Necrotic toe

[JordanAng420]

[/U]Arson has had problems shedding for about a year now...his husbandry is ideal (as most of you that know me already know). Every time he sheds he requires assistance with his toes and his belly/tail. Lately he's had this issue with one of his toes, it's been bloody and red/irritated after each soak (I soak him once daily, and apply silver sulfadiazine twice) Today I looked at his foot, and the black part is spreading to his foot...

I don't think I trust my vet past the "medical" part of this...as far as "surgery" goes I think i'd rather have a specialist do it...I know Doug Mader in Marathon (he wrote Reptile Medicine & Surgery and i'll drive the 4 hours if I need to...I think I might have to retire Arson sooner rather than later. That would be a HUGE disappointment that i'm not ready for...

Anyone seen anything like this, or dealt with anything that metastasizeses this quickly? Thank goodness I picked up a beautiful male from M. Rekowski this past weekend...

 

[snowgyre]

Is it possible you're actually exacerbating the problem by soaking him so much? If there's no stuck shed left, it may be best just to have that wound dry out. He'll probably lose the toe, but if there's any infection keeping it dry is probably best?

 

[Alusdra]

The picture is rather blurry... but it doesn't look like it's metastasizing as that would mean that there are other areas of the body affected (usually used for cancerous growths).

What you are describing sound more like the necrotic area may be spreading. If you have the opportunity to go to Dr. Mader, that's obviously the best. He literally wrote the book, like you said. I second that he might be too wet- I had an ascending tail necrosis with one gecko that ended up being stuck shed that only came off when she was left in a hot, dry tank when I was transporting her somewhere. Careful not too hot or dry, though! He could get heat stroke. If it continues to get worse, the road trip is probably your best bet. Either way he'll probably lose the toe, but hopefully Dr. Mader and/or some heat can help him keep the foot.

Obviously this will be a recurring problem if he keeps getting stuck shed... perhaps you could try different conditions? Drier, different substrate, different temp gradients? I know he's at "ideal" but some geckos are outside the bell curve or whatever and could use a bit of tweaking from the ideal for most geckos. That would be a good question to ask Dr. Mader. Can you e-mail/call for advice maybe before bringing the gecko in?

 

[Saphira]

poor guy...

 

[JordanAng420]

Thank you guys! Sorry for the blurry pic...my next big investment is a nice camera.

I wouldn't be suprised if it turns out to be the fact that he's a little too wet...not only does he spend a ton of time in his moist hide, but then there's me misting the cage every day :main_rolleyes: I guess I just figured he needed the extra humidity because he sheds horrible. Every time. Guess I was way off with that one I'll try keeping it dry from now on, but i'll tell ya that black color is no joke, it really scares the bejesus out of me.

I'm going to see if I can EMail Dr. Mader before I actually make an appointment, like you said. It would be great if I could even just ask him a few quick questions...I used to work for a doctor who actually knows him so that might be a possibility...sorry, just thinking out loud...

Thanks again everybody! I'll let you all know what happens with him...