Tail has snapped off.

[DanniTheExotic]

I rescued my female bearded dragon in February. And the end of her tail was in a bit of a state. I think she was in with another dragon and had her tail trapped in the door of the viv. The owners also didn't remove any of the shedded skin that had grown, so the end of her tail was just dead really tough skin. I let her out of the viv earlier and she does this thing where she gets up on her back legs and scratches at windows and climbs, not moving her tail out of the way and kind of bending it.
She was doing this. And the end of her tail has snapped clean off.
I'm panicking.
She doesn't look to be in any pain but where it's broken off looks really raw.
I've wrapped a bandage round it for now. But I really don't know what to do. I knew her tail wasn't in the best of conditions when I got her, but I never expected this to happen.
Please if anyone has any advice on what to do, it would be a real help.

 

[Germ]

Sorry to hear that, but sadly, these things happen. This type of thing happened to Dinah with a healthy tail & I still have no idea exactly how. She was fine & 20 minutes later I look in the enclosure there was a approximately 4-5" of healthy tail laying on the floor near the front glass of the enclosure where there was nothing else around it for a foot. A really clean, square break & no blood anywhere in the enclosure.

Just put neosporin on it & keep it clean. If you are not using a particle substrate, this shouldn't be a problem, remove anything unnecessary in the enclosure that it would rub or catch on until it heals & it will be fine. If you are using particle substrate, you will either have to remove it or place it in a hospital\isolation tank until it heals.

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Thank you! I'll go to the shop now and see if I can find some. She's only missing maybe two and a half inch, but it freaked me out so much! Hasn't even fazed her, she's been running about as usual still. I'm not using particle substrate, i've took out everything except her food dish, should I remove that later on aswell? And would giving her a bath be a bad idea? It's just she's shedding aswell

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Also turns out neosporins an American brand. Is there an English brand by any chance?

 

[Germ]

Neosporin , polysporin (Canadian Version of Neosporin), ozonol, something with an antibiotic that you would use on yourself or your children, for cuts, burns & scrapes.

 

[Germ]

Bath is a good idea, leave her basking spot & food dish ... Just the necessities.

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Okay thank you I'll give her a bath now, thank you for the help!

 

[Germ]

Your local druggist would be able to help you on an over the counter ointment there, if you don't have something around the house already. As mentioned, something that is good to help healing & stave off infection for yourself, will work well for your BD also, the healing process is very similar. You could bandage it if you like, I didn't, I let Dinah's heal in the open air & it healed very well, providing the enclosure is clean of course.

Good Luck

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Okay thank you, just a couple more questions. Is there a chance of it growing back slightly? And is there a chance of her losing any more of her tail?

 

[Germ]

No, it will not grow back, it should not lose anymore of it, but the last couple of inches may be a bit stiffer than normal & not bend quite as well as before after it heals.

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Alright, thank you. I'll keep an eye on her. Just bathing her now, think it might have stung her a bit at first, but she's just been swimming about. Think I freaked out more than her!

 

[Pat B]

I feel your 'pain' and understand. My beardie has a stub, but for a different reason. I put neosporin on his tail and it did heal. It will take some time but keep it coated with whatever you use so it doesn't get infected. Warms baths are good, especially for shedding. Good luck!!

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Thank you, she's just in the bath now. I'm just upset cause I thought I'd gotten her better from all her abuse.
I don't know how anyone could do it to any animal at all.

 

[Pat B]

She is lucky to have you. She will be ok just give her time and patience.

 

[DanniTheExotic]

Aye, well I always said I'd get a stump tailed dragon after my first one! Just thought they'd already be like that haha.

 

[BeardieBaby]

While we are on the topics of tails, I have noticed that my beardie's tail has not shed all the way. Half of it has shed and the other half is still green and black. I am afraid as well that his tail will break if he doesn't shed the rest of it. I give him daily baths to help with the shedding process, so does it just take time for the whole thing to shed, or is there something wrong?

 

[DanniTheExotic]

My male dragon tends to do this where he sheds sections of his tail sometimes. After giving your dragon a bath, what I got told to do was find a soft bristled tooth brush and sort of brush downwards against the scales, not hard, but sometimes it gets some of the shed skin off. Don't do it upwards going against the scales cause you might tear some of them off if they're not ready to shed! But just carry on with the baths and be patient sometimes it takes my dragons a good couple of weeks to shed properly!

 

[BeardieBaby]

Ok, thanks so much for that advice!!! I already gave him a bath today, so I will definitely try that tomorrow! Great idea!

 

[DanniTheExotic]

You're welcome! Let me know if it works for you! Some of the others on this post might have some other ideas/tips for you aswell.

 

[Germ]

In my opinion helping sheds along in any way other than mistings & soaks is not a good plan at all. Peeling, brushing can & may possibly remove the old shed before it is ready to come off, damaging the new skin, I don't care how tenderly or gently you do it or how good your intentions are. They will shed & release their skin when it is ready to be released & that is all there is to it. They have been doing it for a long time before we brought them into captivity. If they have an itch they will rub up against something & take it off at their leisure. A stuck shed is an extremely rare occurrence. Please folks, let your BDs, be Bearded Dragons & let nature take it's course ...