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maskdt Jun 11, 2007 06:42 PM

About two weeks ago I accidentally pinched my yellow throat's tail in the lid of a hamster ball (I wanted to get him moving to help him shed; he'd been in there a few times before.) He didn't seem particulary distressed, although the spinal cord in the very tip of his tail seems to have been severed (the vertebrea is visible.) I've been keeping his tail bandaged and disinfected and called a vet about what to do.

I'm becoming a little concerned, however, because while the nearly severed tip isn't becoming infected, it also isn't growing over with skin or falling off. I don't want to have to keep bandaging him for much longer, as the bandaids sticky enough to stay on through the day are causing some slight irritation to his scales from being removed so often. However, he hasn't changed his behavior since the accident, and is recovering nicely from a bad shed from when I'd first got him (the person who'd owned him before he was given to a shelter hadn't been taken proper care of him)

I'm beginning to feel that I should schedule an amputation to help him heal up faster, but if it's just going to dry up and fall off in time, I don't want to stress the poor guy out. If anyone has exprienced this sort of thing before, please give me some advice.

Replies (2)

maskdt Jun 17, 2007 08:29 AM

Update: The tail seems to be finally healing. If nothing else, a nice scab has formed around the break, holding it together. No black on either side, just some nice dark red.

GrotesqueBurgess Aug 20, 2007 09:41 PM

My plated, Lizzy, lost about an inch of his tail. It was actually holding on by just a little bit of skin, and then eventually fell off. Nothing bad came of it, although I still don't know how it happened.

I'm not sure what kind or size of plated you have, but mine wouldn't fit comfortably in any size rodent ball (not even the size for rabbits) because of his thick, long tail.
I'm not so sure it would be good for your plated's back to exercise in one, as even rats and hamsters have to bend their backs a lot to use them (and lizards have much longer, less flexible backs).

Maybe you should try a lizard harness and leash instead. My plated is very tame, and I don't have to worry about him running away, but maybe yours isn't, so that might be a good option.

Good luck!
-----
~Sara~
5.5 ball pythons
1.0 Black-lined plated lizard (Lizzy Butt)
0.1 Burmese Python (Pixil)
2.1 Pet Rats
1.1 Dogs (Ozzie and Mandy)
0.1 Cat (Isis)
0.0.1 Synodontis Catfish (Big Spotty Fish)
0.2 Convict Cichlids

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