Nugget bit his tail :(

[nitronovice]

hi everyone, i'm new to the forum and rather new to beardies.
my beardy is called Nugget and he's about 5-6 months old.
anyways, shortly after i cleaned out his viv this monday and put more food in, i went to do some other things. i came back and noticed the tip of his tail was at a weird angle and there were a few drops of blood on the floor; HE BIT HIS OWN TAIL ):
it looks pretty mangled and i cna definitely see the flesh underneath if i look clsoely.
anyways, its been a few days now and i've cleansed the tail with diluted betadine.
i've read somewhere (i think another thread on here) that the damaged part will fall off eventually, but i'm totally unsure of that.
in the meantime, any suggestions? i'm getting really worried. i'll try to bring him to the vet some time soon, hopefully this weekend, but its a LONG bus ride from where i am.

http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05418.jpg&newest=1
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05419.jpg&newest=1
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05420.jpg&newest=1


thanks

 

[Jiffy]

Poor baby. (I havent been able to look at the pics yet)
but I recommend keeping the area clean and you can put neosporin on it. Do NOT use peroxide.

 

[nitronovice]

lol thanks for the reply.
you wont be able to really see him anyways, i only took pics of his tail.
i have polysporin; would that work?
i think he might sill have feeling in the 'hanging' tip; when i swab the area with a diluted-betadine-soaked swab, he flinched a little, like he normally would if he's busy doing someting else. i'm not sure if he just sensed the vibrations through the rest of his tail or whether the damaged section actually feels it.

edit:
i just read another threead where another beardy's tail tail looked just like nugget's, but a longer section was hanging off of his than nugget's. the owner was advised and did cut the tip off.
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=121478&hilit=broken+tail
should i do the same to nugget?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

No, I would not cut or snip the end off just yet! He could still have some feeling left in it, so it should just eventually dry up & fall off.
Putting some antibiotic ointment on it should help ward off infection though.
Does he have any retained shed that you have seen which could be prompting him to bite at his tail? Are you using a UVB light, & supplementing calcium?

Tracie

 

[nitronovice]

i'm believe i'm using everything i should be.
i think he simply mistakened his tail for food but realized it wasn't a little too late. i assume you've looked at the attached pictures?
also, is polysporin okay? i don't have neosporin, nor can i seem to find any at the closest walmart with is pretty far away.

 

[nitronovice]

update
i'm giving him a bath right now and i noticed the tip of his tail is now all kinda white instead of the redish-pink i saw before. should i be worried about that?
and as far as feeligns go, i'm not sure if he feels the tip of his tail, or if he's just ignoring me.

btw i think its obvious by now he probably bit right through the bones, judging by how loosly the tip is hanging and flopping around.

i've attached some new pics to try to explain what i mean by the tip/flesh being white.
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05421.jpg&newest=1
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05422.jpg&newest=1

 

[nitronovice]

bump?
sorry, i feel this is rather urgent

 

[Jiffy]

How is your little guy doing this morning?

 

[nitronovice]

same as yesterday i guess. i don't see any exposed pink flesh anymore; where there was flesh is now white. could that be skin regrowing?
he doesn't seem to respond when i squeeze the tip of his tail though.
the bitten area is just a little darker than the rest of the tail, while the colour at the very tip looks normal.

 

[nitronovice]

another update. there seems to be some blood gathering up under the skin just infront of the main bite area (towards the body)
he definitely feels it when i squeeze infront of the bite, but i think he's lost feeling at the tip.
sorry for sounding like i'm rushing you guys, but i really want to know what i should do before it escalate any further.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry that I did not check back on your thread.
How is he doing today? Based on the pictures that you posted, that area looks like it could be getting slightly infected. The end is most likely going to shrivel up & fall off pretty soon. Are you cleaning it with betadine daily & putting antibiotic ointment on it as well?
I would watch that really closely for traveling infection up his tail. Can you get him to the vet?

Are you providing UVB lighting for him, & calcium?
Tracie

 

[nitronovice]

thanks for replying. just knowing someone would follow up relieves some stress.
yes i am providing uvb lighting and dusting the crickets with calcium. as a side note, i'm feeding him freeze dried crickets, mainly because i can't seem to afford live ones.
his tail looks the same as yesterdat; with the white-ish flesh. i'm not sure if it's visible in the pictures, but there is also a spot a few cm ahead of the severed section where his teeth just nibbed through the scales. again, i see white where there was pink/red before.
i clean it with betadine twice a day and apply the ointment after cleaning.
can you describe what an infection would look like?
and at this rate, i can't get him to a vet. i dont have any more bus tickets, can't get any until at least monday, and the trip itself would likely take most of the day.

 

[Denise Bushnell (RIP)]

I don't like the look of that tail at all, and I would keep a very close eye on it, particularly if there are teeth marks farther up on his tail, closer to his body. If he is still biting at it, that could be an indication that infection is setting in, or that he may be developing an abscess somewhere under the scales of his tail. When an abscess begins to form, sometimes you can't actually see the swelling from the outside of the tail, but it produces pain and terrible pressure in his tail. If that is what's happening, he could be biting at his tail to try to rupture the abscess and release the pressure, which may be why you're seeing raw flesh, that is pale pink, or white, under the bites. When you feel the very end of his tail, below the break, and the bites, does it feel like a piece of hardened wood, rather than normal flesh?
If so,then the flesh below the break on his tail is dead, probably from lack of circulation and blood flow to the end of his tail, because of the break.

If the portion of his tail, below the break, is hardened, and when you pinch it, you get no response from him at all then that portion of his tail needs to come off. It may actually fall off on its own, but, if it doesn't, and he continues to bite at it above the break, then you need to get him to a vet to have that portion of his tail amputated. Also, if that portion of his tail has turned black, and you notice the black coloration continuing up his tail, above the break,then that means that his tail is becoming necrotic, and gangrene is setting in, which will eventually kill him, if the necrotic portion is not amputated, and he is not given a very strong antibiotic to stop the infection from continuing to travel up his tail.

For now, I would recommend removing whatever you're using to line the bottom of his tank, and use either large sterile gauze pads , or paper towels, instead, and change them often. Continue to soak his tail in a warm diluted Betadyne Solution (the color of weak tea) for about 10 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day, then pat it dry and apply some sort of a very strong antibiotic ointment, such as Neosporin after every soak. If you see no improvement at all in a day or two, or if you see more and more black coloration creeping up his tail, the get him to a vet as quickly as possible, or you may very well lose him from the infection. Once a beardie's tail becomes necrotic, gangrene will set in without a vet's intervention, so I would try locating one now who can treat him, should it become necessary.

I very nearly lost my oldest male, Ming, last year, to a terrible infection from a tail that became necrotic from his biting at it, and gangrene set it. He had three amputations of portions of his tail over the course of 5 months, as the infection continued to travel up his tail, and his vet, during the last amputation, removed all but 3-1/2 inches of his tail which finally eradicated the infection.

I cannot emphasize to you enough that, if you see any black coloration creeping up his tail, then get him to an experienced reptile vet just as fast as you can, or you very well could lose him!

Please keep us informed on how he's doing.

 

[nitronovice]

he definitely hasn't bitten his tail again since the first time.
i've been using paper towel to line the tank since i got him.
the end of the tail below the bite is stiff, not soft, and i think he definitely doesn'y feel it anymore.
the portion just ahead of the bite kinda turned dark, but it hasn't moved up the tail ovre the last few days.
the smaller wound about 1cm forward of the bite seems like it's getting smaller, but there's still that white stuff where the open wound was.
that's about all i can tell you right now. i'm currently on the phone trying to find a vet around here.
btw, can someone tell me what the white stuff is? as in where there was initially pink, it is now white. it's got me stumped for a long time now.
thank you all so much for your input on this.

 

[nitronovice]

update
i just took a few more pics of his tail, i tihnk these might be the most detailed pictures i can get, while he's asleep and i can focus light on the tail.
note the small bite mark further up the tail. again, it was from the first time he bit his tail.
also note the spot of red under the skin just ahead of the wound.
the very dark patch between the main wound and the smaller bite mark is only on the tip of the scales, not under (not sure if that ade sense). it usually looks like that just before a shed.
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05426.jpg
http://s1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee460/nitronovice/?action=view&current=DSC05427.jpg
from these pics, what exactly should i be most worried about?