Leopard Gecko Tail

Question
QUESTION: Hi Tracie,

I have a 13 year old leopard gecko who has a crack just above the tip of her tail. The crack has caused a painful looking gash that is scabbing over but still red and I'm concerned about it healing properly. I recently went away and had a friend look after her and she discarded my self-made moist hide when cleaning the tank, and my gecko subsequently shed, so I'm assuming the lack of moisture has caused this. The very tip of her tail still has a tiny bit of skin that has yet to come off. She's never had any health related issues before so I'm not really sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Lauren

ANSWER: Hello Lauren,

Do you have a picture of your gecko?
What has caused the crack in the skin, retained shed possibly?  That is too bad, I am sure it hurts her.  I am sorry the moist hide/cave was thrown out.  Did you make another one for her?  The humidity is very important so that would be my guess, retained shed caused the initial problem.   
I would get some antibiotic ointment such as neosporin or polysporin, to put on the tail area.  You could even purchase some silver cream at the drug store to put on the tail area to help keep it from getting infected.  

Is she eating well right now?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your response Tracie,

I do believe it was caused by retained skin as she still had some leftover skin at the end of her tail when I noticed the crack. I let her soak in a shallow amount of warm water and was able to take off the skin with a Q-tip.

I just applied some polysporin to her tail and hopefully it will heal successfully. As for her appetite she just ate 2 meal worms a few minutes ago so I'm taking it as a good sign. I moved her to a tank with paper towel on the bottom as opposed to sand to prevent anything from getting into the wound. Is there anything else that I should do?


Thanks again !
Lauren

Answer
Hello Lauren,

That is too bad about her tail, but hopefully the ointment will start helping the healing process.  Is the crack pretty deep?
Wow that is great she ate a couple of mealies for you so hopefully she is not feeling too bad.
Most definitely change out the substrate to paper towels or carpet to avoid the sand or other loose substrate from infecting her tail.
If there is anything sharp in her tank, you can take that out also.  
You can clean the area with a diluted betadine solution also, daily, before you apply the ointment to it.

I am anxious to hear how her tail heals up!
Do you have any pictures?

Tracie