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antlepore
06-20-13, 01:53 AM
Hey guys just came across this forum tonight, last night I noticed my snake had about 2 centimeters of black skin on the tip of his tail. From what I've researched it was just a build up of shedding so I soaked him in warm water and it fell off, he bled for a little bit but the bleeding then stopped. This was about 2-3 nights ago.

I took my buddy out of his cage today when I came home from work and I noticed that his entire tail, from where he poops till the tip, is a lightly discolored brown and is completely limp, and from the looks of it has absolutely no blood circulation to it.

I'm nervous for this little guy, has this happened to anyone else? I'm taking him to the vet before this week is over
smy_749
06-20-13, 05:16 AM
go to a vet. (what you shouldhave did before waiting till it got this bad) but better late than never
Pareeeee
06-20-13, 07:31 AM
Go to the vet!!! ASAP.
It could kill him if you let it go any longer!
Amadeus
06-20-13, 09:07 AM
Just for future advice whenever one of my snakes has a slight abrasion (only happened once or twice) I use this repti wound healing aid I got off the clearance rack. It works fairly well and as others have said a vet visit is in order.

Zoo Med Repti Wound Healing Aid (http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=369)
antlepore
06-20-13, 11:35 AM
Yeah the earliest I can get him in is tomorrow morning, what do you guys think? 100% infection?
Amadeus
06-20-13, 02:37 PM
Yeah the earliest I can get him in is tomorrow morning, what do you guys think? 100% infection?

I'd say so.
Jules1618
06-20-13, 04:49 PM
Sounds bad
Starbuck
06-20-13, 05:08 PM
without seeing it firsthand, it sounds as though amputation may be needed, thankfully you said it doesnt extend past the vent?
Tail tip necrosis is one of the more common results of poor shedding, and as youve seen, can progress to a serious problem if left untreated.

If it IS tail-tip necrosis due to poor sheds, i GUARANTEE this didnt happen overnight, and some aspect of your husbandry is probably lacking. You need to be vigilant in the future, and make sure you discuss your husbandry with your vet, and thank you for taking him in... many others wouldn't.
Starbuck
06-20-13, 05:09 PM
To all: you can probably get your vet to prescribe you some silver sulfadiazine (SSD) ointment which is used to treat minor skin lesions and wounds as a precaution if you feed live etc, and bites/minor lesions are common among your collections.