Possible Tail Problem/What is this?

Hello,

I'm currently treating my 3 month old beardie for mbd but I have a question about his tail. i have read on some posts about tails going necrotic and am wondering if my beardie has the same thing. He is going to the vet on Saturday and I am going to get a fecal done for him. His tail tip is black a half curled. It is also darker in colour half way up. Now I know he has feeling in this area because when I bathe him he wiggles is tail a bit. Sometimes the colour is as dark and sometimes it is really dark. When I'm at the vet on Saturday what should I be asking about on the condition of his tail????

Thanks,
Danielle

Hello Danielle,

Can you post a picture of the tail for us please? Is he getting ready to shed that area? The color of the tail greatly varies during preshed & shedding phases. It will turn really dark, then lighten up right before shed. Is the tip kinked or deviated?

Tracie

I am currently uploading photos to photobucket which may take a little time since I am still on dial up! Yes, the very end of his tail is a little kinked. My pics may not be close enough for it to be noticable but will post anyways. He also 3/4 of the way down has a slight curve in his tailand I was thinking this may be part of the whole MBD problem. I may not be able to post pics till tomorrow since it is so slow right now uploading but will get them on. I meant to do this a long time ago on my other thread.

Danielle

Hello again,

I don't know if you can do this or not but if you PM me an email address I can probably get the images to you much faster. Photo bucket is only on image 3 of 9 that I am uploading. Sorry.

Danielle

It definitely doesn't hurt to ask the vet if it's something to be concerned about. :-]

Finally, Here they are.

Sorry, the later pics do not show the tail area very well that I'm referring to so I will take a better one tomorrow and post.

Danielle

Hello Danielle,

It appears to be an upcoming shed though, really. I don't think it is anything to worry about. She is a cutie pie!

Tracie

I got some good pics this morning of the end of the tail. I'm thinking it may be a problem because the tip looks a little shriveled. I will post them when I get home today. As far as his seizures he is still having them quite a bit and therefore he didn't get a chance to eat this morning because he was a little stressed out.

hey
does his tail look anything like mine does in this topic http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=97175&hilit=

mine has turned out to be a calcium deficiency so now im using liquid calcium instead of powdered because he hasnt been basking at all lately as hes been unwell. so if it looks similar to this maybe yours could be a calcium deficiency.
hope your little one feels better

Hello Danielle,
Well, he may have had some retained shed that has caused the shriveling at the end, unless he had a bite from a tank mate. I would definitely have the vet take a look at it. Were you going to post a pic of the tip of the tail?

Tracie

Yup,
I'll have those pics up soon I'm just uploaded them now to photobucket (dial-up grrrr!) I had a look at that other thread that Anny had posted and yes his tail does have a crook in it. You will see it in the pics. He didn't have it when I first got him at 2 weeks but it started showing up later down the road and I had thought it was turning colour just because of his seizures. I phoned the vet office today to give them a heads up about the tail as well and that he has caclium deficiency.

He has been taking his liquid calcium really well now from the syringe. Eating is off and on with good and bad days...yesterday he had two meals and good ones while today he didn't eat breakfast but had a a few crickets when I got home. I hope he eats better tomorrow so that I can get a fecal sample from him for the vet tomorrow! I think I will also ask the vet if it is possible for an Xray as well because he has fallen from his basking area before so it would probably be wise to ask about that.

Danielle

Here are the pics. Let me know what you guys think.
Thanks!

To me his tail looks fine. Maybe it's getting dark because he's starting a shed. I did notice the bend in the tail. When we got Redrock she had a bend in the tip of her tail. She always had it and it never caused her any problems. It wasn't as pronounced as your beardie's is, it was a very small bend right at the tip.

Hello Danielle,

Great that he has been so good about taking his calcium though, he must love the flavor of it. He is eating well too, that is good to hear. I hope he is feeling better.
Well, it couldn't hurt to get an x-ray since he does have low calcium & if he did fall he could have hurt himself. Though the tail just has a little crook, but it is not shriveled as I was expecting it to look. It looks fairly normal to me, possibly just getting ready to shed with the varying colors on it.
It doesn't appear to be dying, just from looking at the picture. Keep us posted on him, he sure is a pretty little thing.

Tracie