Lost tail :(

[Rebecca]

My pictus gecko lost it's tail. It was my fault , I didn't see it (it's REALLY small) when I put a hide back in after cleaning it and it's tail got stuck under it. I didn't notice it because although I have paper towel on the bottem I do have some of those plastic leaves (sp?) kinda scattered around, it was under one of them. I know, I know I should have checked, but my mind was else where at the moment. feel REALLY REALLY bad, and am very mad at myself for not looking I don't want anyone getting mad at me cuz I'm a bad mom, and making me feel bad, I can do that all on my own. The question is how can I help it now?? Does the tail grow back?? Do I need to up the temp or anything?? I've never had a gecko loose it's tail so I have NO idea what to do. Thanks for any advice I recieve.

[DragnDrop]

The tail will grow back, maybe not quite the same, but it does come back. Tail loss happens a lot in nature, they're even made to come off easily to avoid predation. Sooner or later we all go through it, relax.
Keep the enclosure clean to help avoid infection. No need to do anything to the wound (as long as it doesn't get infected, which is rare), it should dry and heal up nicely. In a week or so you'll see a tiny stub growing out of there, and the new tail is on its way. Keep the right temps, humidity and add calcium a bit more often while the tail is growing back.
... and relax, don't kill yourself over it.

[eyespy]

I second DragnDrop's excellent advice. When my beloved rescued iguana dropped his tail, I felt exactly as you describe. It happened in August and he suffered absolutely no ill effects whatsoever. The stump healed over quickly and the tail started regenerating about 2 months later. I've seen many geckos heal just as fast and regenerate just as easily.

Many of my gecko-owning friends describe what a challenge it is to keep all of their friends' tails intact and you are in no way a bad keeper! Just startling a gecko can sometime trigger a drop.

[Rebecca]

Thanks! I feel a little better now that I know I'm not the only one!! Thanks for the advice.

[ReptileHQ]

Don't worry, it happens to all of us at one point or other

Chris

[V.aw]

Eyespy, How did you iguana drop its tail? injury? infection? Never heard of them just "dropping" off. Iam sure you meant otherwise right?

[eyespy]

Well, Amazon has a long history. Some idiot at a Pet_____ store was keeping him in a 1.5 gallon hex aquarium on his cash register. He grew up against the walls of the cage and the first 3 vertebrae at the base of his tail were compressed so there was significant tail injury.

Then 2 months after I got him we were outside, with him on a hip leash. A loud motorcycle went by, he got terrified and went into a death roll with the leash gently wrapping his tail. It never even went taut. That was apparently just enough of a tug for the tail to separate.

But on the bright side, his tail had been completely paralyzed from the injury. A few weeks after the drop, he started gaining slight mobility. Now he has full mobility, so apparently it wasn't completely the spinal cord injury that was keeping him motionless, it was just that his muscles had atrophied too much to move the full tail. Once the "load" was lightened he was able to rebuild his strength. Now he tailwhips his archenemy with great vigor, the evil bright red Coca Cola can.