Injured Tail :(

Hello all, I need some help.
I recently adopted my baby corn, Fettuccine (5 months old now), from a breeder in december. I had notice when she first arrive that she had a few layers of stuck shed on the very end of her tail. I didn't think much of this at first, and I left her alone for the first week so she could adjust to her new home.
After that, I started to give her a warm soak every few days hoping it would work its way off. A couple of the layers did come off but there is still a layer stuck on her tail even now.
A week ago I noticed that the end of her tail was pretty stiff, which concerned me but I was afraid to mess with it because that part of the tail is so delicate. Then, today I went to hold her and noticed that the last quarter inch of her tail was broken. I tried to get pictures of it but failed to get it to focus properly. It kind of looks split where the break is, but there is no blood.

I'm very concerned about the possibility of infection! Does anyone know what I can do to help her heal properly?? She doesn't seem to be in pain, but I feel awful :(

Please take her to see an experienced herp vet a.s.a.p.- this may help you find one, assuming you're in the USA: https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

What happened is that her tail tip has died from lack of circulation- it doesn't take many stuck layers of shed for this to happen, because the blood circulation in their tail tip is already so little. Yes, this can turn into a systemic infection that could kill her, so please get this taken care of quickly- she'll probably need her tail tip surgically removed- a qualified herp vet should do this, not a regular vet.

It's a tough lesson to learn, but never ignore any stuck shed on a snake- especially on their tails, but also check that their eye caps came off too- eye damage is another thing that can happen- best avoided.

Try reaching out to the breeder also to make him aware that you received the reptile in that way (stuck/ retained tail shed). He may be able to help you out in some way. In any case, he should be made aware of it and possibly have some options for you. Most breeders have warranties on the health of the animals they sell. Good luck!

I'm going to call the vet first thing in the morning. Her health is my priority. :(

By the way, one of my rat snakes (she's about 15 years old now) had an injury to her tail tip some years ago (nothing to do with retained shed- her tail tip got a crushing injury) & I had the vet remove her tail tip- the surgery went just fine, & she's been healthy ever since- nothing she couldn't live just fine without.

By the way, I agree, you really ought to talk to whomever you got this snake from- that was unfair to you (as well as to the snake) that they sold her in this condition. All the best-

It’s terrible to hear that the seller sold this snake with layers of stuck shed :( She must have been dehydrated for a long time. I hope all goes well with the vet and that her tail can be taken care of with no complications.

UPDATE

I left work early today so I could take her to the emergency vet, but when I took her out I noticed that her tail now looks completely fine now.
What I assumed was necrotic tissue seems to have receded almost completely. Her tail is no longer stiff or split??? Last night she wasn't flexing that part of her tail at all, and now she's moving it as if nothing even happened. I'm not sure how this could be possible since it looked so bad last night, but I'm grateful. The very tip of her tail still looks a little necrotic, but it's really hard to tell since its so tiny. Other than that, there is no sign of injury at all. I called my vet to ask their opinion on whether or not I should still bring her in and they told me that since I've already seen massive improvement, the best thing I can do for her is monitor it closely for any changes. If it seems to get worse in the next couple of days, I was instructed to bring her in immediately.

I've read about home remedy for tail rot in bearded dragons where you soak the tail in diluted betadine a few time a day to prevent the spread of infection. I wanted some opinions on this, I don't want to move forward with anything until I'm sure it won't hurt her.

No idea what's going on with her tail, since we're not seeing it, but I'd also ask your vet about doing diluted Betadine soaks of the tail tip (& only the tail tip). If there's any break in the skin whatsoever, I'd assume that could be helpful, & do no harm, but personally, I still call & ask for their opinion.

At some point in the future, you may find that when she sheds, she may "lose" that tail tip along with the rest of the shed that is supposed to come off, so if I were you, I'd also ask the vet "what if that happens" so that you can be prepared if it occurs at a bad time for contacting them- this way you'll already know what to do to be of help (& even if they don't think you should bother with soaks right now). Snakes in the wild sometimes lose tail tips too- & while they can heal over okay, there's always some risk of infection that's better to avoid when they're our pets.

Corn snakes have such tiny tail tips & thin skin to go with it, so they can be prone to this issue. Just something to watch for. When you look at her sheds from now on, hold them up to the light & look very close- magnify if you need to- the tail tip of the shed may look like it didn't come off, because sometimes the very end is inside out so that the end of the shed appears to be blunt (& missing some) when it's not.

I just figured out there’s an app. Here are some pictures. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...966438f828.jpg



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...dc619568bc.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...50626ed047.jpg
And this is from this afternoon https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ee90b66d57.jpg


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