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How to remove a dead tail?

A

AnotherNewGuy

New member
I got my girl from PetCo about 6 months ago, and ever since I've had her, the last half-inch of her tail was covered in extra skin from a bad shed. I didn't think anything of it at first, being a newbie, but now I see that it is an issue. I tried using a wet Q-tip to gently rub the skin off, as well as soaked her, and while I did get some off. a little bit did stay. It was already sunken into the skin beyond repair, and now the tail is black. It is obvious that it causes her pain, and I wanted to know what the best way to handle it was. Should I just let her shed it off, or is there a way I can take it off by myself. All help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
A vet would definitely be the best option.

However, also talk to PetCo and the vet (and even other people) to see if PetCo should be responsible for this.
 
I doubt that Petco would take responsibility, but it's worth a shot. I would take her to a vet that deals consistently with reptiles...not some dog and cat vet ;)
 
It will fall off by itself over time, don't worry about it. The tail is already black which means that it's dead. If it's dead it can't cause any pain to the snake and as I said before it will come off when it is ready.
 
If it was the tip of the tail, I'd say leave it to drop off. However, half an inch is quite a bit to lose and I'd say a vet needs to remove it and then follow up to ensure that there's no resulting infection.
 
Our Moe had the same thing happen...bad pet store shed. We tried as well to remove it by soaking on several occassions but a few days before we were going to get him to the vet, he died. He was eating fine and was very active the night before. The morning I found him, he had regurged and died. The black part on his tail started at the tip and worked its way up to to his cloaca. I hope you have better luck. I would get her to the vet asap to be sure though.
Good luck, please keep us informed.
 
These things usually drop off on their own. That said, if this was my animal, I'd take it to see a vet. Leaving necrotic tissue attached can result in a systemic infection that could quite easily kill your snake.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. Unfortunately, I don't think that we have a reptile vet anywhere nearby, but I will definitely look into it. Now that I think about it, it's probably not quite a half inch. She still seems healthy and active, but she twitches in pain whenever I accidnetally touch it. She is in her humid hide digesting yesterday's meal right now, but I will try to get some pics up tomorrow. And @4riscorn, I'm really sorry to hear that. I really hope it isn't that serious. I'll keep you all updated.
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone. She's currently in her humid hide digesting yesterday's meal, but I will get some pictures as soon as I can tomorrow. Now that I think about it, it may not be quite a half of an inch, but she twitches in pain whenever she bumps it against something. I just looked it up, and apparently I live somewhat near a few herp vets with good reputations, so I will look into getting her checked. And 4riscorn, I'm really sorry to hear that. I really hope that it is not that serious. Thanks again for the help; I'll keep you posted.
 
I'm sorry about the quality. Bad camera coupled with my bad photography skills does not make good pictures. I hope you can get an idea. The skin isn't black, but dark brown. It seems to hurt her less now, but it still bugs her a bit. Also, all of the reptile vets in my town are either recently retired or out of town.
 

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For some reason, the other one refuses to upload, which does the size comparison. It it pretty close to a half inch, maybe a tiny bit less. Also, none of the reptile vets in my town are available right now. Should I just hope for the best and that it will fall off?
 
Hmm. Well, if you don't have a reptile vet, call around some normal vet offices and see if someone has enough man in them to check out a snake. If it's an infection, the tail end could die and fall off, or it'll die and the infection will spread.
 
When mine have problems, I tend to consider what I'd do if that was a dog. If a dog was in pain, then it'd be crying and a vet would be found, regardless. I wouldn't wait to see if whatever-it-was got better on its own.

Can any of the out-of-town reptile vets' offices, recommend a reptile vet in a nearby town that might be available?

If not, then I don't think you have any option other than to wait for it to drop off, see what (if anything) happens next, and hope for the best.
 
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