spurting from a wound, stronger measures are needed. Apply pressure to the artery feeding ichor to the area. The easiest way on a dragon to do this is to find the severed vessel and clamp it. Stitches then need to be used to repair the damaged vessel. If pieces have to be cut away from the vessel do not worry, the vessels are flexible and will adjust.

nd dragons likely to be distressed to some degree.
Treatment: Treat the same as scorings, paying more attention to cleaning out the wound with a redwort solution.
Recovery: As Threadscore, in that it depends on the severity.

Minor Wounds:

Cause: Generally mating flights/fights.
Symptoms: Lacerations, likely to be dirty and differing in severity. Rider and dragons likely to be distressed to some degree.
Treatment: Treat the same as scorings, paying more attention to cleaning out the wound with a redwort solution.
Recovery: As Threadscore, in that it depends on the severity.

Major Wounds:

Cause: Threadfall, broken bones, flights/fights.
Symptoms: Ichor may be pooling from severed arteries/veins (usually veins - arteries are too deep). Rider and dragon will be distressed to varying degrees. Silvery muscle will be easily visible.
Treatment:

1. If wound has become dirty, clean throughly, but quickly with redwort solution.
2. Cover wound with numbweed.
3. Use surgical clamps on either side of any severed vessels to restrict the flow/loss of ichor. This will also make your work easier.
4. Suture the vessel as quickly as possible. The longer you leave tissue without ichor the less healthy it will become. However, this is no excuse for rushing and making mistakes.
5. Remove the clamps.
6. Clean out the wound with redwort. Check for any formation of ichor around the vessel. It may be necessary to clean away some of the numbweed with oil-soaked pads. This is an important phase, so be sure to check carefully. You may need to reapply numbweed to the area after this step.
7. Stitch any muscle together and then the hide.
8. Apply numbweed.

Recovery: Severe, deep wounds such as this, are likely to keep the dragon out of the air for a sevenday or more. It is important during recovery time that the dragon replaces lost fluid. It may be necessary to replace some ichor if the dragon has lost a great amount. See 'Transfusions' for more details.

Transfusions:
In some cases it may be necessary to withdraw blood from another, healthy, dragon, usually with a syringe. The essential components for a syringe are needlethorns, wax and the glass body of the syringe. Needlethorns need to be long enough to get through dragon hide, tissues and muscle to get to the veins - 3 inches or longer. They're strong enough to be used with a syringe for injections and drawing blood. The larger the aperture of the needle, the faster ichor can be drawn, and given, the maximum should always be used where possible. The wax, from a tree, is used to attach the needlethorn to the syringe. If it is kneaded, it becomes a soft gel, which allows it to seal the syringe as it hardens.

Everything needs to be sterilised. Sterilisation is achieved by boiling the syringe for approximately an hour in water, washing it in redwort and then rinsing it in clean boiling water (excess redwort dilutes the medication, interferes with the action of numbweed and tends to sting).The needlethorns are sterilised in redwort and rinsed in water (boiling them tends to make them soggy and therefore useless!) Finally, the wax is moulded around the entrance of the syringe, and the needlethorn is secured into position, the wax sealing the junction between the thorn and the syringe. Needlethorns should never be reused since this risks infection, but the syringes can be re-sterilized.

Cause: Threadscore, wound, infection
Symptoms: Dragon and Rider may both complain of unslakeable thirst. Dragon hide will be grey, and he/she will be lethargic.
Treatment:

1. Check, and treat, any wound complication.
2. Remove ichor from a healthy dragon, and use this to treat the sick dragon. Clean the hide of the healthy dragon with redwort, usually over a bone, and then palpate the hide for a vein. Then, using a syringe, puncture that vein, and remove ichor from the dragon. Carefully remove the needle from the vein, and hold the redwort-soaked pad over the needle entry for a few moments .
3. Infuse into the area that is being drained of ichor. Even dropping the ichor on externally can aid greatly.

Recovery: Can take anywhere between 1 month, and 1 turn, depending on severity of the injury and other complications.

Dried Out Cartilages:

Cause: Poor ichor supply, usually to wing after scoring.
Symptoms: The dragon will be distressed, dehydrated and parched, the hide tone greyish.
Treatment :

1. Suture vessels that are ichoring (see 'Deep Threadscoring').
2. Remove ichor from a healthy dragon, and use this to treat the sick dragon. Clean the hide of the healthy dragon with redwort, usually over a bone, and then palpate the hide for a vein. Then, using a syringe, puncture that vein, and remove ichor from the dragon. Carefully remove the needle from the vein, and hold the redwort-soaked pad over the needle entry for a few moments .
3. Apply ichor directly to the dried out cartilages and joints as necessary.

Recovery: A few months.
Notes: Dehydration should be treated as quickly as possible.

Stitching:
Stitches should be taken in any wound that is deep or gaping and in which the the edges of the wound seem unlikely to stay together without some sort of assistance. Stitches help provide a barrier to prevent infection of the underlying tissues. Care should be taken to draw the edges of the wound together neatly, so there is no puckering of the surrounding skin and to take as few stitches as possible, so the scar is as small as possible. A stitched wound should be kept moist, to further avoid scarring. Stitches should be removed by a Dragonhealer approximately a sevenday after insertion, but this may be adjusted on a case-by-case basis. In general, when a dragon begins to complain of itching, sufficient healing has taken place to allow the removal of the stitches.

Applying Stitches to a Wound:
Follow the normal procedure for washing up and cleansing a wound. Apply a thin coat of numbweed, using just enough to deaden the area. Do not forget to oil your hands so that you can perform the dexterous movements required.
Caution the rider not to look at what you're doing. Many people are distressed by the sight of stitches being put into hide.

Using a sterile needlethorn, or one of the steel needles produced by the Smithcraft, and treated thread, take small neat stitches. First stitch in one side of the wound and then in the other with the same piece of thread. Loop one end twice over the other and tighten, this will form a knot. Clip the excess and start of the next stitch. Continue until the wound does not gape.
Apply a thicker coat of numbweed. Explain the signs of infection to the rider and warn them to see a Dragonhealer if they notice any of them. You should check on them as well. In a sevenday remove the stitches.

Removing Stitches from a Wound:
Wash up and cleanse the area as usual. Apply a light coat of numbweed. Ask the rider to look away, so they will not be upset by the sight of you withdrawing the threads from their lifemates hide. Clip the threads with scissors, or cut them with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut the hide. Using small tongs, remove each of the threads from the hide. Apply a light coat of numbweed over the punctures left by the threads to seal them.

Most Dragonhealers utilize one method of stitching which can cause substantial scarring of the tissue, leave the wound unsightly. The removal can be unpleasant for the dragon as scar tissue can form around the knots. However, some higher qualified Dragonhealers now utilize another technique (it being harder to learn). This method consists of starting at one end and not at any point tying off. This means there are no knots for scar tissue to form around and thus, when removing the stitches by simply cutting one end and pulling on the other, causes less pain to the patients. Wounds are less puckered with these 'running' stitches than having been previously observed with regular stitches.

INFECTIONS
Once ichoring has been stopped, the greatest danger from wounds is that of infection. Wounds should be well cleaned with both water and redwort, and great care should be taken to remove all dirt or other foreign objects from a wound. This is especially true with puncture wounds, as dirt may be driven deep into the skin. If stitches are to be taken, the wound should be only lightly coated with numbweed, and then re-coated more heavily after placing the stitches. All other wounds should be well-coated with numbweed.

It is important to keep wounds clean and protected from further injury; however, the flow of air over a wound promotes healing. These two objectives may be accomplished by covering the wound for two to three days to allow healing to begin and then leaving it uncovered except when the dragon will be doing something that involves getting dirty, for example feeding. Alternatively, the wound can be covered during the day and uncovered at night. Wounds that show no signs of healing within two days should also be considered to be infected and treated as such. Covering a wound is not always as simple as it sounds, especially on a dragon because of their size. In cases where it is simply not possible to bandage the wound, which is true about 90% of the time, make sure the wound is kept clean. If there is a danger of infection, soak bandages in numbweed, and allow the drying herb attach the pads of the bandages to the wound.

In spite of a Dragonhealer's best efforts, wounds can become infected. When this happens, a Dragonhealer must be able to recognize and treat the condition.

The signs of infection include:

1. Increasing pain and soreness
2. Swelling, redness and a feeling of heat around the wound
3. Pus within, or oozing from, the wound
4. Faint trails leading away from the wound
5. If the infection is advanced, signs of thirst, grey hide and lethargy.

Cause: Badly tended wounds, talon loss, decaying teeth
Symptoms: Increasing pain and soreness, Swelling, redness and a feeling of heat around the wound, Pus within, or oozing from, the wound, Faint trails leading away from the wound, If the infection is advanced, signs of thirst, grey hide and lethargy.
Treatment: Any of these signs is cause for concern and treatment should begin as any of them are recognized. Hot poultices may be used to try to draw out the infection and are often effective. If this treatment does not produce improvement, it may be necessary to pierce the wound to allow it to drain, or to re-open a wound and re-clean it. Both of these procedures are extremely painful, and the dragon will need to be controlled by a Gold dragon during the process. Extreme care should be taken to prevent further infection, and infection of others from infected materials. Dressings used on an infected wound should be destroyed, and tools should be boiled in water before re-use. The dragon should be watched carefully until the wound is fully healed. >
Recovery: Depending on the severity, wounds will take between 2-3 days and just over a month to heal correctly. It may be necessary to drain the wound several times if infection is sufficiently advanced.

THREADSCORE AND COMPLICATIONS
Thread is a parasitic fungal organism not native to the planet Pern. Although its exact origins are unknown, Thread is believed to be brought to Pern by the Red Star, since the appearance of the Star in the sky always coincides with the beginning of a Pass. As it passes through the planet's atmosphere, Thread takes on the threatening form, a tangled, writhing mass of grey filaments which devours everything organic in its path. Thread can only be killed by flame, by a lack of air like that experienced between or by immersion in water.

Dragon threadscores do not need dousing with water, since they've generally gone through between as soon as it hit in an attempt to kill it. However, in the odd case when you need to drown the thread on a dragon, try and get them into a lake, or near one, or you'll be carrying alot of water buckets. Threadscore is very easy to diagnose. Dragon hide will look like it's been both cut and burned.

Simple Threadscore:

Cause: Threadfall
Symptoms: Clean lacerations of a burn-nature, edges blackened and burned. Rider and dragon will be uncomfortable at most.
Treatment:

1. If wound has become dirty, clean throughly, but quickly with redwort solution.
2. Cover wound with numbweed.
3. Leave unbandaged if possible. If not, then loosely bandage (see prevention of 'Infection'.)

Recovery: Simple scores are unlikely to trouble dragonkind once treated. Slightly deeper scorings with no complications may keep the dragon out of the air for a day or two.

Deep Threadscore:

Cause: Threadfall
Symptoms: Clean lacerations of a burn-nature, edges blackened and burned. Ichor may be pooling from severed arteries/veins (usually veins - arteries are too deep). Rider and dragon will be distressed to varying degrees.
Treatment:

1. If wound has become dirty, clean throughly, but quickly with redwort solution.
2. Cover wound with numbweed.
3. Use surgical clamps on either side of the severed vessels to restrict the flow/loss of ichor. This will also make your work easier.
4. Suture the vessel as quickly as possible. The longer you leave tissue without ichor the less healthy it will become. However, this is no excuse for rushing and making mistakes.
5. Remove the clamps.
6. Clean out the wound with redwort. Check for any formation of ichor around the vessel. It may be necessary to clean away some of the numbweed with oil-soaked pads. This is an important phase, so be sure to check carefully. You may need to reapply numbweed to the area after this step.
7. Stitch any muscle together and then hide.
8. Apply numbweed

Recovery: Severe, deep scores such as this, are likely to keep the dragon out of the air for a sevenday or more. It is important during recovery time that the dragon replaces lost fluid.
Notes: Check that any exposed cartilage from other scored areas has not dried out. If it has follow instructions in 'Dried out cartilage' section.

Wing Tears / Injuries:

Cause: Threadscoring to wing(s), edges blackened and burned. Differing in severity, from light-severe.

Cause 1: Light Threadscoring

Symptoms: Little damage to any sails, veins, cartilages or edges. Rider and dragon likely to be uncomfortable.
Treatment:

1. Apply numbweed to area.
2. Stitch hide back together, if applicable.
3. Apply numbweed once more if required.

Recovery: Few days


Cause 2: Moderate scoring

Symptoms: Moderate damage. This may include damage to edges, sails etc, but will not include cartilages. Rider likely to be uncomfortable, dragon will be in some pain.
Treatment: As above.
Recovery: Several sevendays.


Cause 3: Severe scoring

Symptoms: Severe damage. Wingsails, batten cartilages, wingbones, veins are all possibly affected to some degree. Dragon will need to be restrained by a queen as he/she likely to be in considerable agony. Rider will probably need dousing with wine.

Treatment:

1. Apply numbweed to area.
2. Check for formation of ichor. If not forming, either clear away some numbweed with oil-soaked pads to check or start looking for severed veins that will need stitching first.
3. Splint bones if need be.
4. Cut lengths of fine cloth, usually the length of the leading or trailing edge is a good measure.
5. Support the wing underneath with the cloth and stitch to wingbone, stretching it. You will need to stretch and relax the cloth as you stitch.
6. Fasten to underside with small stitches.
7. Lay on the wing fragments and brace trailing edges if required, using the gauze as a support.
8. Apply numbweed, not the usual consistency but a thinner grade, over the cloth (numbweed liquid).
9. Float the wing pieces into some order and stitch where applicable/possible.
10. If the tendons are damaged, basket reeds will need to be stitched to them in order to give support.

Recovery: Several months.
Notes: The cloth and basket reeds provide a guide for the shattered battens and sails to grow back correctly. If the cartilages dry out see information contained in 'Dried out cartilages'. Scar and new tissue will overgrow the old pieces causing the wing to look thick and unsightly. This will at first imbalance the dragon. Over time the dragon will compensate and the regenerated tissue will smooth out with wind-sand abrasion. Dragons can fly with one third of their exterior sails damaged. Inner wing injuries tend to be more serious, especially those closest the torso, since Thread can, depending on angle, sear through the wing and into the body, which may be fatal if it hits the lungs.

BONE, JOINT AND MUSCLES
A fracture is a break or crack in the bone. Generally considerable force is required to break a bone, but old bones become easily breakable. Conversely, young bones that are still growing are supple and may split, bend or crack rather than break. Any type of fracture may be associated with an open wound and complicated by damage to other structures. >

Fractures can also be classified as open or closed. Open, or compound, fractures are accompanied by a wound. The overlying hide is broken and the bone may be exposed to contamination from the skin surface and air. When the hide around a fracture is intact the injury is known as a closed fracture. There will often be bruising and swelling. It should also be noted that a bone may break distant to the point of impact.

There are three main types of fracture:

Simple - a clean break or crack in the bone.
Comminuted - a fracture with multiple bone fragments.
Greenstick - a split in a young, immature bone, common in Weyrling dragons.

In some cases, broken bones will be obvious, the limb may be bent at an impossible angle or the bone may have torn through the skin. In other cases, the injury may appear to be a severe sprain. A broken bone may usually be differentiated from a severe sprain by limitations in mobility, or in the case of feet injuries, the inability to grip effectively with the affected foot. If the hide has not been broken, the limb should be straightened and returned to its normal configuration with the aid of other dragons, splinted securely, elevating where possible. An attempt should be made to prevent motion of the bone as much as possible.

Broken Bones:

Cause: Heavy blow, twist or wrench to area.
Symptoms: May hear cracking noise. Difficulty in moving the 'broken' area. Tenderness over area (this is different to dislocation where the pain is 'sickening'). Distortion, swelling. Dragon and rider are likely to be distressed.
Treatment:

1. Immobilize immediately, get weight off area and support if possible.
2. If the hide has been broken, the wound should be treated carefully. Control the bleeding, elevate the wound if possible and cleanse with redwort since the chance for infection is great.
3. Numb the wound and then make thorough assessments.
4. Pull steadily in a line with the bone, keeping it as straight as possible. You will have to have assistance from a larger dragon.
5. If hide was broken, stitch the wound.
6. Splint.

Recovery: From two-six months, depending on the age of the dragon and the severity of the break.
Notes: Impact forces can cause bones to break elsewhere. Swelling can be reduced by a soak in the lake once ichor has coated the wound. Dragonkind bones are not easily broken. If fracture is open, then you will need to apply numbweed and possibly stitch the hide back into place.

Dislocated Joints:

Displacement of a bone at a joint can be caused by a strong force wrenching the bone into an abnormal position or by violent muscle contractions. There may be associated tearing of the ligaments. Those joints most often affected include the hip, shoulder, digits and jaw. It can be difficult to distinguish a dislocation from a fracture.

Dislocations are usually differentiated from fractures by severe and 'sickening' pain rather than tenderness over the bone. As this can be considerably painful you should first obtain the assistance of a Gold dragon. Then maneuver the joint back into its socket with the assistance of other dragons, immobilize it and treat as for a severe sprain.

Cause: Joint wrenched by a strong force into an abnormal position or violent muscle contraction.
Symptoms: Difficulty in moving 'broken' area. Sickening pain at the site. Distortion, swelling. Dragon and rider are likely to be distressed.
Treatment:

1. Immobilise immediately, get weight off area and support if possible.
2. Pull steadily in a line with the bone, keeping it as straight as possible. You will have to have assistance from a larger dragon.
3. Splint with tree-trunks.

Recovery: Approximately two-four months. A soak in the lake can reduce the swelling. Dragons should be careful of repeat dislocations to the injury site and recovery time should allow for gentle exercise before he/she is ready for duty.
Notes: Dislocated joints are relatively uncommon among dragonkind, although they do happen.

Muscle Injuries:

These are injuries that affect the ligaments and muscles. A sprain is an injury to a ligament at, or near, a joint, and is most frequently caused by a wrenching movement at the joint that tears the surrounding tissues. Muscles and their tendons may be overstretched and torn by violent or sudden movement.

Types of Muscle Damage:

Strain - a partial tearing of the muscle, often at the junction of the muscle and the tendons that joins it to a bone.
Rupture - complete tearing of the muscle, which may occur in the fleshy part or in the tendon.
Deep bruising - this may be extensive where there is a large bulk of muscle.

Sprains, strains and deep bruising are very common. The affected area should be immobilized as much as possible. In some cases, this won't be possible, however if it is then a light wrapping with bandages will be enough, in other cases splinting may be required. Leg and ankle injuries may require grounding. Some injuries may benefit from immersion in water and gentle exercise. The dragon and rider should be cautioned to use care when resuming normal activities, as the injured area will be weak and may be more prone to re-injury for several sevendays.

Cause: Mating flight, over-enthusiastic weyrlings, bad take-off/landing etc.
Symptoms: Will likely be favoring the other wing or limb.
Treatment: Rest and get them to refrain from flying.
Recovery: Depends on the severity. A day or two would see most to rights.

MISCELLANEOUS TREATMENTS

Constipation:

Constipation is common amongst the weyrlings, as adults rarely lack the good sense that keeps them from overeating. Treating constipation is a fairly simple process, though inherently messy, and one every weyrling should be familiar with though shouldn't have to use. Most often accompanied by minor neglect, a dragon's tail will swell and the dragon will no doubt let his/her rider know about the discomfort until some sort of treatment is delivered. A purge of some sort, most often linseed, is the best cure for this affliction, and a day or two of rest for the afflicted dragon. Cured easily enough, this illness can be avoided entirely if the rider is attentive enough to keep the dragon from overeating in the first place.

Cause: Overeating, usually in young dragons.
Symptoms: Tail becomes thick.
Treatment: Administer a purge, linseed is effective.
Recovery: A day is likely.
Notes: The weyrling/rider should be told to pay more attention to their lifemates. They also get to clean up after the purge, something which is effective in deterring the weyrling from indulging their lifemates in the future.

Eye Loss:

Eye loss is always the result of a serious accident, often acquired during mating flights, pre-flight blooding when too many talons are bared in a comparatively small feeding ground, or during threadfall. Eye loss will always retire a dragon from the fighting wings, though won't stop them from flying. Their balance may wane a little, but they should be able to compensate for most things.

Cause: Mating flight/fight
Symptoms: Eye will be absent or severely damaged.
Treatment:

1. Clean out with redwort.
2. Apply numbweed.

Recovery: Approximately six weeks-two months.
Notes: Dragonkind will generally adjust to the absence of the eye. However, the dragon should be removed from a threadfighting wing as he/she cannot fight thread if blind on one side.

Hide Complaints:

Hide complaints can arise from two areas of neglect. The first is that hide needs to be oiled regularly, if not, then cracks appear which can be fatal when going between. This can be a problem in young dragonets, who grow rapidly. The second is the problem of straps. Ill-fiting straps, those that are insufficiently oiled, those that have cracked or are damaged, can all cause problems with a dragon's hide. The hide beneath these areas can become sensitive and chafed, and may crack.

Cause: Ill-fitting fighting straps, insufficient oiling of the hide.
Symptoms: Itching, flaky hide.
Treatment: Oil area and fix fighting straps. Numbweed may be applied at the Dragonhealer's and Rider's discretion.
Recovery: A day or two. Should clear with corrected straps or more frequent oilings.
Notes: Remind Rider to check and oil straps regularly, and to check their lifemate for patchy hide. Also to observe the girth is well padded with suede.

Stomach Complaints:

The important thing with stomach complaints is to determine the cause. In the case of bad firestone, the Weyrleader needs to be informed so that the firestone can be removed from general use. Bad firestone can be recognized by an uneven colour, holes that vary widely in diameter, as well as tunnels that may go straight through the rock. Bad firestone will result in indigestion for the dragon, and a poor flame while fighting thread.

In the case of overeating, the weyrling needs to learn to control their dragon more thoroughly in the future since this may lead to constipation. Additionally, flying with an overful stomach may lead to strains and sprains. Overeating can usually be diagnosed by asking the dragon if they've eaten recently. Dragons are fairly hardly, and apart from the odd bout of indigestion they seem to avoid other stomach problems that some humans encounter, with even bad meat causing just indigestion-like symptoms.

Cause 1: Bad firestone

Symptoms: Small belches of blue flame, dragon will complain of a 'bad' stomach.
Treatment: None
Recovery: Once the firestone has been regurgitate as sand, the problem should clear.
Notes: Report to Weyrleader's about the firestone


Cause 2: Overeating

Symptoms: Complaints of 'bad' stomach after eating.
Treatment: Get them to rest and not overstress themselves until feeling better.
Recovery: A day.
Notes: Ask the rider to keep a closer eye on their lifemates.

Talon Loss:

Talon loss is quite common in young dragons, especially while they are learning to hunt or to fly, and have trouble with the take off or landing. The loss of a single talon will not stop a dragon from any activity.

Cause: Bad landing/take-off, mating flight consequences, hunting.
Symptoms: Loss of talon, may be some ichor pooling (very little), dragon and possibly rider uncomfortable.

Treatment:

1. Clean out with redwort, if an infection seems likely.
2. Apply numbweed.

Recovery: The talon should grow back within one-two months. However, injury site will close over within several hours-day.
Notes: Reassure both rider and dragon that the talon will grow back.

Tonge Bites:

Tongue Bites are a fairly common problem in dragonets; it tends to occur when they are learning to chew firestone and may occasionally occur at other times in the dragon's lifespan.

Cause: Error in chewing firestone, or food.
Symptoms: Sore tongue, bite marks. Dragon likely to be uncomfortable.
Treatment: Some Dragonhealer's apply numbweed salve to the wound until the ichor has clotted. Others prefer to leave it to heal on its own. The saliva should aid in the healing process and it may teach the dragon to be more careful in the future.
Recovery: Two-three days.
Notes: Inform riders to tell their lifemates to be more careful and avoid firestone ingestion for a sevenday.