Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In a strange accident, one of my plated lizards (G. validus) lost the end of her tail. I doctored the wound with Neosporin and a guaze bandage; after a couple of days, she lost the bandage, and she seems to be eating fine.

I note that my other plated, a male, has doted upon her ever since the incident.

The wound is clean, no oozing, and seems okay, except for one thing: It is attracting crickets! I just found a cluster of crickets perched on her tail at the wound site.

Is this a major problem? She doesn;t seem bothered, but something just doesn't seem right about this.

It's the weekend, so I can;t get ahold of my vet. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

The crickets are now leaving Cassie's tail alone. She woke up strong this morning, the wound appears to have sealed nicely, without swelling or oozing. She's eaten a few crickets as well.

I should note that this was a "natural" break, as in she dropped her tail when it became caught behind a cabinet. This is the first time any of my lizards has lost a tail, so I've been exceptionally nervous, but suspect I'm worrying about nothing.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

This is one of many reasons why prey items should not be left alone in the cage. Only drop in what the lizards will eat in a short time span, and take out any uneaten crickets afterwards.

Your lizard should do fine, but the crickets munching on the "natural break" lead to an "unatural wound" so to speak. Keep an eye on it for sure. Any changes, and that vet should be seen.

Ian

>>This is one of many reasons why prey items should not be
>>left alone in the cage. Only drop in what the lizards will
>>eat in a short time span, and take out any uneaten
>>crickets afterwards.

The crickets sem to be leaving her alone; in fact, I just saw Clyde snatch a cricket that entered their "cave" near her tail.

I built a complex "natural" habitat for the plateds, so crickets tend to finding hidey-holes that I can't reach easily for removal.

As it is, Cassie is bright eyed this morning, and strong; there's no swelling or oozing, and she has eaten a few crickets herself, so I suspect she's going to be fine. I'll get her in to the vet tomorrow morning, just to be certain everything is OK.

The naturalistic vivaria is certainly beneficial, and does help cope with a few stray crickets.

Ian