Tail rot?

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I recently rehomed a second beardie, a male dragon apparently 1 year ish old- named Newt Scamander.

His owner stated that the tip of his tail dropped 6 months ago but that he was otherwise healthy- she also said he’d been housed with a female for a while so I thought that perhaps she’d bitten him. But upon collecting him, I noticed that his tail looked a lot worse that I thought it was- it looks a lot like tail rot. The underside looks much worse than the top. He occasionally holds it straight out instead of letting it sit on the floor. His beard is a little dark around the corners and he’s in the middle of shedding around his toes. She said he dropped his tail 6 months ago, so I’m assuming nothing’s happened since but I can’t be sure.

I plan on taking him to the vet as soon as possible, but is there anything I can do in the meantime? I’ve attached photos of his tail for reference. He also has a few black marks on two of his feet.

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AHBD

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Aw, poor Newt. At least he's eating well it looks like from his body condition. I think that that is tail rot, don't know how long ago it happened but looks like much less than 6 months ago. A vet check for sure, might need amputation. For now you can soak it in a betadine/water mixture [ the color of iced tea ] to try to kill bacteria.
 

beaniethebeardie

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AHBD":1yi6f83o said:
Aw, poor Newt. At least he's eating well it looks like from his body condition. I think that that is tail rot, don't know how long ago it happened but looks like much less than 6 months ago. A vet check for sure, might need amputation. For now you can soak it in a betadine/water mixture [ the color of iced tea ] to try to kill bacteria.

I’m not too trusting of the whole ‘6 months ago’ thing to be completely honest- she said in her advert that he was 2 years old, but when I arrived to pick him up, she said he was just under a year. Also, it didn’t really make sense to me that his tail would still look like that 6 months after the tip fell off?? I’ll get him checked for sure.

Can I get betadine from the petstore??
 

Claudiusx

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Yeah that definitely looks like a case of tail rot to me. The infection and rot is still there so it definitely should be handled by a vet.
The betadine soaks will help for the time being. If you can get some raw unpasteurized honey or manuka honey to put over the wound that will help kill bacteria and keep it sterile too.

-Brandon
 

beaniethebeardie

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claudiusx":27a6plmd said:
Yeah that definitely looks like a case of tail rot to me. The infection and rot is still there so it definitely should be handled by a vet.
The betadine soaks will help for the time being. If you can get some raw unpasteurized honey or manuka honey to put over the wound that will help kill bacteria and keep it sterile too.

-Brandon

The vet has put her on three different medications, one of them is an antibiotic, the other is a painkiller, and I can’t remember right now what the other is. The plan is to give the medication 14 days to work, and then if there has been no improvement, her tail will be amputated. Aside from that apparently she’s a healthy dragon. My other beardie takes her medication willingly however, while this one is much harder- I have to gently squeeze the sides of her mouth to get the syringe in. Any tips??
 

AHBD

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Well, some people trey to disguise it in the food. Another method to get her mouth open is to pull on the bottom of the beard gently. This is all stressful to some beardies but others take it like little champs. :) I don't think she is in pain though so I'd not bother with the pain med. Are you applying raw honey or anything else to it ?
 

beaniethebeardie

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AHBD":b4xhvnna said:
Well, some people trey to disguise it in the food. Another method to get her mouth open is to pull on the bottom of the beard gently. This is all stressful to some beardies but others take it like little champs. :) I don't think she is in pain though so I'd not bother with the pain med. Are you applying raw honey or anything else to it ?

We're not applying anything to her tail as the vet told us not to, but I was tempted to try the honey. The pain meds don't really seem to be doing anything to her- both she and my other beardie, Beans, are on 0.2ml of Tramadol a day; we were told it could potentially make them sleepy or even spaced out, but it doesn't really make a difference at all. Beans opens her mouth and takes her medicine whenever she sees the syringe - I think she likes the sweetness! But Mazikeen (turns out Newt is a girl, not a boy!) is much more difficult, I have to squeeze the sides of her beard to get her to open her mouth a little, and then syringe it in bit by bit!! And she's taking three different syrups at the moment, so giving her her meds takes ages.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

I'm glad you are getting that taken care of. Just how much of the tail does the vet want to
amputate? It doesn't look like all that much needs to be removed. I hope he doesn't try to
remove more than necessary on her.
How is he appetite doing?
Keep us posted on her. The Tramadol should only be used short term on her.

Tracie
 

beaniethebeardie

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":1kuv40ez said:
Hello,

I'm glad you are getting that taken care of. Just how much of the tail does the vet want to
amputate? It doesn't look like all that much needs to be removed. I hope he doesn't try to
remove more than necessary on her.
How is he appetite doing?
Keep us posted on her. The Tramadol should only be used short term on her.

Tracie

Hiya, the vet said he’d aim to take about an inch above the rot and that’s all, providing the antibiotics stop it from spreading and getting any higher. She’s on her medication for two weeks, but we’re sorting out insurance right now so we can afford the amputation. She doesn’t have much of an appetite- she’s eaten some greens and less than 10 bugs in the 6 days we’ve had her, but she is in a new environment, and she also had an inadequate heat source up until today, which has now been fixed. She’s a lot more active now with the new bulb but as of yet, not much of an appetite. She’s also shedding though, which might be contributing to that as well. Her black beard hasn’t fully gone away yet, but it does lighten and darken throughout the day.
 

Drache613

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Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is Newt doing today?
I bet it does take awhile to give several fluids/medications. LOL They don't always want to
cooperate either. I hope her appetite picks up some. The antibiotics do affect their appetites
so you might want to consider giving a probiotic to help settle her tummy.
I hope they don't have to take more than that off, that's too bad. It's better to get the infection
though than keep part of the tail that is infected.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
 
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