tip of tale stuck shed

[greenhousegecko]

Ok I got a new Leo a couple of weeks ago. He is 2 years old. I left him acclimated for the first few weeks with little handling and interactions as he was extremely skittish. This week I have started handling him and noticed that the very tip of his tail, no more than 3mm, apparently stuck on his last shed. Of course the tip is dead, but the good news is I can still see a little bleeding at the site where it is getting cut off. I have been soaking it with no result, it will not soften up. I am keeping polysporin on it to prevent infection. If I take him to the vet I know they will clip the end of his tail off. Has anyone ever attempted this at home with sterile instruments? If you are not familiar with metric measurements 3 mm is smaller than the tip of a pencil.

 

[greenhousegecko]

Solution

Ok I will post my own reply. This info is from the breeder that I bought him from.
If the skin is dry and will not soften, the tip does need to be removed to prevent necrosis and blood born infection.
Clean sharp scissors with alcohol (I might even suggest boiling first for extra sterilization) and clip several mm above the dead tissue.
Afterwards keep antibacterial gel on the site and a very clean cage.

 

[breanna-banana13]

i wouldn't do that. you are not a vet and can cause serious injury or death if you do it wrong. what you need to do is bring the animal to a vet so that they can take care of the problem. even if it not a herp-vet, most vets would (and should) know what do do about a necrotic tail. if they decide to clip it off they can do so in a sterile environment and prescribe pain meds. please do not try to do this yourself.

 

[OneFootedAce]

i wouldn't do that. you are not a vet and can cause serious injury or death if you do it wrong. what you need to do is bring the animal to a vet so that they can take care of the problem. even if it not a herp-vet, most vets would (and should) know what do do about a necrotic tail. if they decide to clip it off they can do so in a sterile environment and prescribe pain meds. please do not try to do this yourself.

:main_yes:

 

[BalloonzForU]

Leos drop their tails all the time in less than sterile conditions so I doubt that him snipping the tip off would cause it's death unless he introduced some really nasty germs into the animals body when doing so.

However personally with that small of an amount being dried, I would have just allowed nature to run it's cource while keeping an eye on it for infection of any sort. Had this been a very large section of the tail then I would suggest a vet visit.

 

[ez2animate]

Yeah, id let it fall off on its own. Safer than you trying to cut it yourself, but you dont have to pay for a vet visit.

 

[greenhousegecko]

Update

Surgery went fine! I have a MS in bio and have lived far too many hours of my life in a lab :main_laugh:, so I have an unfortunately good idea about a sterile environment, hehe. But I called a vet to be safe and they said that they would do the exact same thing if I brought him in, and saw no reason if I kept everything sterile, that I should not do it myself.

It was actually super easy to do, there was no blood or mess. The cut looks very healthy so far and I am keeping a nice layer of polysporin on the wound. I jumped more than he did, in fact he didn't even flinch! I will post updates and pictures for those who are interested.

I know that there are many people out there who are very much against this, but some people like to learn basic care for their pets. I do all of my reptiles fecal exams at home on a monthly basis, and treat any necessary infections or maladies from home. Now don't get me wrong if I run into something that I do not have an understanding of I always do my research and sometimes that leads to a vet visit. So please I understand that there are those of you out there who would not consider doing any treatments outside a vet and I can understand and completely respect your decision, but there are also those who feel more comfortable and confident trying minor things on their own. Let’s make sure that we respect each other’s choices!

Thank you for your input!