Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my young male veiled recently slept with his tail wrapped around the screen-top to his cage, right by the light-hood, and the last 1/3 of his tail is darker (burned?), some dark-grey on part of the "burn". he's having problems with balance as it heals... is there anything that can help treat it? I'm using some triple-antibiotic to protect it, so far. He's still eating and acting normal - he just has some problems since 1" of tail is temperarily useless... Thanks for any advice!

~Buggzter

Generally, Silvadene cream is used on reptile burns. Depending on the extent (depth) of the burn, you should probably have a vet evaluate the problem. Sometimes tissue is damaged to the point where it cannot be salvaged & may require amputation to prevent a septic infection.

Thanks - I'll look into that med for Gremlin. The burn doesn't LOOK bad at all. It has the "dark" almost black look of a bruise that he got from a fall shortly after we got him. He didn't have it there too long - my fiance found him with his tail there and moved the tail about 25 minutes after lights-out. Also, it is looking better than it did 2 days ago when it happened. We're carefully monitoring just in case we need a quick vet trip - there is an animal ER a mile away, and they do have a good reptile vet at that facility. (Our regular vet just moved out of town unexpectedly, so we're looking for a different REALLY good vet... ) Again, thanks alot!

~Buggzter