Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This week I noticed that the end of Zeus tail is very sensitive and looks like it is dying, kinda dried looking a curling very slightly. He hasn't gotten it caught in anything and there's no way I can see he could damage it. He's fine otherwise, he doesn't want it touched. I spray him and he's eating. Any ideas or is this natural. I did notice a Frilled at the petstore with the same thing.

Thanks!
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

99% of the time when this happens to toes or tails it's due to shed skin that leaves a ring around the body part. similar to tying something around your finger until it's puffy and red. it's cutting off the circulation until the tissue gets no blood flow and dies off. it will then fall off on it's own. only way to have it not happen is to mist frequently, maintain a little higher humidity, or help get stuck shed off of the skin.

Thank you so much! I thought no one would reply. Since we got him in Dec he has literally been in CONSTANT shed. He was not in optimal conditions before. So we take it as a good sign. He's a character, lately he starts eating a cricket and then stops half way (with legs and guts sticking out) and looks at me for another one. Then when I lift on to him he leans to get it and then suddenly remembers he still has one in his mouth and proceeds to finish it. Too much.

I do mist him at least everyother day and try to everyday. He also has a waterfall in his cage. What other way can I increase humidity? Again, thank you.
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

i haven't had any issues with my frilled dragon. however on my green basilisks i was always having trouble with the tails. i would take a little bit of baby oil between my thumb and pointer finger and rub the tail between my fingers. this is not a good idea if your lizard is very skittish as there's the potential it may drop it's tail. this always worked quite well for me after the stage passes where spraying really just doesn't help the area anymore.

The tiny bit of his tail feel off lastnight. It seems fine and thanks for the advice. I will try it next time.

Can their tails come off? When he tries to run off sometimes I grab his tail. Now I'm worried it could've come off!!!

Thanks!
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

you should NEVER grab any lizard by it's tail. the only one i do this with is a much larger species such as a tegu, KNOWING that they do not have a fracture plate in the tail when i do this however i grab it very near the base of the tail.while it may not break away, i would still try to grab it towards the upper shoulders behind the head. ( i don't know if frilleds have fracture plates or not)

I feel like a fool. I love my lizards! They are truly my substitute children. I only have done it twice. Both times he was about to leap and fall far. He is EXTREMELY skittish. He is the most calm with me. I feed and clean his cage, he's just not totally dumb. Thank you.

Do you find yours very skittish or those you've encountered?
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

mine is a bit skittish because i don't give it the amount of attention i would need for it to be tame. whenever i'm holding it i'll just place it on my hand, with a very loose grip over it's front legs and behing it's head. once i get him out, he's usually fine but will get spooked at any sudden movements.

Sounds like Zeus. He gets a lot of attention from me, but rarely comes out. He's about tripled in size since we got him in Dec. His cage is covered all the time too, we have a cat and she spooks him. Do you have any pictures? I don't, but need to get some.
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

frank's cage

Wow! Way cool. How old is Frank? Our guy we think is about 8-9 months old. What do you feed him. I have to hand feed Zeus his crickets. His fangs have started to come in and let me tell you it's not fun when he gets overzealous!
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Beardies (Zippy, Zoe & Zelda)
Frilled (Zeus)
Cat (Guess)
All spoiled rotten!

well, it's hard to tell, i got it from a petstore and they take pretty crappy care of their animals. i would guess now it's probably a year and a half but not as large as it should be from a poor diet at the store. right now i'm mainly feeding large gut loaded crickets, and pinky mice ( a couple every week) feel free to email me if you have any other questions.
mylude90@gmail.com