Injured Tail Advice

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SirBeardie

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So, like many of us, I'm isolated at home. My beardie usually lives in his 105 gallon tank at my office, but as I'm cooped up in my apartment, he's cooped up in his 40 gallon "weekend cottage" on my desk. This isn't a big deal in itself, since he gets plenty of time out and about, except for the fact that the tank has one of those piano-hinged mesh lids. A couple of days ago I was taking him out to feed him when, unexpectedly, the lid came slamming down and sliced about halfway through the end of his tail, maybe 2-3cm from the very tip.

Putting aside how sickened I was with myself that I could let this happen to my beloved pet, I determined that the tail tip was still somewhat connected and immediately washed the injury with antibacterial soap, daubed it with triple antibiotic ointment, and attempted to bandage/splint the tail with gauze and medical tape in the hope that with enough time the torn flesh will knit itself back together.

At first he seemed completely unfazed about what had happened. He promptly gobbled down his lunch and spent time out of the tank exploring and playing. The next day I removed the first bandage and repeated the wash/ointment/bandage cycle. Again, he seemed fine as he chased his feeders around on the floor and spent some time glass surfing on the sliding door to my balcony.

Immediately after I placed him back in his viv, however, he vanished into his hide, stuffed up the entrance with paper towels, and hasn't come back out. Now, he does this very often when he doesn't get his way (ie, put back in the tank when he wasn't done exploring the living room or basking on the windowsill or whatever), so in any other circumstances I wouldn't be worried. But I noticed he pulled off his bandage and kicked it out through the hide entrance, and so for the last two days I've done my best to just get in there and apply ointment to the tail break by feel.

I know that the odds favor him losing the severed portion of the tail, and for my own part I'm prepared to accept that. I am vigilant for signs of infection but I'm not overly worried about it in this case, given the attention I'm paying to keeping the wound clean. I'm just curious to know if anyone else has even seen something similar and managed to get their dragon through it with all parts intact. I'll follow up with another post shortly including some photos.
 

SirBeardie

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Photos:

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Two views of the wound after a day under wraps, just before applying a new bandage.

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View of the wound now, taken as closely as I could manage with my little guy still sequestering himself below his rock. The dark patch around the wound, near as I can tell, is a scab that's holding everything together. After three days, the tail tip still appears a healthy color, and there are no signs of necrosis on either side, which makes me think that blood is still perfusing the tissue beyond the break. But without a bandage to help maintain shape, I imagine the tail will heal with a kink, if it does at all.
(Green reflections in the image are smears of antibiotic ointment on the glass)

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Bonus photo of him enjoying himself, bandage and all, just moments before I put him back in his viv and he decided to hide from me. Indication that he was otherwise completely healthy and capable of enjoying his out-of-tank time. I'm still 99% certain he's unaffected by the tail and is hiding to spite me for taking him away from his window.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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It sounds like you were on top of keeping it clean and disinfected which should be a great help. Keep that up. I've found it difficult to keep bandages on them as well so that may be a futile chore but keep trying. Hopefully the area will heal over and the damaged tip will eventually fall free without further issue. Once it is healed over the infection risk decreases and it shouldn't cause a long term problem. Just keep an eye out for signs of infection above the cut area.
 

SirBeardie

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Appreciate the comments, thank you. I've seen so many dragons with truncated tails that I assume they must be rather resilient to this form of injury. When the lid came down on the tail, he didn't even flinch, or seem to notice. He showed no interest at all in what was going on while I cleaned it and wrapped it, and every time I've handled it since he's seemed either oblivious or mildly curious, at most.

That said, should I stop holding out any hope that the tip will reattach? For, as little as my beardie seems to care about it, I'm distraught about what happened. I know accidents happen and that I've definitely learned my lesson. But after the adrenaline rush while first tending to his injury subsided, my first introspective moment about it had me feeling physically ill, literally. I had a bout of dry heaves thinking that I'd managed to inflict this sort of thing upon an innocent, trusting little creature who depends on my care. He's my little buddy, the one other being on this earth who's spent the last six years in the same room as me for nearly every waking moment. I think I'm desperately hoping to save the tail tip as a salve for my own sense of guilt at what I've caused.

Also, having three days' worth of practice, I'm getting more adept at bandaging the tail. I've found that if you really stretch the gauze to maybe 3-4 times its length when not under tension, then wrap it, the fibers catch and hold fairly well where they overlap. A few pieces of medical tape on the ends to cinch the whole thing together and I think I've finally come up with a wrap that he can't peel off, which nevertheless remains breathable and supportive.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, sorry you + your beardie had this accident ! You're doing a good job with it but I'd like to suggest using raw honey if you have some. It is a natural antimicrobial and promotes tissue granulation. Just a little dab instead of the neosporin or you can use both at the same time. And yes it's true, beardies do not feel much pain at all in their tail.
 

SirBeardie

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Original Poster
AHBD":348fxghy said:
Hi there, sorry you + your beardie had this accident ! You're doing a good job with it but I'd like to suggest using raw honey if you have some. It is a natural antimicrobial and promotes tissue granulation. Just a little dab instead of the neosporin or you can use both at the same time. And yes it's true, beardies do not feel much pain at all in their tail.

Thank you for the advice. I have heard of Manuka honey used medically for wound care, so I would like to give it a try. That said, I don't have any personal experience with the stuff nor know of any reputable brands. The last thing I want to do is put something on his tail that exacerbates the injury in any way, obviously, so I'm apprehensive about just picking something at random off a shelf or from Amazon. Do you have a recommendation for a specific product that I could follow?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Any raw honey is good, even from a local beekeeper or health store. One of the mods. here [ Tracie, username Drache613 ] sells Manuka on her site, www.bug-de-lite.
 

SirBeardie

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Original Poster
Understood. I'll don my PPE and venture out to a shop tomorrow to find some, unless Tracie can offer FedEx or UPS next-day shipping. I'd be glad to support a member of this community, but I'd rather not wait several days or a week for delivery if this stuff can boost my little guy's chances of healing up properly.
 

SirBeardie

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Original Poster
So, we're over a week into this and I figured I'd post periodic updates until something of note happens. I've gotten something called MediHoney and whenever I clean and bandage the tail, I apply a smear of that mixed with the Neosporin all the way around the tail. I managed to gently straighten out the tail before the wound itself became encompassed entirely by a scab, so if it does heal it'll presumably not be kinked.

There are no visible signs of necrosis or infection at all, and the tail tip has continued to retain its normal color, so I'm still holding out hope that the uninjured tissue around the wound is permitting sufficient blood flow to keep the severed end oxygenated.

I have this intuitive sense that, now that my dragon's natural healing processes seem to have kicked in, the less I mess with the wound, the better the end result will be, so I'm limiting my bandage changes to once every three days now. I'm confident enough in the overall cleanliness of his environment that this is a satisfactory interval with regard to possible infection risks, especially since I've leveled up my bandaging skills to expert.

As for him, he seems entirely unchanged. Still eating, basking, pooping, demanding frequent playtime - everything a healthy adult dragon should be doing. So, all things considered, we're in a good place.
 

SirBeardie

Member
Original Poster
I know I'm necroing an old topic, but I did promise to keep updating. We're now about four months beyond the incident and the tail tip is STILL stubbornly hanging on, but I think I've noticed now that the healing process is going to close up the wounded area and the tip will either detach or need a minor surgery to remove. I've been astonished to notice that the tip still maintains its color, which says to me that it's still receiving oxygen, but I just don't think that anything could have been done to keep it fully attached short of some very tricky microsurgery.

In any case, I do want to thank everyone for the support and suggestions. I can definitely vouch for the use of Medihoney to aid the healing process, as it's helped keep a nice chunky scab in place for the last four months. I've kept the tail continuously bandaged as one more barrier against possible infections, although I'm down to changing it just once a week as my technique has improved - that and while the little guy used to be patient and rather curious during the cleaning and wrapping process now he just sees it as a drain on his play time!

Anyway, his annual checkup's about a month down the road, so I'll get vet advice soon enough and perhaps we'll have a resolution then.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Updates are always of interest, hopefully all goes well but if it needs amputated your boy will be just fine.
 

SirBeardie

Member
Original Poster
I know it's been a while but this triumphant post should be my last update to this story. After six months of daily - and then, eventually, weekly - cleaning and bandaging, I finally decided a couple of weeks ago that my little buddy's tail had had enough time to get to wherever it was going, and I pulled the gauze off for the last time. And just today, during his bath, the last chunky scab has fallen off to reveal a perfect seal around the wound and a tail tip that, while it's obviously seen better days, is absolutely still firmly attached and comprised of live, healthy tissue.

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Apologies for the image quality, but it was difficult to manage with a cellphone in one hand and a squirming lizard who just wanted to get back to playtime in the other. It's not pretty, but it's more than I'd hoped for, and even more than I'd have expected from my local exotics vet (who I suspect would've talked me into amputating).

Thanks to the support from everyone, as well as the excellent ideas (like manuka honey!), and just remember never to give up on your little one.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Good to hear this update ! They are troopers and thankfully the tail does not feel much pain, and yes the honey is so useful on any wounds. Just keep a close eye on it, there will always be the chance of it getting caught on something + starting another problem.
 

SirBeardie

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1p25eev5 said:
Good to hear this update ! They are troopers and thankfully the tail does not feel much pain, and yes the honey is so useful on any wounds. Just keep a close eye on it, there will always be the chance of it getting caught on something + starting another problem.

Thanks! And yeah, I've already noticed while trying to get him back into his tank today that the little gouge can get hung up on things (the sliding glass panels on the front of his viv, in this case), but I'm going to be careful. The accident that got us here practically broke my heart. I'm definitely not planning on letting it happen again.
 

SirBeardie

Member
Original Poster
I know this update comes a year after my last post, but it's relevant. Part of the tail tip beyond the break eventually withered and fell off. Notably, however, there's still about a centimeter of intact tail beyond the healed wound that appears to be in for the long haul.

Besides that, he's still the lazy and lovable grump he's always been.

So, for what it's worth, manuka honey and antibiotics, not to mention months of regular bandages changes, can go a long way to mitigating the damage from injuries like this, and I want to offer my thanks to everyone who gave me advice while I was dealing with this.
 
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