PDA

View Full Version : possible bent scale on tail tip


possible bent scale on tail tip

yojoe05
02-17-2013, 01:46 PM
About a month ago my wife had noticed a rough spot on the tip of Rapunzel's tail. I wasn't to worried because I thought it looked like it may be a small shed cap that had got stuck on her tail and it would probably come off when she shed again. She just had a fresh shed last night and the spot is still there. It doesn't hurt her but it looks almost like a scale got bent up in the wrong direction. My question is wha would a bent scale look like and if that is what the problem is how do we resolve it? She seems to not have any problems with it and ignores it completely even when we touch it ourselves. Jus want to know what the problem could be.

MindsEyeExotics
02-17-2013, 04:20 PM
I have seen this on several snakes and it doesn't seem to affect them at all. I definitely wouldn't be worried about it. I think eventually it should shed out after a couple of sheds

yojoe05
02-17-2013, 05:48 PM
That's what I figured would happen but I wasn't entirely sure.

yojoe05
02-17-2013, 07:36 PM
Looked it back over it was definitely a shed cap. She must of not had a perfect shed the time before last. I got the cap off and thankfully her tail is still perfectly okay.

yojoe05
02-19-2013, 06:51 AM
Keeping a close eye on her tail at the moment it looks a little more agitated than when I got the shed cap removed. What kind of ointment should I be putting on it if there's concern for infection and to help with the healing?

Christen
02-19-2013, 08:12 AM
Just plain triple antibiotic not the one with pain medication.

yojoe05
02-19-2013, 08:25 AM
Thanks I think I have a tube in our first aid kit I'll just apply a dab to it tonight if it looks worse off.

yojoe05
02-21-2013, 07:40 PM
Been applying the triple antibiotic ointment to her tail for a couple nights now. It's looking better and looks to have scabbed over and began healing. Glad I got it off when I did or she may have lost her tail tip. She's been a great girl through the process to and hasn't been bothered by me touching it to apply the ointment or anything.

yojoe05
02-27-2013, 08:20 AM
I've been applying antibiotic cream to her tail tip every day and it doesn't seem to be getting worse. The tail is a light brownish color and of what I can tell it looks like it's scabbing over so it should heal okay. Will her tail tip always be thinner than the rest of her tail now or will it eventually grow to match the thickness of the rest of the tail again as well?

Christen
02-27-2013, 10:58 AM
It is hard to say without looking at it TBH. I would wait for the next she cycle and see what happens then. She could still run the risk of loosing the tip of her tail or it could continue to heal fine and with some time you will never know that she had this issue.

yojoe05
02-27-2013, 01:50 PM
Thanks Christen I'll just continue applying antibiotic ointment to it then until her next shed cycle.

yojoe05
04-03-2013, 07:06 PM
Rapunzel had her next shed today. The shed was whole but unfortunately her tail tip did fall off from this shed. It's slightly upsetting since I had missed it originally and if I had done something sooner I could of saved her tail tip. Fortunately it was only the very tip though and it came off clean and her tail is just fine now. I'll definitely be keeping a better eye on her sheds from now on though and won't let the same mistake happen again.