OK this is a bit odd. So I was giving Ripley a bath just now (he's around 3 months old is my best guess, for reference) to help with his feet that started to shed today.
While he was splashing around, I suddenly noticed that about half of his tail looked VERY dark which I'd not noticed before. I looked at the last pictures I had of him which was about 3 days ago and his tail looked normal there.
I immediately started to worry about tail rot, but I wasn't sure if it could appear and spread to half of his tail that fast. His tail doesn't seem stiff at all and the skin/scales in that part don't look damaged like in some of the pictures I found of tail rot. But the dark half of the tail looked just like some of the more "zoomed out" photos I'd seen.
He's had a good appetite lately, and has been pretty docile (he's a bit fiesty all he time, and I'm working on getting him ok with being held and he's done well) but suddenly yesterday he was VERY grouchy and fought and bit me when I tried to handle him. I had thought his head and legs looked like they might shed soon, so I chalked it up to that. Today, his legs started to shed so I gave him a bath to help, and noticed the tail during the bath.
But here's the weird part! I took him out of the bath and dried him and put him back under his heat lamp and did some reading on tail rot, and a few minutes later when I looked again, his tail looks almost normal again now. Nowhere NEAR as dark as it was in the bath and right after I took him out.
Is it possible for their tail to change color similar to their beards and bellies? His beard and belly weren't dark really during the bath...I have no clue what just happened. Should I still be worried about tail rot? Or did perhaps being in the water somehow change the color temporarily?
I'll attach a pic of the tail when it was dark (the one in the sink) and another one of it now (the one in the hammock), looking basically normal again. Note that the one where it looks lighter and normal is AFTER the dark one!
Thanks!
While he was splashing around, I suddenly noticed that about half of his tail looked VERY dark which I'd not noticed before. I looked at the last pictures I had of him which was about 3 days ago and his tail looked normal there.
I immediately started to worry about tail rot, but I wasn't sure if it could appear and spread to half of his tail that fast. His tail doesn't seem stiff at all and the skin/scales in that part don't look damaged like in some of the pictures I found of tail rot. But the dark half of the tail looked just like some of the more "zoomed out" photos I'd seen.
He's had a good appetite lately, and has been pretty docile (he's a bit fiesty all he time, and I'm working on getting him ok with being held and he's done well) but suddenly yesterday he was VERY grouchy and fought and bit me when I tried to handle him. I had thought his head and legs looked like they might shed soon, so I chalked it up to that. Today, his legs started to shed so I gave him a bath to help, and noticed the tail during the bath.
But here's the weird part! I took him out of the bath and dried him and put him back under his heat lamp and did some reading on tail rot, and a few minutes later when I looked again, his tail looks almost normal again now. Nowhere NEAR as dark as it was in the bath and right after I took him out.
Is it possible for their tail to change color similar to their beards and bellies? His beard and belly weren't dark really during the bath...I have no clue what just happened. Should I still be worried about tail rot? Or did perhaps being in the water somehow change the color temporarily?
I'll attach a pic of the tail when it was dark (the one in the sink) and another one of it now (the one in the hammock), looking basically normal again. Note that the one where it looks lighter and normal is AFTER the dark one!
Thanks!
