Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so a few weeks ago i noticed a little black mark at the end of Tank's tail. (yeah tank. he walks around like he's built like a tank. i thought it was fitting. heh.) anyhow, i thought possibly the mark was dried soil from a plant i have with him or something of the like. a few days later he went through his shedding and still had a few pieces left on his tail. i tried to help him out with them but accidentally managed to pull the black spot off as well, which i believe now to be a scab (?), and his tail began bleeding slightly, but stopped after a few minutes. i'm not sure how he got this injury, possibly caught the end of his tail on something, but he's got another scab on his tail now that he's had for a few weeks, just wondering if there is anything i should do, if its normal to have this there for that long, what i should expect etc. other than this he has been absolutely normal and loving and totally himself. here are some pics:

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-ryan
fancher@email.com
ultimate frisbee, volkswagens and snakes.

Last year i had the exact same thing happen - my leo was shedding and i dont know if he started to eat his shed 2 early, either that or he bit his tale while he was doing it , but he devleoped a scab also , it only stayed about 2 weeks - most of it was gone when he went through his second shed. I would say that if it starts 2 look any worse or get swollen or infected looking then get to the vet who will give you some type of anti biotic, other than that let nature take its course - it'll heal.

Hope this helps

Evonne

Soemtimes they bite themselves when they're trying to bite off the shed, the little weird0s. That might be how it got started. If I were you I'd put Neosporin on it and keep doing that every day until it heals completely. It looks like he will lose the tiniest tip of his tail already, which is no big deal. If you don't do the Neosporin thing I'm sure it will heal too, but he'll probably lose more of his tail before it heals if you don't. (I've been thru this with tails, so its from my experiences that I recommend this)

thanks for the responses. i will certainly get some neosporin and throw it on there. hopefully by his next shed it'll be ready to go.
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-ryan
fancher@email.com
ultimate frisbee, volkswagens and snakes.