tail rot

[predaza]

hi ppl this has probably been on ere loads of times but my lil snow now called 'ice' hasnt shed properly on his/her tail and althuogh i did leave him in water overnight the piece of old skin still remains and now i think it is starting to rot.

so has it gone to far or is ther still time t heal it?

any helpfull posts would be great thnx

p.s. if the tail does rot off is it really that bad or are ther any longterm problems that will arise. :shrugs:

 

[Kel]

You need to keep soaking to loosen the skin. Try it for a few hours every other day to avoid stressing the snake (anybody recommend more frequently? Is the soaking or damaged tail stressing him more??). If the tip of the tail is starting to rot, then there are probably several layers on there by now.

If it really is that far gone, you could find the tip of the tail coming off with the skin as you try to remove it. There will then be a raw patch of exposed flesh and bone on the end of the stump. Your immediate risk will be that it gets infected and causes gangrene that can spread internally and kill the snake. To avoid this, keep the area clean and treat it with a reptile-safe antiseptic. If you're not already using it, switch to using newspaper on the floor of his tank. If you're using a bark substrate, or something that comes in small pieces, it might adhere to the wound and cause problems with healing.

If the stump heals OK, your long-term problem is that you may have a problem with future sheds coming off cleanly in that area. You will have to monitor each shed very closely from then on and if the end of the shed is retained, you should immediately start the soaking treatment to make sure that it comes off.

 

[gisele]

I don't know if this will help but I'll put in my two sense I have found that my corns often fail to shed their tail. The previous owner had no idea what they were doing and didn't bother to check the tail ever so I think it must have gone for 4-5 months without shedding the tail. I did save it but it was shrivelled and if it hadn't been fixed in a short amount of time, would have fallen off. I have never had a problem with rotting though. Are you spraying him every day? If so maybe you could ease off a bit. It may be too much moisture. I don't know if that is the case but it was just a thought.

 

[MegF.]

Mine came to me with a tail that hadn't shed completely. It now is a wierd shape on the end that I have to really check whenever she sheds, but otherwise it's fine. You can see the tip just below her head in this picture.