Possible constriction of toe?

[Vengeance]

Hi all,

Astro sloughed today and I went over her toes, as one foot was still to slough. She had a bit of retained shed on two toes so I went to work on removing the remainder, then noticed this as she was jerking her foot away every time my hand touched it:

Astro's toe1.jpg

Astro's toe3.jpg

Astro's toe4.jpg

She's been with me since December and sloughed three times. Each time I scoured the enclosure looking for gloves, but I wouldn't find all four each time. As far as I can tell, it's only the bottom of the toe that has been effected by the 'constriction' - I'm not 100% sure if it is constriction, but it looks very close to it. So I'm feeling like a total ass as I've been going over their feet each time they slough, to miss this... I hope she doesn't lose the toe. It's the only one that looks like this on all of her feet.

I'll be giving her a lukewarm bath to help remove the remainder of the shed on her other foot, and hopefully the little bit on her toe in the above images. Is there anything else I can do for her? Is a vet trip too extreme, or would it be a recommended course of action?

In the event it isn't retained shed: Astro used to have a background in her enclosure that she would climb every opportunity she had. I removed that, and the only other things in the enclosure are the two hides, water bowl, two plastic plants and a half section of plastic pipe that's had its edges sanded smooth. Substrate is kritters krumble in the course variety (shredded coconut husk). She cannot reach the heat lamp, and there is a vent on the hot end that she does climb on sometimes. What could it be, if not constriction?

I did give them snails last week that had fairly hard shells, is it possible she stepped on one? I wouldn't think it'd cut her toe, but it's another possibility.

Edit:

So I've soaked her foot, removed the little tiny bit that remained on the above toe in the pictures. The wound is 1-2mm deep, about 1/4 - 1/3 through, doesn't seem to be too close to bone. Also, does the toenail on the left of her sore toe in the images above (and below) look strange? It's like it's missing the stuff in the centre. Looks a little inflamed too.

Astro's foot5.jpg

Astro's foot6.jpg

[Jeff]

Those are excellent pictures. Unfortunately, I can't tell you for sure what is going on there. It really doesn't look like a constriction issue to me though. It looks more like scar tissue on a wound of some kind. There could be an infection involved which could explain the slight inflamation on the other toe is that is what it actually is.

I think soaking is the best thing you can do, and I might try triple biotic ointment too. That won't hurt anything even if there is no infection. Hopefully someone will recognize what it is and be able to give you some useful advice.

[Vengeance]

Alright, thank you. It took a couple of tries for her to keep the foot still long enough to get those shots, glad they are clear though! I don't actually have any triple biotic ointments, so I'll be looking at getting a tube of it today. I'll avoid ones with pain relief as it's been repeated over a few of the questions I read covering the use of Neosporin type products.

Hmm. The inflamed toe no longer has the nail. It was there last night, but not today. Here are recent (today's) pictures:

Astro's foot7.jpg

Astro's foot8.jpg

Astro's foot9.jpg

Astro's foot10.jpg

I'm still mulling over a vet appointment (to get the foot looked at and a general health examination), being this late in the week chances are it'd be for next week.

[Scotts1au]

In the meantime try some human Savlon cream or any other antibacterial cream - shouldn't hurt the bluey in small amounts.

[Vengeance]

Thanks Scotts1au, I checked through a chemist and couldn't find anything resembling Neosporin. Even asked at the counter and got an odd look for my troubles. I was very tempted to get Savlon, but I didn't recognise any of the active chemicals listed so I avoided it. Now that I know it's okay, I will invest in a tube for future use. In the meantime, I put a few drops of betadine antiseptic liquid on the toe. Well, only one drop actually hit her foot as she moved a lot.

I have booked an appointment for Tuesday next week. I will also be getting her back looked at as she used to climb the walls and she has a slight indent just before the hips. I want to get that looked at too, while they do get calcium and D3 supplements, MBD is a concern despite her being the only one with that indent (the other two rarely climb). It's something I'd rather catch in advance if the indent isn't actually from climbing the walls.

[Scotts1au]

Savlon cream contents.
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive ... ptic-cream

I've used it before for lesions on blueys with no problems. I wouldn't recommend any of these things for long term use but for a little wound - particularly if it is otherwise persisting without treatment, not a problem as a stop gap measure and not a substitute for a vet.

[Vengeance]

That's great advice, and thank you for that link, Scotts1au.

I will still be taking her to the vet, and in future if similar injuries occur and persist, a vet trip would be on the agenda then too. I've become quite attached to my Blueys and their health and well-being is important to me. Here's to hoping the infection is something minor and not a big concern, but it will be good to know for certain.

[Susann]

Are the scales on top of the toes raised looking at all?
Because I've dealt with cracks, sores, the loss of toes, and the loss of toenails, but it's always been in conjunction with the scales on the top of the toes kind of raising up. For me it's been a case of too low humidity.

[Vengeance]

The humidity at the warm end is at 50%, measured using a digital hygrometer. We've had stormy weather recently so the humidity is unlikely to be that high during normal weather. In the kitchen, the humidity often sits around the 30%-50% mark, however right now it's at 63%.

The tops of her feet look fairly normal to me. Nonetheless, here are some photos of the injured foot:

Astro's foot11.jpg

Astro's foot12.jpg

Astro's foot13.jpg

[Susann]

The scales on the toes do look fine. If mine have lost toenails without any seeming injury or wounds, it has always been when scales start to lift.
Just to show you what I'm talking about; this is a pretty bad case, but:

Susann's Canon SD1400 IS 1066.JPG

When I installed a humidifier in the tanks, all these problems went away.

[Vengeance]

Thank you for posting that photo Susann, I now know what to look for if low humidity becomes a problem. I'll monitor the humidity in their enclosures, although I'll have to invest in some more hygrometers. Up in Brisbane, I did notice Gizmo's belly scales becoming dry at one stage - haven't had anything like that down here but I will keep an eye out nonetheless.

The caresheet recommends a humidity of 25%-40%, did the dry feet and raised scales occur in that range? Coming up to a slough I spray the warm end of their enclosure a few times with a spray bottle, first when I notice their colours dulling and belly going opaque, and again after it clears. They have had fairly complete sheds after doing that, with a few cases of shed retention on the feet and tail tip requiring a warm bath to remove.

What about a humid hide using sphagnum moss? My local bunnings stocks sphagnum moss in dehydrated bricks.

The humidifiers are actually a lot cheaper than I imagined, if it comes to it I'll get one for each enclosure as well.

[Susann]

I have never used hygrometers so I can't tell you what it was at when that picture was taken. I live in a desert area so I know it's very low, and I was spraying about a full 8-16 oz into each cage every day, but all that was doing was wetting the substrate more than was necessary without still putting enough humidity in the air. So I actually went ahead and bought a heavy duty MistKing humidifier, and have nozzles in each cage. Zero problems since.
But mine are Meraukes and I live in an extremely dry area. And like I said, that picture is on an extreme case, obviously the scales take a while before they are that raised, but you can see how the nails are kind of looking like the nails on Astro.

[Vengeance]

Fair enough, we're not in a desert area here, but if humidity issues become apparent I will invest in the humidifiers/misters. I've only every sprayed enclosures leading up to a slough, just to make the process a little easier on them (and only on the hot side so it dries quickly). The nails do look similar too, I think she's worn the ones that didn't fall out down on the background that used to be in there. I've never clipped her nails nor Ninja's, as they had worn them down on the backgrounds. Ninja has his still, as he doesn't try climbing it daily. Gizmo on the other hand, I've had to clip his nails twice during the year I've had him, he doesn't have a background and rarely climbs the rock inside.

Thank you for your input Susann, I very much appreciate it!

Back from the vet, first thing Astro did after the vet picked her up was evacuate her bowels. It was actually quite timely I guess, as her urine is clear and healthy while the fresh poop meant a faecal could be done. The test revealed that Astro had worms, although I'm not sure which strain, it was one that lived in the lower bowel and wasn't inherently bad. Nonetheless she got a dose of wormer and I have a dose to give to Ninja. At the time I didn't consider that the worms could have come from live snails I caught in the garden months back, so Gizmo will get his turn with a vet trip as well, for a checkup and faecal next month. I'll be avoiding garden caught snails for now, and instead try to breed the lot I currently have.

Onto the purpose of the vet visit, Astro's toe middle appears to have muscle damage. When you move it there is very little resistance, whereas with her other toes, there is a slight resistance as she likely doesn't appreciate the toes being played with. The scar tissue wasn't that much of a concern as it had healed, and neither was the toe with the missing toenail. Speaking of which, the toenail looks like it might be growing back, or it could just be my eyes, going to keep an eye on it regardless.

There are no concerns for MBD which is a relief to hear, and the diet looks good. I was surprised to hear that she weighs 407g! Last December she weighed 142 grams. I'll be weighing them all now I think, as Gizmo was at the 332g mark back then.

All in all, I found out that she had worms and that the toe was damaged. There isn't anything that can be done to repair the damage in the toe, but she does have some use of it. While a 40km/40min drive away, that was the nicest vet clinic I have ever been to. We will certainly be returning there for all of our other reptiles.