Home Forums Reptiles & Exotics My leopard gecko tail fell off when I was handling him

My leopard gecko tail fell off when I was handling him

Published on: December 31, 2021 • By: Eva · In Forum: Reptiles & Exotics
Author
Topic
Eva
Participant
December 31, 2021 at 11:21pm
Today I was handling and taking for a walk my leopard gecko and suddenly I saw blood on my hand. Then I noticed that his nail have fallen off. He didn't shed. I was just handling him. What should I do? I think there is still small piece of nail left in his toe.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
January 02, 2022 at 03:26pm
Hello!   Do I take it that the nail has fallen off, rather than the tail?  In this case, the optimal thing to do would be to speak to your local exotics vet, who will begin by checking that the husbandry (eg housing and dietary provision) for your particular gecko are correct, that there are no likely nutritional issues and further that there are no chronic disorders (that is, the sort that occur slowly, over time) underlying this.  Exotics vets tell me that this will help to solve most presentations in reptiles, but they would also be able to rule out trauma / infection etc.  The good news is that as a result of Covid, specific exotics appointments may be more widely available than they have been before.  If you do not have or are unsure how to find an exotics vet, begin by calling your local surgery and asking whether they know of anyone.  Vet surgeries will almost always see your gecko, even if they don't see geckoes regularly, but may need to get obtain advice from a variety of external sources in order to clarify that they are doing the right thing.  Best of luck and we hope that you get to the bottom of this problem.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
January 02, 2022 at 03:26pm
Hello!   Do I take it that the nail has fallen off, rather than the tail?  In this case, the optimal thing to do would be to speak to your local exotics vet, who will begin by checking that the husbandry (eg housing and dietary provision) for your particular gecko are correct, that there are no likely nutritional issues and further that there are no chronic disorders (that is, the sort that occur slowly, over time) underlying this.  Exotics vets tell me that this will help to solve most presentations in reptiles, but they would also be able to rule out trauma / infection etc.  The good news is that as a result of Covid, specific exotics appointments may be more widely available than they have been before.  If you do not have or are unsure how to find an exotics vet, begin by calling your local surgery and asking whether they know of anyone.  Vet surgeries will almost always see your gecko, even if they don't see geckoes regularly, but may need to get obtain advice from a variety of external sources in order to clarify that they are doing the right thing.  Best of luck and we hope that you get to the bottom of this problem.
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Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
January 02, 2022 at 03:28pm
Given that there is nail protruding into the toe, infection risk may be relatively high and we wouldn't recommend waiting for long to be assessed.  Your local emergency vets may triage the case for you as it may be an emergency.
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