ZiggyStardust
New Member
Yesterday, when coming home from work and checking my chams, I noticed that my 4 month old male Panther's tail appeared to have a pronounced "kink" in it, very close to the base. Handle him very rarely but this definitely warranted a closer look, so out he came.
He seemed calm, his colours were relaxed and he let me examine the tail without gaping, hissing or flinching in any way. However, it didn't look right, so this morning, off we went to my excellent Herp vet.
After thorough examination, she agreed with me that it may be broken and that the most likely scenario was that he had been reaching for a branch, and slipped, falling back onto his bottom, with his tail squashed to one side underneath him. All his other vitals were good, she agreed that he did not seem to be in any pain - I confirmed that he had eaten his usual quota of juvenile locust that morning (indeed, he pounced on them before I had even finished putting them in the cage) and had had a drink. He also pooped in front of her, so she got a good look at not only his poop but the fact that he didn't appear to be in any discomfort or straining whilst doing it.
She then X-Rayed him and the picture below confirms the break....
She said that there was however good news - firstly that the break was not as a result of a calcium deficiency - she pointed out how white his bones were on the X-Ray, which indicated a good stock of calcium.
Secondly - she said that she could see that he was still coiling his tail and using it to grip, he had it wound around her hand when she was holding him. This meant that there was no nerve damage, despite the break. She said that she could operate to straighten the tail, but that this also carried a risk of subsequent nerve damage and that he could end up with a straight, but useless tail. In her opinion, the risks outweighed the benefits, as long as I didn't mind a cham with a kinky tail!
I had been in tears when I went into the room with him, as I felt that I had failed somehow but she did a lot to try and reassure me that this was not the case and he had merely had an accident. He is in a medium Exo-Terra at the moment, as he is not large enough for his XL Reptibreeze, but I have now lined the bottom with sponges, that can be taken out and cleaned each day, so that if he should suffer another fall, hopefully he won't break anything else.
Its been a traumatic day and I am a few hundred pounds lighter in money, but I am so glad I took him.
He seemed calm, his colours were relaxed and he let me examine the tail without gaping, hissing or flinching in any way. However, it didn't look right, so this morning, off we went to my excellent Herp vet.
After thorough examination, she agreed with me that it may be broken and that the most likely scenario was that he had been reaching for a branch, and slipped, falling back onto his bottom, with his tail squashed to one side underneath him. All his other vitals were good, she agreed that he did not seem to be in any pain - I confirmed that he had eaten his usual quota of juvenile locust that morning (indeed, he pounced on them before I had even finished putting them in the cage) and had had a drink. He also pooped in front of her, so she got a good look at not only his poop but the fact that he didn't appear to be in any discomfort or straining whilst doing it.
She then X-Rayed him and the picture below confirms the break....
She said that there was however good news - firstly that the break was not as a result of a calcium deficiency - she pointed out how white his bones were on the X-Ray, which indicated a good stock of calcium.
Secondly - she said that she could see that he was still coiling his tail and using it to grip, he had it wound around her hand when she was holding him. This meant that there was no nerve damage, despite the break. She said that she could operate to straighten the tail, but that this also carried a risk of subsequent nerve damage and that he could end up with a straight, but useless tail. In her opinion, the risks outweighed the benefits, as long as I didn't mind a cham with a kinky tail!
I had been in tears when I went into the room with him, as I felt that I had failed somehow but she did a lot to try and reassure me that this was not the case and he had merely had an accident. He is in a medium Exo-Terra at the moment, as he is not large enough for his XL Reptibreeze, but I have now lined the bottom with sponges, that can be taken out and cleaned each day, so that if he should suffer another fall, hopefully he won't break anything else.
Its been a traumatic day and I am a few hundred pounds lighter in money, but I am so glad I took him.
