Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a male BT approx "20 SVL. He's been with me for nearly 3 years and has in recent weeks lost sections of his tail. I thought he must have somehow broken the tip off in some random accident when it first happened, but it's happened several times now since then. He had a stubby tail when I first got him (he was a rescue of sorts off of craigslist), along with a malformed spine right at the base of the tail, but has never had any problems til now. His behavior/appetite is otherwise normal. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Food shortage comes to mind. Perhaps your setup/daily practice can lend some insight, otherwise its speculation.

Iguanas are a good example here becuase they seem prone (becuase of the way they are commonly kept and in such staggering numbers) to this becuase of lack of vitamins/food (support). They get rid of body parts - starting with the tail - so that the limited energy they do recieve is used for vital purposes.

This is similar to the way our bodies react to coniditons such as hypothermia, our limbs cease blood flow in order to better create heat/energy for our vital organs.

Stress from lack of not only food but overall conditions is likely your problem. There is no question you need to take a serious look at the way you are providing for your animal. At 3 years with the decent conditions I would expect a significantly larger lizard too.

Mike.

20 inches is an approximate guess. It also refers to snout-vent length. (SVL, duh!!!). When he had full (minus the original stub he came with) tail he was about 4.5 feet long. This is a good size BT. Read closely.

The nutrition argument may have some merit as I was on vacation for a couple weeks and I had his caretaker feed him less than I usually do for her convenience, not used to dealing w/dead guinea pigs and and he definitely appears thinner than what i left him.

Thanks for your input.
I welcome more if anyone has it.

Sir,

I was referring to the same thing as you. You say your animal is at least 3 years old. That animal should be nearly full grown by that time, and full grown is not 20 inches to vent. I am referring to the SAME thing as you (SVL) ok. But what should and what is are very different because each person who keeps any reptile has different ways of going about doing things.

"Should" should constitute a generally accepted method or perhaps outline for keeping these lizards. In that generally accepted method we speak of choice of temps, from cool, to very very hot. Choice of humidity, food to match or exceed energy output, and a well sized enclosure. You have yet in two posts to provide that information, I would suggest you do so, so that others can be of better HELP to YOU.

Keep in mind, this issue is not from a weekend or a week that he was not fed correctly. I say this because if he was kept in decent conditions he could go a week no problem without eating. It is as a direct result of the way you have been keeping him.

Post your conditions for people to see, cage size, temperatures, humidity, feeding info, surface temperatures (basking spot). That is the only way you will get some very useful information.

Goodluck,
Mike.

Fair enough.
Enclosure is converted walk-in utility closet 6x7 ft and as high as ceiling(12ft?). Heat provided by 250 watt ceramic used during nights/cold weather and esu's version of powersun for uvb and heat during day. water trough approx 24x18 inch for soaking and humidity. Substrate bermuda grass hay on dirt. Diet XXXXL rodentpro guinea pigs divided up so he probably averages about 2 weekly.
BTW, as I mentioned in first post, he was rescue animal. Was fed on hotdogs, "lettuce", and occasional mice and was was living in a fish tank with a little water bowl when I got him. Not surprisingly I would guess him to be a bit stunted in his growth, plus there's the preexisting stub tail and spinal issue (which a vet speculated may have been a poorly healed break/injury.)

oh and forgot to mention. during summer (and up until this recent tailbreak thing since I want him to be in clean environs) he stays in backyard enclosure 12L 5H 6W ft.
3ft long water soak, on dirt.

I just had a beardie do the same thing. Don't know if its relevant but i have 2, same cage, perfectly healthy and his tail was broken one day i noticed. i figured it was some minor accident so brushed it off. then it continued and continued. i took him to the vet and it turned out it was some sort of an infection that can be fatal if its not taken care of. i got antibiotics and did that for 10 days and he is better now, the dead parts fell off and it stopped growing up the tail to the body which happens if its not taken care of. if the meds didn't work the next step was amputation, but it didn't come down to that, luckily. Strange just 1 got an infection since there are 2 in the same enclosure which i consider very clean ( its my girlfriends deal), so i guess it was just one of those things.

Good luck G.

Who told you or where did you read this about iguanas? thats crazy. Its a defense mechanism. They just dont drop it 'cause they 're hungry

jf

JF,

I appologize for I am being taken out of contex. I should have restated myself more clear. SHvar does a good job of explaining the infection factor.

What I meant is that becuase of the way iguanas are commonly kept (improperly and usually on poor diets) as well as in a stressful environment that leads to alot of tail whipping(IE people think they are dogs), the smallest injury (crack in skin, little cut, whatever) usually a result of this can be the loss of a tail. Not becuase of the way the animal uses it but becuase of the lack of nutritional support. The same goes for the rest of my post it is as a result of trauma(be it the smallest type) that a lack of nutritional support will be deeply exacerbated.

Cheers,
Mike.

i think its a stretch to compare igs and monitors in this case but I think your point is valid. thanks for the clarification, back to monitors...

jf

Monitors unlike other lizards are varanids, their tail is a weapon, some fat storage, balance, etc, they are not designed to drop a section do to a sudden injury, a sudden trauma, etc.

What comes to mind is a long term stress, with repeated tail lashings against a hard sharp object. This is only what starts the injury and the first section to be damaged. What happens after that is the animal is still being stressed, is unhealthy and the injury gets infected, now the tail goes necrotic a few times, sometimes the tail will die in these conditions until it gets to a point where the lizard will die.
I know of people who used walk in closets, the problem being that the closet is designed like your house to stay dry and prevent its contents from rotting.
The lizard needs s proper environment, a waterproof cage with a solid top that holds moisture, heat, and contains dirt to dig in, places to hide away and avoid stress. The fact that you use a 250 watt heat source tells me that the closet does not work. My giant albigs cage has a total of 3 bulbs at 45 watts each to heat it, her cage is as big as my bathroom inside, but it is a self contained waterproof environment sitting above floor level with thousands of lbs of dirt, and very little ventilation to hold heat, and moisture.
I hope that a vet can stop the tail from going necrotic right now, but the animal needs a secure proper home to live in to prevent this from reoccuring.
Improper diet over long term can help make this worse, but its only one nail in the coffin.
Hope to see improvement soon.