HELP PLEASE!!!!

[Combz]

I woke up today and like always checked on my girls first thing. Everyone looked good and normal and then i realized Columbus my AFT has a chunk out of her tail. Is there anything i need to do for her please please help i dont want anything to happen to her. She is in a 20L with 2 leos both who seem to love her to death idk what happened and i cant find the end of her tail. Her and the other two have been together close to month now since i got them and they are all very close in size. They all eat great and they all share the hides so idk what could have caused this. PLEASE help if there is anything i can do. Thank you.

here is a pic let me know if you need to see more

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[silent183]

She dropped her tail, it will grow back but won't look the same as the original.

 

[lizardfreak]

rinse the stump with warm saline (the kind used for contact lenses etc.) and remove from any other geckos or from
any loose substrate
No worries if you follow these guidelines!!!
good luck

 

[thegeckoguy23]

Okay this is fine nothing well happen she well grow her tail back. When i was 6 i got a crocodile gecko and i went to tuch it right after the expo its tail fell off and i cryed then again i was only 5 lol but we called like 4 vets lol.

 

[Taquiq]

One of my female leos lost her tail a couple months ago. I dabbed the stump with neosporin a couple times and it grew back fine. Just make sure to keep the tank clean so it doesn't get infected.

 

[Mel&Keith]

You might consider switching the reptile carpet for paper towels while its healing. That way you can just replace the paper towels to keep everything sterile.

 

[acpart]

I'm sorry your AFT dropped her tail. It's more traumatic for us than for them. I had a hatchling drop her tail when I picked her up a few weeks ago. It's the first time it's ever happened to me. She will be fine; the wound will heal by itself and as was already said, the tail will grow back but not as nice.

There are a few other things you should think about, though. She probably dropped her tail because of some extreme stress which could be as simple as getting stuck somewhere and freaking out or else, even though the geckos all seem to get along, there may be some bullying issues.

Another 2 things:
--I think a 20 gallon tank is a bit small for 3 geckos. I do keep 3-4 adults in a 20 gallon but I have added a 12x12" upper heated level which gives significantly more room.
--It's generally not a great idea to keep different reptile species from different parts of the world together. The AFT needs higher humidity than the leos. They may all seem to be doing well, but sometimes they are subtly not in good health and you don't realize till it's too late (sort of like one of my planted terrariums where the plant did really well for a long time and then stopped growing and started dropping leaves. It took months for me to see that the light wasn't bright enough)

I would strongly recommend leaving your 2 leos in the 20 gallon and getting a 10 gallon minimum for your AFT.

Aliza

 

[T-ReXx]

I'm sorry your AFT dropped her tail. It's more traumatic for us than for them. I had a hatchling drop her tail when I picked her up a few weeks ago. It's the first time it's ever happened to me. She will be fine; the wound will heal by itself and as was already said, the tail will grow back but not as nice.

There are a few other things you should think about, though. She probably dropped her tail because of some extreme stress which could be as simple as getting stuck somewhere and freaking out or else, even though the geckos all seem to get along, there may be some bullying issues.

Another 2 things:
--I think a 20 gallon tank is a bit small for 3 geckos. I do keep 3-4 adults in a 20 gallon but I have added a 12x12" upper heated level which gives significantly more room.
--It's generally not a great idea to keep different reptile species from different parts of the world together. The AFT needs higher humidity than the leos. They may all seem to be doing well, but sometimes they are subtly not in good health and you don't realize till it's too late (sort of like one of my planted terrariums where the plant did really well for a long time and then stopped growing and started dropping leaves. It took months for me to see that the light wasn't bright enough)

I would strongly recommend leaving your 2 leos in the 20 gallon and getting a 10 gallon minimum for your AFT.

Aliza

I completely agree with Aliza. I can virtually garuntee the aft dropped her tail due to either an attack from a leopard gecko or some similar event. Leopard geckos are actually a bit more aggressive and territorial than african fat tails, and bullying is pretty common when the two species are kept together. And, as mentioned, they come from different environments and have different requirements. Seperating them is HIGHLY recommended.

 

[Combz]

Thank you everyone that has replied. You guys and gals are heros. I went and took a 10g tank from my gf (had our first leo in it... died from sand impaction) and cleaned it good then set it up. Ive got paper towel as my substrate, a small water food and calcium dish... a UTH (a crap one which im 90% sure is junk and not working) a cave over the uth and a tupper ware with moist paper towels. I put neosporin on her tail (just a tiny bit) and sprayed the tank good. I will post pics tomorrow so you can see it is night time here and i dont wanna stress her with the lights.

Can anyone link me with a page selling good UTH's? Ive got a feeling i will need a new one.

Oh and she is eating just fine. Pounding down 5 crickets tonight before she settled in. Any one know if i need to give her any new supplements. Tonight was vitamin powder night and she always gets calcium dusted food along with her calcium dish.

THANK YOU GUYS SOO MUCH!!!
-Ryan

 

[OhioGecko]

Ryan,

It sounds like your calcium and mutivitamin are perfect. Our first AFT hatchling lost it's tail and has grown back to not look to bad. I would make sure to feed him a little extra if he will eat more.

I can get you some flex watt which is much better then heating pads as far as getting the temps up high enough for the geckos. You will need to get a thermostat or light dimmer switch to get the heat down. PM me when you get a chance or call me.

 

[Combz]

Thanks thad ill shoot you a pm tonight. This is my little female I got at the all Ohio show not long ago. I wish I had some dubia to give her but I can't talk my mom into getting some. They seem to do really good for other people they would be perfect to fatten her back up

 

[HepCatMoe]

hi there,

just wanted to say good job separating them.

im sure that now that your little fatty has her own enclosure she will be just fine.

also, not to be gross but im pretty sure (and i bet you figured it out) that her missing tale was eaten by one of the leos.

 

[M_surinamensis]

Careful with over the counter ointments and creams intended for human use- some are perfectly acceptable, some contain silverdine, which is not. You're better off just getting bacitracin from your vet if you're unfamiliar with what to look for on the ingredients of the stuff from the drug store.

 

[Tony C]

Careful with over the counter ointments and creams intended for human use- some are perfectly acceptable, some contain silverdine, which is not. You're better off just getting bacitracin from your vet if you're unfamiliar with what to look for on the ingredients of the stuff from the drug store.

What is wrong with silverdine? I use it by vet prescription for small wounds on frogs.

 

[M_surinamensis]

What is wrong with silverdine? I use it by vet prescription for small wounds on frogs.

It's been identified as a cause of some liver issues in reptiles.

I am uncertain about similar issues with amphibians.

Veterinary medicine, especially for non-mammals, can be kind of spotty when it comes to how easily information is shared between professionals and how specific that information is by the time it gets shared- tougher to get a reliable patient history from a species incapable of speaking for itself.

On this issue, I would not argue with a vet who is prescribing it if I knew the vet was competent because I assume they would be providing dosing instructions and a preparation ratio that was appropriate for the species in question.

Over the counter mixes aren't necessarily going to follow identical ratios of the active ingredients and, lacking the veterinarian's specific instructions about how much and how often to apply the mixture, can be more easily misused. Potentially leading to an overdose of what would have potentially been a helpful substance in smaller amounts.

 

[Tony C]

That makes sense.

 

[Combz]

well ive got her in a 10 gallon tank and it is CRAMPED. I dont really like my 20 long i feel like it is cramped too. The local pet store is having a sale on tanks for 1 dollar per gallon. I think I may get (2) 29 gallon tanks and make them 2 storys. Ive seen some nice set ups like this.

OK on to the update. She has eaten tonight about 4 or 5 crickets so far. She seems to be shy now for some reason she used to just pound her food and not care if i watched but im happy she is eating. I think her tail is already coming in here is a pic of it today i just put some neosporin on it.

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oh and i know for a fact one of the leos didnt eat the nub. I found it just a minute after posting that she dropped it or close to then. Her is a pic of her protecting it lol

if you guys have any more advice PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE share. I will update again soon if something comes up. Thank you to everyone responding this little girl means alot to me.