Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, just a question. I have a calotes tree dragon, and recently a part of her tail turned purple and broke off. Now another large part of her tail is turning the same way. Its rough, scale-less and bloody. Does anyone know what can cause this, or if these kinds of lizards are prone to that? I have already taken her to the vet and he didnt know what the problem was. Any help would be great.

Thanks a lot

My first thought is that you took your calotes to a vet who wasn't familiar enough with repties. There is a very good site where you can look up qualified reptile vets by state. You can find the search at www.arav.org/USMembers.htm.

It sounds like you are dealing with gangrene or dry rot. To read more about this check out Melisa Kaplan's site ate www.anapsid.org/gangrene.html

I think it is very important for you to find a vet who can determine the source of infection and treat it accordingly. It is very possible that the tail will have to be amputated to save his life.

Good luck,
Marcia

Thanks for your reply. Over the last couple of days I have been doing tons of searching and have looked at Melisa's site. I am sure thats what's causing it. The vet I took him to is the supposedly qualified reptile vet where I live. Should I tell the vet what I know about it and see what happens? Again thanks for the help.

n/p

Another thing to consider is retained shed. When a tail or a toe doesn't shed the skin starts to pinch the limb and restrict blood flow until the toe or tail piece suffocates and dies off. The dead piece will break off very easly if it doesn't come off with a shed piece of skin.
I agree with Marcia to take it to a qualified vet just to be sure. Bounce whatever you are told off the people here since most everyone is a lot more experienced than most vets.

Good luck
Cheyanne
Spitfire Reptiles