Broken tail or just defect?

[liz96n]

I bought a 10wk old Bearded Dragon at the Reptile Expo a month ago and when I got him home I noticed a kink in the very end of his tail, I honestly thought nothing of it as I’ve previously had a dragon who broke it’s tail and know the signs to look for (tail rot).
He’s had a shed since I’ve had him and I thought that might’ve fixed any scale defects he might’ve had but it hasn’t changed. I’m starting to wonder if it is broken but it’s not really turning black from rot (but it might be darker)
I just want to get an insight as my closest reptile vet is an hour away and I don’t want to take him there and realise he’s fine.

 

[Damo1]

Looks like a stuck shed has stopped blood flow to the tip of its tail

 

[liz96n]

Would I need to get the tip amputated?

 

[Foozil]

Same thing happened with my Diamond Python. The affected part of the tail will drop off eventually. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Same thing happened with my Diamond Python. The affected part of the tail will drop off eventually. Nothing to worry about.

I’m not so sure about that.

It is not a ‘kink’. It looks as those it has been injured at some stage (possibly from a bite) and the scales on that section of tail were stripped off, but the skin underneath has sealed over. Essentially the same thing as scar tissue in humans.

You mentioned it has shed for you. It does not appear to have retained any shed on the tip past the injury site. If that is in fact the case, then the tail tip is functioning normally and there is no problem. All you have is a superficial disfigurement and nothing more.

 

[Foozil]

I’m not so sure about that.

Which part?

 

[liz96n]

Same thing happened with my Diamond Python. The affected part of the tail will drop off eventually. Nothing to worry about.

I don’t think beardies have the ability to drop tails. Someone told me that with one of my other dragons, and it actually did more damage as the tail started to rot, so instead of just taking off the tip he was left with a stump.
Unfortunately I had to change his name from Snickers to Fun-Size Snickers haha
Bluetongue1’s theory seems more plausible, however does it matter that I can wiggle the end of it, I feel as tho I could almost break it off if I wasn’t careful.

 

[Foozil]

I don’t think beardies have the ability to drop tails. Someone told me that with one of my other dragons, and it actually did more damage as the tail started to rot, so instead of just taking off the tip he was left with a stump.
Unfortunately I had to change his name from Snickers to Fun-Size Snickers haha
Bluetongue1’s theory seems more plausible, however does it matter that I can wiggle the end of it, I feel as tho I could almost break it off if I wasn’t careful.

You're right, they don't, but if the stuck shed theory is correct and the blood isn't getting to the tip of the tail, the tip of the tail will die and fall off.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Which part?

I don’t consider this is the same thing that happened with your Diamond python. From what I can see there appears to be no retained shed at the moment. I accept that it is possible that this was the root cause and the retained ring of sheds was removed prior to sale. This is why I based what I said on the proviso that the tail tip had shed normally since then. If blood supply had been cut off, then the tissues would die within a matter of days. The tip would then become dry, hard and shrivelled, with a high likelihood of being discoloured. That would have happened by now.

Where blood supply to the tail tip is stopped (or reduced below critical), whether it is a Bearded dragon or Diamond python, a vet should be consulted. The reduced blood flow to the area is conducive to bacterial growth. The death skin cells can compromise the normal physical barrier that keeps out bacteria. This can result in infection and spreading gangrene and even septicaemia, all of which can be fatal if left untreated.

@liz96g. If it really worries you that much, you could organise to see the vet when you are headed that way and have him/her amputate the tip if they consider there is a danger of accidentally breaking it off.

 

[Foozil]

I don’t consider this is the same thing that happened with your Diamond python. From what I can see there appears to be no retained shed at the moment. I accept that it is possible that this was the root cause and the retained ring of sheds was removed prior to sale. This is why I based what I said on the proviso that the tail tip had shed normally since then. If blood supply had been cut off, then the tissues would die within a matter of days. The tip would then become dry, hard and shrivelled, with a high likelihood of being discoloured. That would have happened by now.

Where blood supply to the tail tip is stopped (or reduced below critical), whether it is a Bearded dragon or Diamond python, a vet should be consulted. The reduced blood flow to the area is conducive to bacterial growth. The death skin cells can compromise the normal physical barrier that keeps out bacteria. This can result in infection and spreading gangrene and even septicaemia, all of which can be fatal if left untreated.

@liz96g. If it really worries you that much, you could organise to see the vet when you are headed that way and have him/her amputate the tip if they consider there is a danger of accidentally breaking it off.

Thats a good point which I didn't consider, thanks for the clarification.
But, I did talk to my friend which does have some experience in this kind of stuff, and he didn't think much of it. After a while the tip did drop off. I don't question that what you say in regards to bacterial growth is true, but in my case it wasn't an issue (I did treat the affected area though)

 

[Bluetongue1]

You're welcome. These sort of things are often dependent on the luck of the draw and it is very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion / generalisation based on limited experiences that just happened to be positive.