lost tail question

[adhdkarate]

I recently acquired a fat tailed gecko, he looks to have been handled a little roughly. He has quite a few bite marks on him and last night when i picked him up, he dropped his tail. What i am wondering is, do i need to put Neosporin on his "stub" to keep it from getting infected? I am putting Neosporin on the other bite marks to insure there is no infection there. but wondered about the tail.

 

[fallen_angel]

Neosporin would be great, and just keep him on paper towels if he isn't already. Make sure he gets plenty of water and food; since his "storage unit" is gone, he may want more than usual. Sorry to hear about the bite marks and tail loss, poor little guy!

 

[Babylon]

Also make sure it's normal neosporin without the painkillers...

 

[adhdkarate]

exactly, i remembered reading a while back that the pain killers in the "advanced" neosporin would kill them also. definitely don't want that. another thing i had noticed was that his upper gums appeared to be bleeding. i'm wondering if i need to just take him back to the store so they can take him to the vet, i got him tuesday and discovered the bleeding gums last night.

 

[Babylon]

You could just take the little guy to a vet yourself as most chain petstores don't care enough about their reptiles to even be in contact with a reputable herp vet.

 

[thestack510]

Even if you're using regular Neosporin I wouldn't use it more than three days out of the week, every other day. The warning on Neosporin says to not use it for longer than a week, and that's for humans. You'll have to down scale considerably.

 

[thestack510]

I've also been told you can just use Vasoline, it will keep the regenerated tail from being too rigid. Look for warnings though.

 

[THE WHISPERER]

I'm willing to bet that this gecko is better off in your hands than the store you got it from. sounds like you care alot more:main_yes:

 

[adhdkarate]

i just called the store. they know me well there, they are going to take him to the vet first and see what's wrong with him. the GM there actually knows me by name so i'm not too worried. this is also the same store i bought my bearded dragon from, he had an impaction and they took him over to a nearby vet and got him taken care of and back to me. my only real gripe is that i found out from them that the geckos they get in are more often than not always males cuz the breeders don't want to get rid of their females too quickly. anywho, i'm taking the little guy up there in like 10 minutes because i also noticed last night when i got off from work, i had to work a 31 hour shift this weekend btw otherwise i would have taken him up on saturday, anywho, i noticed he had this clear discharge leaking from his right eye and the back part of his eyelids looked like they were fused together. i hope it's nothing too serious.

 

[adhdkarate]

well, time for a sad update :'(.....two days after I dropped my fatty off at *****, they still hadn't called back so i called them, they said the vet said he was fine and to just keep the tip of his tail clean and that the vet's office had brought him back over that same afternoon. that right there should have been my first indicator that something was wrong. so i asked them about the problem with his eye, which was the real reason i had taken him up there. they said that it was fine as well and to just keep it clean. so i picked him up, asked the other guy about what all was said, and he said to just keep his tail clean. , are we noticing a trend here yet? the other thing that had me concerned was that after i had posted my last update, i noticed he was kinda snorting when i went to put him in the box to take him to the store. i kinda thought he might have a URTI (Upper Respiratory Tract Infection) just cuz the eye was looking like it was all squished out. so when i get up there i tell the ppl about it, well thursday when i get up there and ask them about it they said he was fine. so i didn't think too much about that. Friday night I hear him snorting once again. so the next day i call the local vets because the one where he went last didn't do their job obviously. unfortunately all their reptile doctors were out till monday so i made an appointment. I get home tonight from church to find my little guy dead laying next to his food bowl. now i'm wondering if he may have been sick and if i may have spread his illness to the rest of my geckos. i'm still within my initial 15 day policy from the store, is there any chance i can get them to have a necropsy done to make sure the rest of my animals are safe? While i did have this one quarantined, i remember a couple times where i didn't wash my hands between handlling him and the others. or is this a situation where i just need to schedule office visits for all my reptiles? i'm definitely not liking the sound of that but if it has to be done it has to be done.....

i think i've learned my lesson now. do not buy from that store.....sorry for the ranting and raving, i'm just so angry at what's happened.

 

[2bacop]

well im not sure what store you got him from because of the little stars but if you got him from p_e_t_s_m_a_r_t than they will do a necropsy but you have to be persistant. If the store manager says no than complain to corporate and they will take care of it.

 

[adhdkarate]

this store ended in c_o but i think it's about the same bunch of ppl anyways. i gotta cal them in the morning and see what they say. thanks for that bit of useful info tho.

 

[2bacop]

no problem