Tip of tail fell off

Hi, I got a 4 month old beardie the 2 days ago and yesterday I gave him a bath as he was shedding when I got him, when I was drying him off gently with a towel the tip of his tail, maybe have a centimetre came off, it is slightly darkened and I phoned the pet shop and they said it could be from the stress of the journey to my house in combination with a poor shed, and that it should be fine and heal on its own, what should I do?!

EDIT : Just noticed he also has the stress marks on his belly, really worried about him

Hi there, it may have had a slight bite before from a cage mate....stress has zero to do with it. This happens from time to time and it probably is not going to be a problem, but post a few pics.... here's how :


https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Please post pics of his tank set up as well , including his uvb + heat bulbs + where they are placed. Most stores sell improper uvb bulbs.

Yes, please post a photo ASAP...and don't listen to that pet shop, stress does not cause things like this at all. It's common if they're housed with other dragons to have tail nips, they are solitary animals and at 4 months old if he was in with another dragon they surely fought. So it's common for the amount of tail below the nip to become necrotic and fall off. What you have to worry about is that the open end of the tail is also infected, as if it is still infected it will continue to spread up the tail towards his body, and the tail along it's way will die and also fall off. This is usually called "Tail Rot", and the problem is that eventually if it's not treated with antibiotics or amputation, the infection will reach their bloodstream and they can actually die from it. So either the dead tissue fell off and the wound is now healing, or the dead tail fell off and the open wound at the new tip of his tail is still infected, and needs to be seen by an experienced reptile vet ASAP. A lot of the time if it is still infected they will do a simple amputation above the infection to eliminate it, as the circulation to their tails is not great and sometimes antibiotics don't work very well.

Hopefully the infected part has already fallen off and the remaining wound will just heal up, but please post a photo of it so we can see if there is any infected or necrotic looking tissue remaining that needs to be attended to...I'm sorry the pet shop told you it was due to "stress", that's a new one...uhg...

This is his set up, MVB, basking spot at 110 cool side at 80


These are the images of his tail, he doesnt seem in pain when touching the tail and it hasn’t changed colour since the tip fell off 3 days ago

Nice looking set up, you did a good job on the decor. Just curious, do you have a light for the other side of the tank so it's not so dark ? I know things can look darker in pictures.

And yes, his tail looks fine + will probably not be a problem.

Unfortunately I do not have another light, I’m planning on changing the MVB to a setup with seperate heat and UVB bulbs, with the UVB one spanning the length of the viv so the light shan’t be a problem! Just got new parent syndrome I think, worried about everything and anything lol, thanks for your help and advice

Sounds good.

Only thought is, his veggies are down the cool end which is the darker end and he doesn’t spend much time down there, would he be more inclined to eat more veggies if they were down the warmer end??

Put them in the middle, on a light colored plate. Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat them at first. You can try shredding them up + dropping them like confetti on the light colored plate, that will at least attract him. My babies would pounce right on them when I used that method. Use greens like turnip, mustard, collard, endive, arugula, dandelion. Some shredded green beans + squash. All of those are good choices. You might find a mixed bag of some of those greens at Walmart for a low price. Don't bother with carrots + apples, once in a while is O.K but not as a staple. It's the greens that are best, but not spinach, kale is O.K as part of the mix but not a staple.

I live in the UK so we don’t have all those different type of greens, I have found just standard ‘sliced greens’ so I’m feeling him those but he rarely eats them unless I give them to him, I’ll try the sprinkle method

His tail looks pretty good, please keep it very, very clean and dry, and it would be a very good idea to put either an antibiotic ointment/creme on it, like Neosporin or "Triple Antibiotic Creme", or you can use raw, unfiltered/unpasteurized Honey or "Makuna" Honey (do not put regular honey on it, it has no antibiotic properties). I'd apply the antibiotic or the raw, unpasteurized Honey at least once or twice a day, just dab it on the end right on the wound and then rub a bit around the tail above the tip. This will help make sure that if there is anything infection left it won't spread up his tail.

If you see the blackness AT ALL spreading up the tail (basically if the black part gets larger), then please get him to an experience reptile vet immediately, as this is an indication that it is still infected, and the black tissue is dead tissue and it's spreading up his tail. If this occurs, which I don't think that it will if you keep putting the raw, unpasteurized Honey or the Antibiotic Creme on it, the sooner you get him to a vet, who will most likely amputate right above the dead tissue, thus eliminating the infection completely, the less trouble this situation will be, as if you see it spreading up his tail and you wait to take him, this can really become an ugly, complicated issue. Like I said, I don't think this will be a problem for him, it's looks pretty clean, but I'm just telling you this as an FYI, just in case the blackness (necrotic tissue) spreads at all upwards...

In the UK I believe the healthy green of choice for Dragons is Arugula (Rocket as you call it). Stay away from any types of Kale or Spinach, they are loaded with Oxalates that will bind to any Calcium he eats and this keeps him from absorbing any of the Calcium he eats in his food or as a powder supplement, and they then just urinate/poop it all out. This is how people/animals develop Calcium Oxalate Kidney Stones. So no Kale, no Spinach...healthy, appropriate greens from Bearded Dragons include Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Dandelion Greens, Arugula (Rocket), Bok Choy or Pak Choy (I know you have this in the UK as it is used in Thai cooking), Endive, Escarole, and Swiss Chard.

Bought some Raw honey and rubbed some into the wound and tip of tail, how long should I leave it in for before washing it off??

You shouldn't wipe it off, just dab a tiny bit on, rub it around to cover the area, and leave it. He shouldn't be in any loose substrates like sand, bark, bedding, etc. anyway, but if he is please remove it totally, as it is only going to cause him to become impacted, and all loose substrates harbor and breed bacteria, fungi, and parasites, so this can actually cause an infection easily. So if you happen to have a loose substrate dump it all out, disinfect the tank, and put down paper towels until you can get tiles, carpet, etc. later. Toss out the paper towels and replace them as they get soiled. If you do not have a loose substrate then that's good, nothing to worry about.

You can always dilute the raw honey a bit with some hot water and dab it on that way, but for this application you don't need to and it's actually better if you don't. Just dab it on, rub it all over the tip and above the black area, and leave it. Then repeat the following day, and do this once a day until the wound heals completely over and the blackness goes away.

Oh really, okay. I’ve never had any loose substrate I did arguably TOO MUCH research before buying him lol, better safe then sorry. Will the honey not solidify and just build up if it isn’t removed??

No, not really, it seems to absorb right into their skin/scales, just like a creme would. If it does hapen to get sticky or definitely if anything gets stuck to it you can just give him a warm bath, which isn't a bad idea to do either, let it soak for 10-15 minutes once or twice a week, that will also help to keep it clean and help it heal. The biggest deal is keeping it clean and just watching it closely to make sure that the black tissue doesn't appear to be spreading upwards. It looks very clean, most of the time when people post a photo of this the entire end of the tail is obviously infected and and dying, but that is not the case here, it looks like it should heal right up. You just want to make sure, because once the "Tail Rot" or the infection starts the necrosis of the tail tissue it is very hard to stop.