Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, Pete really messed up the end of his tail today. I came home and there was a spot of blood about 1 inch from the end and it looked like it might have gotten stuck somewhere and he yanked it. It looked salvagable. THEN when I was writing a message to the IML looking for advice he proceeded to slide backwards off of a plastic storage thingy right on the tail and it snapped off sideways one inch from the end. It is still attached but only by tissue. I could see bone in there. Prior to the big snap I had put betadine on it. After the big snap I straightened it out and put bacitracin on a bandaid and put it all back together. This looked like a good arrangement for the time being. I came back in here about one hour later and the bandaid is nowhere to be seen. I think he ate it. This is a secondary issue as I think he is big enough to pass it.

I guess the question is, what to do about the tail. My vet is gone for the weekend and I dont really think this qualifies as an emergency. Am I risking infection by "gluing" it back together? Should I snap it all the way off myself and treat the end? UGH. I am freaking out here and Pete could care less. He was actually eating while I was putting the bandaid on!

Thanks for any info.

Carole

That sucks! the chances of saving the tip are pretty small and dont risk the live tissue rotting waiting to see if the tip comes back.
I would think if he did in fact eat the band-aid he will pass it. I found an entire crab claw in a cyclura poop, and that has gotta hurt! you might want to clean out the cage so you know for sure it was ingested. These guys are really tough.