Black Tail Surgery on Spike

[Pat B]

Well.....we did it. Spike had a good shed and I was hoping the black tail would go away but it didn't. I got him out of his enclosure this morning and his little short tail was hard as a rock and dead (?). So we cut off the dead part, about 1/2" and put neosporin on his tail. It didn't seem to hurt him as he didn't do anything. I hope this was the right thing to do....We will keep a good eye on him and make sure the tail stays healthy.

 

[Germ]

Would have been better to let it go necrotic on it's own, the section would have turned completely black, dried up & dropped off on it's own, would not have continued to go down the tail. Where on earth did you get the idea to perform your own amputations? Now there is a fresh wound that has to start healing all over again.

Now that the deed is done, you have the right idea to use the neosporin, be sure to keep the enclosure hospital clean, to avoid infection.

 

[Aleena]

I've had a vet suggest that they amputate the dead end off of a BD's tail to me (this was before I knew it was bad to cohabitate). Sounds like it WAS dead, that's probably why it didn't hurt. Doing it yourself, however, was probably not the best thing to do. Was there any liquid seeping out of it when you did it?

 

[Pat B]

Spike is doing well. I want to mention that I sterilized the scissors and sterilized his tail. There was no weeping whatsoever and I put neosporin on his tail about 4 times a day. I also clean his cage every day to make sure it is clean and sterile as I can get it. Did I make a mistake in doing this myself?? I don't know but time will tell.

 

[Jp]

I've seen tails dry up & fall off before like mentioned above by Germ. Preforming the amputation was not at all necessary & is not recommended to ANY OTHER MEMBERS that may have similar issues with there pets.

 

[ThDude]

Any medical procedure should be done by a trained vet who specializes in the area, never by a owner or anyone without the proper license to operate on an animal/reptile.

I am glad your BD is ok however you should have posted what you were going to do before you did it.

I hope everything turns out for the best

 

[jynx stephens]

i do hope you are using the neosporin without painkillers in it.

 

[Pat B]

i do hope you are using the neosporin without painkillers in it.

Yes....regular neosporin

 

[Nitro]

Well.....we did it. Spike had a good shed and I was hoping the black tail would go away but it didn't. I got him out of his enclosure this morning and his little short tail was hard as a rock and dead (?). So we cut off the dead part, about 1/2" and put neosporin on his tail. It didn't seem to hurt him as he didn't do anything. I hope this was the right thing to do....We will keep a good eye on him and make sure the tail stays healthy.

I am pretty much a lurker, read most posts that I have missed & only speak up every now & then, but My Goodness, what goes through some people's minds. To first have no UVB for an extended time, when by your own admission you knew that it was required for some time, thankfully someone was attentive enough to urge you to post pics of your setup, a ridiculously close heat bulb inside an enclosure so the animal gets burned, then start amputating unnecessarily to fix it . Definitely something wrong with this picture, particularly when you seem to be a reasonably active member of such a good & informative forum, with so many knowledgeable people to lean on. WHY would you start doing something as serious as amputation without at least querying about it first?

Please for Spike's sake, ask someone before acting ~~~ He will probably be OK, but ~~~

 

[Pat B]

I am pretty much a lurker, read most posts that I have missed & only speak up every now & then, but My Goodness, what goes through some people's minds. To first have no UVB for an extended time, when by your own admission you knew that it was required for some time, thankfully someone was attentive enough to urge you to post pics of your setup, a ridiculously close heat bulb inside an enclosure so the animal gets burned, then start amputating unnecessarily to fix it . Definitely something wrong with this picture, particularly when you seem to be a reasonably active member of such a good & informative forum, with so many knowledgeable people to lean on. WHY would you start doing something as serious as amputation without at least querying about it first?

Please for Spike's sake, ask someone before acting ~~~ He will probably be OK, but ~~~

I agree with everything you have said, however, in my defense, my brother who has had reptiles for years set me up. I didn't know anything about how to take care of a beardie and this forum has helped me tremendously to learn about the care of a dragon and believe me I have learned plenty. He is no longer in that tank. We bought a 40 gal and the lights are on top. I did check the UVB bulb this morning and I think it is a 5.0 so to day I will get at 10.0. I did look up on the internet about black tails and what to do....my mistake was not asking here on the forum. Won't happen again. There is a wealth of information here and I appreciate all the answers to my questions and concerns. I do love my little beardie and I want to do the right thing by him. So I have been more than once properly 'chastised' for the tail screw up and that is ok. Made me feel bad but also learned some valuable lessons....ASK!! This is a great forum and the information has been very helpful. Can we please put my beardies tail episode to rest and move on?? Thank you all....

 

[Aleena]

I agree with everything you have said, however, in my defense, my brother who has had reptiles for years set me up. I didn't know anything about how to take care of a beardie and this forum has helped me tremendously to learn about the care of a dragon and believe me I have learned plenty. He is no longer in that tank. We bought a 40 gal and the lights are on top. I did check the UVB bulb this morning and I think it is a 5.0 so to day I will get at 10.0. I did look up on the internet about black tails and what to do....my mistake was not asking here on the forum. Won't happen again. There is a wealth of information here and I appreciate all the answers to my questions and concerns. I do love my little beardie and I want to do the right thing by him. So I have been more than once properly 'chastised' for the tail screw up and that is ok. Made me feel bad but also learned some valuable lessons....ASK!! This is a great forum and the information has been very helpful. Can we please put my beardies tail episode to rest and move on?? Thank you all....

BIG HUGS! We luv ya, you know that. We have all appreciated you and your BD on this forum. We are all learning, and I'm sure you won't do anything similar to it again. Definitely have faith that you believe we know what we're talking about.