Shriveled red irritated tail

[scottprice]

Hey guys haven't been on here in a long time... Concerned about one of my girls. I'm calling my vet tomorrow, but maybe you can give me a little help in the meantime. My female leo, Sundance, had a rough time with one of her sheds, I manually helped peel some of it off to help her. I didn't soak her and know I probably should have. Since then I had noticed a slight darker discoloration in her tail. I just went into her cage and found that the same part of her tail that was discolored is now red, sore looking and shriveled. It looks like she must have gotten some kind of infection. Is there anything I can do tonight or should I just wait to take her to the vet whenever they'll take her in? Any insights as to what this is? I have a feeling she'll probably lose part of her tail... I feel horrible, I feel like a bad parent and it's killing me.

 

[Krow]

I dont know what to tell you to help out except just take her to a herp vet as soon as you can.

But for future sheds, she should have a moist hide & things to scrap against to help get the old skin off. Also, something that would help if you did a very slightly warm soak right before she starts to shed.

Anyways, you have my luck & hope that she will be ok. Hope all goes well, keep us posted.

 

[scottprice]

View attachment 24378 View attachment 24379

here's what it looks like

 

[scottprice]

btw she does have a moist hide in one of the caves I think it was a little on the dry side when she was having problems with the shed... I usually keep Buss Worm Bedding in the Cave for her moisture, it' works great, but I had been gone for a few days and didn't have the opportunity to moisten it.

 

[Olimpia]

Try soaking her now anyway, it can't hurt.
And don't kill yourself over this either, stuff happens. Let this little bit of tail be a good enough warning to shock you into being more careful in the future. As long as you don't let it happen again, you shouldn't feel like crap. One of my geckos amost lost a toe because I neglected checking on him right after every shed (he stinks at shedding... geeze) and a small ring of skin made one of his toes huge and red. I had to sit there for a good half hour soaking in warm water and going at it with some gentle tweezers. Now I'm more careful about that kind of thing. Live and learn

 

[scottprice]

how deep should the water be? just enough to cover the tail?

 

[Krow]

Try soaking her now anyway, it can't hurt.
And don't kill yourself over this either, stuff happens. Let this little bit of tail be a good enough warning to shock you into being more careful in the future. As long as you don't let it happen again, you shouldn't feel like crap. One of my geckos amost lost a toe because I neglected checking on him right after every shed (he stinks at shedding... geeze) and a small ring of skin made one of his toes huge and red. I had to sit there for a good half hour soaking in warm water and going at it with some gentle tweezers. Now I'm more careful about that kind of thing. Live and learn

:main_yes:

 

[Krow]

how deep should the water be? just enough to cover the tail?

When I do soaks, I put the water level right up to my leos belly.

 

[scottprice]

any antibiotics I could give her?

 

[Krow]

any antibiotics I could give her?

I dont think you really need to, but if you want to, I dont know of any that would help with shedding?? Atleast its only a small part of her tail & not a large chunk or one of her legs. I think that this will be a lesson learned, better luck next time with her sheds. I think she will be fine, nothing to worry about too much. Just keep a better eye on her & the moist hide. But for the most part I think she will be fine.

 

[scottprice]

I'm afraid the infected area will get bad, and that she'll lose the infected part, is that likely?

 

[gothra]

If you decide to soak her, make sure the water is not too warm, because if you can feel the warmth, it'll probably be too hot for the gecko since they're cold blooded.

I had something similar happened to one of my gecko before; just watch for further infections (other parts of the tail getting red and soft). Take her to a vet if you think she is having an infection, otherwise the dried up tip of the tail will fall off and will heal up on its own. Also, check the temps in your setting, high temps could also damage the tail like that.

 

[Saphira]

you can put some neosporin in her tail...

 

[ariana]

she looks healthy enough i wouldnt worry too much

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

It could be from an incomplete shed on the tip of her tail, or it could be your temperatures are too hot and it is burned. Check your surface temps on the hottest spot of the gecko's enclosure.

Most likely, the tail tip will simply come off without any issues, but keep a close eye on it for signs of infection.

 

[scottprice]

Thanks Marcia! Good to see you're still active in the forum. I hope this last year was good to you with your babies It turned out I took her to the vet, it is exactly what you said that the shed got caught and cut off the circulation to the tip, he removed the dead tissue and now I've been putting neosporin on the nub to aid in the healing. It looks like everything's fine now. She's turned into a bit of a rockstar now. My vet was so enamored with her that he's posting pics of her up on his website, maybe I'll send the link in here once he posts them. Thought that was kinda neat!