regrowing a tail

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my dad got me an iguana about a month ago from a friend. Sadly she accidentally cut off his tail and tried to re-glue it back on. we had it cut off and he has become more active, he also has a slight bend in his tail near the end we had cut off but that doesnt seem to bother him. it started to grow back but at an odd angle and now about 3 inches have regrown, it seems like he has feeling in the regrown end of his tail, but the regrown end is still black and where his scales were green, are starting to turn yellow. i was wondering if it's normal or if i should have a vet look at him? i havent had an iguana with a cut off tail before so i dont know.

ANSWER: Hi Brace,
The tail should never be tried to be glued back on as that can cause more problems. Iguanas naturally can drop their tails so its normal for it to just heal on its own.
If their was glue that got stuck on there, that could be what caused the kink, or it could just be from the angle the tail was cut off at.
Normal regrowth is generally a gray color..texture tht reminds you of a rubber eraser.  Depending on how much was cut off, many times it will even get a scaley texture back to it to some extent.
What it sounds like is that the tail developed gangrene possibly and it is moving up the tail.
Here is a link where I took a few pictures of one of my rescues that dropped his tail.
http://pets.webshots.com/album/170782391vMCjOk  If yours doesn't look like that,or if is ry and hard/brittle and if the yellowing part is "shrinking" the diameter of his tail, then yes, I suggest a vet so that if it is indeed gangrene, that part can be amputated into good tissue and healthy tissue can start to re grow. Gangrene is dead/dying tissue, which if left untreated(amputation) can continue to travel up the tail and can also cause internal infection to go through the body. If you would like, you can send me a picture of the tail and I may be better able to tell if it is growing back healthy.

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tail   QUESTION: ive taken some pictures of his tail but the lighting wasnt very good so you might not be able to see the discoloration of the tail for the green scales but it might show for the dark brown pattern, the spot shows a lighter brown instead of a darker brown. also the dicoloration doesnt appear to shrink the tail at all. i let him out often when im not doing anything and he seems to have a good appetite when i feed him, and he enjoys his baths as well. so i was wondering if i need to have a vet cut his tail. also if you would like to know his name is Spazz, because of his enjoyment of jumping off of everything. aand trying to latch on to something else.

Answer
Hi Brace,
Even though the picture is dark, it does look like dry gangrene..it just doesn't look normal regrowth to me in the picture...Does it feel dry and brittle like a twig to you?( I compare it to a dried up earthworm)  If yes, then is surely dry gangrene.  I would have a vet look at Spazz's tail. The yellow might be tissue dying, or it just may be caused by that bend in the tail in that area. If he does amputate it, I would go to just below the brown ring on his tail, if not a bit higher.  The vet will be able to tell better with seeing it. With the small thickness of that part of the tail, the vet will most likely use nothing or just an superficial numbing agent..Spazz should not need to be put under anesthesia to have that done. many vets will either cut that part off or simply do a natural break...
Its good that he is eating and active!! He looks to be a very beautiful green color!! Love the name..and he sounds very normal and active for a young iguana with the jumping, etc!!