wound advice

[reaperreptiles]

ok, well you all know about the fight that happened. well besides popped scales scrapes and small wounds there was one on mr.tubbins that i was concerned about. it is on the last 2 inches of his tail. it was a slit from top to bottom, the vet said he thought it could be saved and told me to make sure it stays clean and keep putting silvadine on it. I have seen no progress in the tail and it looks like the wound has gotten bigger. it looked infected so i washed it out with antibacterial soap, followed the medical advice and did the iodine solution then dried the wound and put on silvadine. The scales around the wound are a yellowish green color but he is acting normal, eating (finally) should i be concerned? when he first got the wound he was trying to chew off his tail until i cleaned it and put cream on it, now he has stopped. it is not pussing or gooping out, probably bc its mostly fat down there. anybody have any pictures of wounds healing or what i should look for for good/bad healing/infection. thanks guys. (ill get some pics up tonight)

[Jeff]

I think it would help if you posted pictures of the wounds.

[reaperreptiles]

ok heres some pics, its been an hour since i did the soap bath, iodine and silvadine. there is no more green coloration and the wound looks very clean. it still looks gross but clean. the wound starts on top but gets bigger as it reaches the underside of the tail, probably since he is dragging it around. well,heres his tail, lettme know if you think i should contact my vet about possible amputation of the tail tip.









heres some scratched up popped scales on his head, its all shiny from the silvadine


heres some minor scrapes and scratches on his tail where it looks like toby bit down then pulled away, almost acraping her teeth down to the tip of his tail. its really hard to see with the silvadine on, but any red spots or lines are scrapes.



well, lettme know guys. thanks

[reaperreptiles]

oh and here, one other quick question. toby has a popped lip scale, heres a pic. is there a good way to go about cleaning this, figured just saline or water. just dont want it to develop into mouth rot.



other than that lip scale and a scratch on her 'eyebrow' she is spotless.

[James Wilson]

Keep him clean (on paper towels or newspaper, and treat wounds with hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic ointment, and he should heal up just fine.

[reaperreptiles]

thankies

[Susann]

Some quick thoughts I had:
Can you bandage a BTS?
Could you put some ointment on the clean wound and then wrap it?

I had a dog (I know, I know, just hear me out) that had a surgical wound that would not heal; kept seeping puss and not closing. I'd heard that Marshmallow root is antibacterial, a natural antibiotic, that would kill infection and inflammation when applied as a paste on a wound. I took it upon myself to spend 3-4 hours, while watching a couple of movies, applying this to the wound. I would mix water with the powder to make a thick paste, apply it, every 30 min or so I would wipe off the old, put on new.
I swear, by the end of the day, all the redness was gone, no more puss, and wound was starting to close up. The next day, no seeping puss, wound definitely healing.

I seem to recall someone here on this forum found a BTS that had been attacked by dogs, tried everything to get wounds to heal but nothing seemed to work. As a last ditch effort, applied Manuka Honey to the wounds, and saw the same results I did with the Marshmallow root.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that this is to be used in place of veterinary care. Definitely ask your veterinarian first before using anything new.
That wound on the tail just looks so deep and raw (reminded me of my dog's wound), almost half amputated. Just wondering if ointment could be applied and then some of that stretchy, self-adhesive bandage put on top to keep bacteria from entering, and medication in place. I'm almost thinking that the tail needs some kind of bandage around it to keep the two wound-sides together in order to heal.

Or, is there a reason that this would be bad?
Wondering if anyone here has any experience with this, but regardless, reaperreptiles, definitely ask your vet's opinion first, before doing anything other than already ordered.

[reaperreptiles]

i have some stretchy slef adhesive bandage that i once used good for an rescue iguana who had some lesions. But i dont want the wound to stay wet and soggy and grow more bacteria. i figured just cleaning the wound once or twice a day with soap and water, iodine solution and then silvadine. if i dont see any improvements by the end of this week I will contact my vet for further advice. He told me just to wait and see how it looks especially since reptiles heal slowly, im just worried that bc its near the bottom side of his tail he is constantly ripping it back open. I have put his water on top of his tile hide so that he cant crawl through it or poop in it and i am hand feeding him bc he likes to lay in his food. can reptiles receive stitches??? this may be an option for him even if its only 2 or three, just to help the wound stay closed to heal.

[Katrina]

Some quick thoughts I had:
Can you bandage a BTS?
Could you put some ointment on the clean wound and then wrap it?

NO! Do not bandage it! Any kind of constriction will cause the body to reject the tail.

They have great immune systems and should be able to deal with this just fine if given proper conditions. Take James' advice and just keep it clean and keep him on paper towel. Do NOT bandage!!!

[reaperreptiles]

I didn't think bandaging was a good idea, just sounds like it would help keep the wound wet and thriving for bacteria. Thanks kat, any idea on the matter of stitches? Has anyone ever heard of stitches being used in BTS?

[Katrina]

I didn't think bandaging was a good idea, just sounds like it would help keep the wound wet and thriving for bacteria. Thanks kat, any idea on the matter of stitches? Has anyone ever heard of stitches being used in BTS?

Again - no. I remember someone posting of how their vet stitched and then bandaged a wound on the tail (obviously not a vet familiar with reptiles). The tail was quickly rejected, coming off above the stitches. The best course of action is what James suggested - very little because the reptile body is designed to heal itself. Any kind of constriction or stitches will cause the tail to fall off.

[reaperreptiles]

thanks katrina

[Scotts1au]

Not wanting to alarm you too much the skink may have initiated the process to drop it's tail. The process by which blueys drop their tails in response to stress is called autotomy. The tail has fracture points along it which allows the muscles to be sheared off, the blood supply is then lost to the affected end part. Sometimes the process is not complete and the tail may heal but generally the affect part of the tail is lost in time because of the compromised blood flow as a result of the blood vessels shearing behind it and muscles contracting at the arterial ends to prevent blood loss given that the lizard intended to shed the tail. Given that the end of the tail appears to be off at a bit of an angle there is a possibility that the vertebrate has separated in which case it will be a matter of time until the end of the tail drops off. If this is the case you will notice that very tip of the tail will start to contract as it dries out and the wound may start to putrefy as effectively the end of the tail is starting to rot. If this is the case the end will need to be removed by a vet. I've seen it lots of times on skinks run over by cars, even bikes.

[reaperreptiles]

Yeah, thats what my vet said. He told me to wait a week or two and see how it goes before we look at removing it. It still bleeds when i clean and its all puffy. He was trying to chew it off last week but after a few attempts gave up, when i saw that i figured its a possibility he might lose the tip of the tail. the scales around the wound are very light colored and some of them are grey. Im starting to think your right, he might lose the tail. he doesnt even flinch anymore if i go to clean it, he still flinches when i clean popped scales and scratched but not with that big open wound. either way im gonna give it a another week and see where it goes. thanks scott

[JoshChimera]

I hope both your skinks recover in no time.

[ShaunaL]

Is there an update on this bubba??

My boy has an injury almost identical on his tail, he has a vet appointment for Thursday, I don't know what to do.

He has been on antibiotic injections which are into his tail, I'm wondering if its damage from me holding his tail or if he hurt it himself on his log? I don't know, I just noticed blood and saw it

[ReiDaPanda]

Ok so I sought out a vet about potential scale rot and was told it was only an abrasion from moss hut I had. At the time 3 scale popped of leaving some dry looking scales. I cleaned it daily withe badeadine which was recommended. My maruke skink just shed today leaving this big spot I can't tell if it's exposed skin or a really bad shed. Normally as a safety habit from snakes and iguanas that had poor sheds I assist with soft bush and warm bath. Also bypass poor humidity.
Can I clean and cover this with a pet safe band-aid.