Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an old MTS female. For years, one of her toes has been "girdled" due to skin not shedding properly. I've kept Triple Antibiotic on it and it's done fine until recently. Now, it's swollen, has obviously gone bad, and needs to be removed. I can't find a reptile vet in the Charlotte, NC area. Does anyone know a good way I can remove her dying toe? Think I can tie a thread around the toe until it falls off, or can I cut it off with a sharp pair of scissors after swabbing the whole foot and the scissors with alcohol?

Thanks for any input.

KST

any vet should be able to amputate the toe properly...I don't recommend snipping it off with scissors..not only will that most likely cause more damage than good (scissors are not a good way to cut things like that) but it will be painful for the gecko.

Have you tried the following sites to find a qualified herp vet in your area?

www.arav.org/

www.herpvetconnection.com/

If you still can't find a herp vet, call what vets you have in your area and ask if they will remove the toe for you.

However, it may not be necessary for you to remove the toe at all, if the problem is not so bad the toe is dying. Most likely the problem is skin that has not shed properly and is constricting blood flow...the skin needs to be removed and antibiotic cream don't do squat to help. Baby oil (or mineral oil) may help soften the skin but soaking will help as well, then you can try and gently pull the excess skin off. Without the hindering skin, the toe may recover without need of amputation.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for your response!

What's happened, I had a vet here in Charlotte and had tried to contact him to make an appointment to see my skink but he'd left that practice. The staff wouldn't tell me where he'd gone but I finally tracked him down today. He's opening a new practice any day now and did agree to see my monkey tail and me today at 5:30. I am thrilled. I didn't want to do anything myself. My surgical scissors are plenty sharp, but the skink's pain was a huge concern. My pain was also of concern, if she decided to bite me as payback! Solomon Island Skinks are reputed to have one of the most powerful bites among reptiles.

I used the triple antibiotic for maybe the last 10 years to do exactly what you said - keep the skin softened so the old skin could come off. It was effective for all that time. Now, however, the toe is pretty swollen beyond the very constricted girdled ring. I'm thinking the toe appears to be dying and needs to come off, but we'll see what the vet says. I hope you're right, that the toe might be salvageable.

If anyone ever needs a great herp vet in the Charlotte, NC area, I highly recommend Matthew Wheelock, now of Dilworth Animal Hospital. Last year, one of my female chuckwallas retained a couple of eggs several months after laying the rest. I don't know what ultimately would have happened (usually infection and death), but took no chances and hauled the chuck in to see Dr. Wheelock. Following two unsuccessful attempts to induce delivery, Dr. Wheelock did a hysterectomy and removed the remaining eggs. The chuckwalla survived and is still alive and very well. That was some pretty tedious and tiny surgery. Dr. Wheelock's extremely knowledgeable about reptiles!