Athena dropped her tail

[Adinar]

I got a frantic phone call while I was at work today, at some point during the day Athena had dropped her tail. I knew the basics, keep the wound clean, switch to papertowel and such. I got home and took a look and it's not as bad as I thought it would be (this being the first time we've EVER had this happen).

Her cagemate is currently downstairs in a critter keeper with a heat lamp over it, but she should be fine in there with Athena? Also, they have 2 of the half logs and a moist hide... should I swap those out for plastic hides due to bark and stuff having the potential to come off?

I know I'm being overly protective, I just want to make sure everything is alright to avoid infection.

 

[Khrysty]

Do you know, or can you guess, what happened to cause her to drop her tail? If it was a scuffle with the cagemate, then perhaps they shouldn't be put back together..

 

[Adinar]

Unfortunetally it could've been just about anything.

They get along great, they sleep together...hang out together, and when one gets tired of the other they know when to walk away. We had bullying issues when Talia and Hera were housed together. Found several bite marks on Talia's head and body (luckily none broke the skin, but you could see a scrape). Since dealing with that bullying issue, I make sure to check both Athena & Pandora whenever I take them out. Couldn't have been over food, because we don't keep food in there at all times.

Also, Brad mentioned that when he had her out about two days ago, her tail was twitching off and on when he had her out. I also noticed odd tail twitching last night when I had her out and was playing with her. At first I thought she was getting aggrivated, but it looked like an involuntairy movement.

We don't have any dogs or cats, so luckily there are none here to barge in and scare them.

I did, however, find the tail at the top of the hide... we have two log hides stacked on the other to give them the maximum room possible. They've very sturdy and they love climbing up and down. I don't know if she might've slipped or did the tail end up where it did... but it was between the glass and the log.

I was glad to see that the break wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and was glad that it had already started to dry up a bit as well as the beginnings of a pre scab.

Who knows what happened... she had the tail when I left this morning and he wasn't home when it happened.

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

It was probably due to stress of the new environment for the both of them. Didn't you just get them a month ago? They should still be in quarantine and not handled often, if at all.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Leopard-Gecko-Dropped-Tail

 

[Adinar]

This is true, they've been with us for a month now. They seemed like they had settled in pretty well, I guess not.

 

[gitrdone0420]

Awe, well there is no use in dwelling on it. I would just try to leave her alone as much as possible but keep meds on it. Im sorry she dropped her tail! Poor girl

 

[ks7777]

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that I hold my lizard everyday and I got her 3 week's ago I also have 4 dog's that are in and out of the room where she stay's and she hasn't droped her tail and also mines sick so I hope she doesn't become stressed and drop hers!

 

[Adinar]

It was probably due to stress of the new environment for the both of them. Didn't you just get them a month ago? They should still be in quarantine and not handled often, if at all.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Leopard-Gecko-Dropped-Tail

Only time she is ever handled is when it's their day to be fed. Generally she is moved from the enclosure to a feeding container (any of the animals housed in pairs we feed by themselves.). That's pretty much it.

 

[ILoveGeckos14]

I didn't want to place blame so i appologize if that's how my first post came across, if anything I was just trying to point out ways it could possibly be prevented in the future. I'm sorry she dropped her tail and I hope she grows it back real quick.

 

[Gregg M]

Although this sounds bad to some people this is a very superficial type or wound... There is no need to even put any medicated ointment on it... Reptiles heal up very fast on their own without our help...

 

[Adinar]

I didn't want to place blame so i appologize if that's how my first post came across, if anything I was just trying to point out ways it could possibly be prevented in the future. I'm sorry she dropped her tail and I hope she grows it back real quick.

Has been a few days since I last checked the forums.

Your post was fine, no offense taken.

Athena is one of those that, even if we had them for quite a long time, she doesn't always like being held. Some days she's ok with it, other days she complains until she either takes a flying leap or we put her back. (lol, she can be a little grouch.)