Shocking tail loss.

[gregmonsta]

Time to report something odd - Fawn, my big parietalis girl, is currently at the end of her shed cycle.

30 mins ago I saw her out and about and I figured she was probably going to attempt her shed. It was then that I noticed that her tail looked odd .... infact, something was missing!







I was faced with the above wound ... I cleaned the viv occupied by Fawn and the other parietalis girl, Biscuit, only 3 days ago. At this time I also noted their weights. I didn't notice that anything was amiss, if it was at the time.

Looking at the wound I estimate that this occured yesterday. All of the blood I can see in the viv is well dried and the tail, when I found it, had a faint smell of decay to it, though not overpowering.

I found the tail tip under the warm hide of the tank. A good 7 inches has been lost!





Points to consider:

• There are no sharp point/surfaces anywhere in the enclosure.
• There are two things that could have a chance to cause crushing damage - the waterbowl (which I they can't lift at all), or the warm hide (which isn't heavy enough in my opinion).
• I certainly haven't trapped her tail at any point.
• No discomfort/animosity other any other stress factors have been observed in the co-habitation of the two females since September.

A complete shock ... and a wonderful mystery for further debate ... I will have to seek out some iodine tomorrow.

P.S> forgot to add every shed in her entire history was complete.

[Stefan-A]

Fascinating.

[Selkielass]

Scary.
Any spot she could have wedged her tail while climbing, then broke it with a panicked movement or sudden reversal?
(Seam, lid joining gap/ridge etc.)

[gregmonsta]

Scary.
Any spot she could have wedged her tail while climbing, then broke it with a panicked movement or sudden reversal?
(Seam, lid joining gap/ridge etc.)

This is about the only thing I can think of ....

[-MARWOLAETH-]

Very odd. It's good she isn't in pain and now you have 7 inches less of snake to feed

[guidofatherof5]

Wow........... Ah.........

[chris-uk]

Really curious.

Anything of note when you look at the "cut" ends? It doesn't look like a clean cut from the photos, if it's been caused by trauma it looks more like a it was trapped, spine snapped and then the flesh torn. But that is pure speculation, there would need to be something for it to have got trapped by.
How does the lost bit of tail look, any sign of necrosis? It may be difficult to tell if it has been detached for a day or so.

15-20cm of tail lost... I'm staggered.

[gregmonsta]

Really curious.

Anything of note when you look at the "cut" ends? It doesn't look like a clean cut from the photos, if it's been caused by trauma it looks more like a it was trapped, spine snapped and then the flesh torn. But that is pure speculation, there would need to be something for it to have got trapped by.
How does the lost bit of tail look, any sign of necrosis? It may be difficult to tell if it has been detached for a day or so.

15-20cm of tail lost... I'm staggered.

It doesn't look clean and zooming in on the full size image here at home you can actually see a bit of spine. I can also only speculate that, as she loves to climb, that she could have been stretching for a point with her tail 'anchored' and fell awkwardly with the tail being pulled on by her bodyweight. The tail, then weakend, could have become trapped while burrowing under the warm hide or something. The intitial trauma could have happend a lot earlier too ... no idea. Where's Sherlock Holmes when I need him?

[d_virginiana]

Wow... Any chance there was some sort of localized injury (like a broken spine or something) that got infected, and then the whole thing maybe got ripped off during the shed? If the area was already infected or weakened, maybe it would've been easier for the rest of it to come off without too much additional trauma...
That's just crazy, hope she heals up quickly

[gregmonsta]

Wow... Any chance there was some sort of localized injury (like a broken spine or something) that got infected, and then the whole thing maybe got ripped off during the shed? If the area was already infected or weakened, maybe it would've been easier for the rest of it to come off without too much additional trauma...
That's just crazy, hope she heals up quickly

She actually hasn't shed yet. She just cleared up about 3 days ago. Like I said, it was because I thought she was going to start to shed that I was having a closer look. But yes, it could well have been an older injury for all we know