So sad, my B & W tegu lost his tail :(

shadowsong · New Member Joined: May 07, 2008 Posts: 4

i have a pair of less than 1 year old B/W argentine tegu (chester & cleo) which length about 36 inch. i keep them outdoor along with a pair of full grown green iguana (guan & gwen) in a quite big area. they live happily and i never see them try to fight each other. but i was shocked this morning found my male tegu (chester) has lost 8 inch of his tail!

i know (by reading) tegu have defend mechanism by dropping their tail off, so i search the broken tail all over the cage but i didn't find it. what i want to ask is:
1. Should i give medicine and bandage the tail?

2. is it possible that guan (male iguana), gwen or cleo bite his tail off and ate it? although i know that iguana don't eat meat in normal condition, not like tegu, but cleo is a very gentle female

3. could the 'defend mechanism' happen when he's stuck his tail on something?

4. could his tail regrown just as the same size as it was? i know that it won't have pattern & color like it used to be.

any advise for me, chester or else?

thanks for your help

txrepgirl · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:33 am Post subject:

Hi shadowsong.Welcome to the Tegu forum family.I'm so sorry to hear what happened.I wish I could help you on that one but it is hard to say what happened.Any thing is possible.I would put something on his tail ( ask your vet what you could use ) so it will not get infected.I did see a picture before of a Tegu that lost his tail but I don't know how much he lost and it grew back.Good luck and please keep us posted on how he is doing.Here is the picture I was telling you about.

http://www.bluetegu.com/gallery/redxblue/1.html

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1455

Hi shadowsong and Welcome.

my heart goes out to you about your tegu (s).

I sent you a pm (private message). this will help you.

cbdridetpoa · Member Joined: Apr 05, 2008 Posts: 43

hi shadowsong,

I had the same problem with Tango. He lost his tail when he was about four months

Sad and my boyfriend had just built his new enclosure and as soon as we were about to switch him and set him down he dropped it. It is the same for geckos. They drop it when they are scared. And he could have gotten stuck and dropped it to get away. Try and put a camera in his enclosure and try and supervise and see what they do at night time. You don't need a bandage. The regenerating tail needs air to breathe and to grow back.

Tango's tail has grown back extremely well. It is not quite as long as it would be but I promise it will grow back to almost full length. And as gross as this is when they drop their tails they have been known to eat them. In order to make sure it grows back ok make sure that he gets a lot of humidity and make sure you spray it often. It will look weird as it grows back but it will be ok. Some tails do grow back different ways and colors but most commonly they grow back black. But good luck. If you have anymore questions about it feel free to pm me.
http://www.thetegu.com/a337p-2858

txrepgirl · Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:07 am Post subject:

Wow what a story.Did you put any thing on the wound to clean it ? you have some beautiful Tegus.Is the little one a hybrid or a red ? I'm happy to hear that the tail grew back.

cbdridetpoa · Member Joined: Apr 05, 2008 Posts: 43

When a lizard loses his tail it is not as bad as it sounds there should be no wound. As soon as the tail falls off the skin caves in and conceals the wound. There is hardly if any blood. If you look at the tail it is healed in a matter of a few days. The new tail grows out of the old stub. There is no reason to clean the stub since it is not technically a open wound. As I was trying to explain this I realized that there is no information on the regeneration of a lizards tail. It is kind of surprising since it is extremely common for other lizards to drop their tails.

Luna is a red but she is still little. She hasn't really come into her colors yet. She will probably end up a brownish red. When I got her her tail had 5 layers of dead skin on it so the tail looks horrible. When we got her her tail was literally a ugly brown. If she hadnt shed in a matter of two weeks her she would have lost her tail at the base of the tail. I don't believe she has any feeling in her tail. The dead skin clung to her scales so when she shed, her scales came off as well. Its kind of sad but she is getting better. But she is a red. I am kind of a sucker for rejects. Tango had lost his toes, Luna's skin was horrible, one of my geckos was black when I go him( he just needed some vitamins and now he is green and purple.) But they all have turned out to be the best pets I have ever had.

shadowsong · New Member Joined: May 07, 2008 Posts: 4

hi and thank you for your help girls

@ cbdridetpoa: how old is tango now? so he just dropped it while you handle him?

txrepgirl · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:23 am Post subject:

I don't know if it is ok to put it on there because it has iodine in it ( that brown orange color,it's natural ) and it can stain the tail.Next time I would use some neosporin ( the vet told me that ).But I would of done the same thing.At least you don't have to worry about the tail getting infected.

cbdridetpoa · Member Joined: Apr 05, 2008 Posts: 43

Hello I am glad I can help. Tango is a year old now. Im sure putting the antibiotic wont hurt anything. I will tell you it will look really weird as it grows out. If you need any other help I will be glad to offer it.

txrepgirl · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:48 pm Post subject:

It would be great if you could take some pictures of the tail as it grows back ( with dates ) and post them.Thanks and good luck.