Is she going to lose her tail???

Hi there,

I just recently adopted a year old cornsnake from a co-worker who was neglecting the poor thing pretty badly. It had at least 9 skins still in it's cage and there was poop everywhere and polluted water. That was the first thing I noticed. When I got her home however I gave her a thorough looking over and realized that she had something wrong with her tail. It looks like she was never able to get the skin off of the tip of her tail. I will post pictures of that. It looks like the skin had began cutting off circulation and was severing her tail right there. My boyfriend and I used teamwork to soak and peel... and soak and peel... over and over until we got down to her good skin. We have also been putting neosporin (without pain relief) on it every morning and evening and have been keeping her tank really clean. We are afraid she is going to have to have it amputated... When we got all the extra skins off (I will post a newer picture sometime tomorrow after I take one) we found out that she has already lost about an inch long piece of her tail. there is a black scab on the tip and it is healing so it looks like it has been like that for awhile. We think she might have to lose this piece as well. She can feel it so there isn't nerve damage, or at least not much, and it doesn't smell so it's not gangrenous (sp?). What do you guys think, and what do you suggest?? I really feel sorry for the poor thing but I am glad that she is in my care now so she can be taken care of properly...

Oh yes, unfortunatly that is going to be lost too. But it does not need to be "amputated" it will fall off on it's own like the last peice did.
Although I feel that as long as there's no sign of an actual wound or abraised skin that the neosporin is a bit of a waste of time. :shrugs:

Aww...... Poor little thing. I'm glad your taking care of it. Yes, It looks like it could loose it's tail. I would not suggest trying to remove the shed skin from there because it could result in that part of the tail coming off.

I would see a vet if you can.

A vet isn't going to do anything but remove the old skin as well, and it's already been removed....

Yes, we removed the skin ourselves. I didn't really even consider leaving it because it looked painful, but then again it might have made it fall off faster if we had kept it... I think it is actually healing up pretty good but even if she doesn't lose it she will always have trouble shedding right there and we will have to assist her. Oh, and I think that there was an open sore there under the scales because once we started taking the extra skins off, we would soak her tail a little longer and she would panic as soon as the "pinch" hit the water as if the cold water was stinging that part, which I can understand because I have submersed a cut of mine in cold water before too....

Ah ok, then yes if there is an open sore I would probally have put the neosporin on it as well.

Poor little girl, at least the worst of it is over for her now..
Onwards and upwards from here.
She's beautifull..

Jadie.Glitch said:

Yes, we removed the skin ourselves. I didn't really even consider leaving it because it looked painful, but then again it might have made it fall off faster if we had kept it... I think it is actually healing up pretty good but even if she doesn't lose it she will always have trouble shedding right there and we will have to assist her. Oh, and I think that there was an open sore there under the scales because once we started taking the extra skins off, we would soak her tail a little longer and she would panic as soon as the "pinch" hit the water as if the cold water was stinging that part, which I can understand because I have submersed a cut of mine in cold water before too....

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For future reference, I would use a damp paper towel instead of standing water.

Neosporin is a good idea. Make sure you use the normal type, NOT the type with pain reliever. Supposedly, the pain reliever is dosed for a large mammal, not a smallish reptile, so your snake could theoretically overdose.

Do you have any updated pics with the skin off?

Jrgh17 said:

Do you have any updated pics with the skin off?

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I don't have internet at my house right now so I brought the pics on a memory card to work. I was going to snap some pics to take this morning but completely spaced it. I will try to get some tonight and post them in the morning. Thanks to everyone for their advice and concern!

Oh man, that's horrible. Give your coworker a slap upside the head for me.

Monger said:

Oh man, that's horrible. Give your coworker a slap upside the head for me.

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I'll second that... Or:

:crazy02: :madeuce:

I've wanted to use those smilies together for sooo long.

So how's it going? Does it look any better?

We bought an anery corn in September last year from a pet store with the same problem. (Along with her being malnourished and being fed crickets.) Her tail had already lost a little bit. But it was just like the one you have pictured here with shed remaining on it. We did the same thing, soaked and pealed. We thought for sure she would lose the rest. But some how she didn't and the scar has healed so well that you can't hardly tell it was ever damaged. We kept a close on it when she shed, worried it might get stuck there. Thankfully she's had good sheds and no problems in that spot. So fingers crossed for you that she will recover just as well.

You're doing a great job and she is lucky to have a caring owner now.

Thanks for all your support everyone. My mother-in-law to be told me that I should just tell my co-worker that it died so she doesn't try to re-claim it once I rehabilitate it. I don't know if I can lie though.... There is no way I am going to give her back though. She's part of the family now. Anyways, here are a couple of pics of how it is looking now: (Also, someone asked me in another thread for a full-body shot so I will be getting one soon)

After someone mistreats an animal like that, theres no way you should return it!!! That snake is lucky to have you, and to have escaped in one peice (sort of ) from the previous home!

The tail looks better than in the original pics, it looks like the bottleneck part is still wide enough to supply blood or something cos the flesh doesn't look decayed, maybe theres a chance it will eventually heal? I don't have much experience in that area though

You were asking what morph in another thread, for whats its worth IMO thats one gorgeous normal/classic corn

All the best

Tom

Wow. Looking at the first pictures, I was thinking the dmaged pice was much, much shorter then it actually is. I don't know how healing may work out, but I wish you (and your snake) the best of luck.

P.S. If you give that snake back, there's not much hope for it.

Hi there! I just dug this thread up. Haven't updated in AGES!

Even after all the doctoring and peeling of this piece, it effectively decided that it was going to fall off. We don't even know when it happened! I just looked at her one day about two months ago and I was like... "where did your tail go, little one?!".

It was completely closed, no open wound or anything so that's good. She's a normal, happy, healthy, functioning (albeit STUBBY), awesome snakey ^_^.

I even looked for the tip in her substrate but couldn't find it. I'm assuming it finally just fell off on it's own, and without any blood supply to help it out, it just shriveled up and blended in with the bedding...

I may post some updated pics later...

What a great little read....

Glad to hear the snake is ok...good job on the rescue!!

Just found this thread - that poor thing! Looks like you came along just in time, and what a lucky snake that you did. You've done a great job, good for you, and I agree with the others, that co-worker needs shooting. GRR.

Here's to a long and happy life together for you both!