Help With My Corn Snake's Tail

[ReclusiveDemon]

I noticed that over the past couple of days Jasper has been hiding inside of his half log, curled up beneath the hot spot in his hide. I know the temperature's are not cold. I looked at it, and I don't know if this is why, but at the tip of its tail, it's kind of unnatural looking, and I'm afraid shed skin may be stuck on the snake. What can I do?

[dragonboy4578]

Could you take a pic?

[ReclusiveDemon]

Sorry, I don't have a camera to use to take the picture. It's pretty small, so I don't think my phone's camera will be of much use. All I can say is that it doesn't look like it has scales on it, and the tip is dark brown or black. This is a normal Corn Snake, by the way.

[TheWinWizard]

Borrow a camera and get us a pic ASAP, please. Thank you.

[ReclusiveDemon]

I'll try to, but if there is shed skin that is stuck on the tail, what am I supposed to do? Does that kind of situation usually make a vet visit mandatory?

[thedarkwolf25]

It can if the the stuck skin is tight enough to cut off the circulation of blood to the tail. I would try and get any pic you can up here so we can take a look. and if you are really worried then I would just go with the vet visit now.

[blushingball419]

Sounds like stuck shed. I had the same thing happen once with my bloodred. You can moisten the area with a wet towel, let it sit for a few minutes and then try to slowly and gently peel and rub it off. Repeat if necessary. The tips of their tails seem to be sensitive so he's probably not going to like it, and depending on how squirmy he is it could be easier said than done.

Pics would be best, but if it's just a little stuck shed a vet visit isn't mandatory. And if it's already turned dark brown/black, the circulation might be cut off already. Did he shed relatively recently? How much of the tail is dark?

[BigByrd47119]

A wet wash cloth may be your best bet. Let the little guy run through the towel while your holding it. It should take any stuck shed off. However in some cases it may be necessary to use small amounts of mineral oil on the stuck shed. It helps loosen it up very nicely.

[ReclusiveDemon]

Hey, guys, sorry about this delayed response. I've got a bit of bad news, but also some good news.

The bad news is that I do not have any pictures for you guys. :x

The good news is that I took off all of the shed skin that was stuck on Jasper's tail. :3

I ran some warm water over Jasper's tail from my faucet and then used a damp Q-tip and "rolled" it over his/her tail, and the stuck skin came off, and the tail is still there. =D This is the first time I have done something like this, and the skin was there constricting the tail long enough to constrict the blood flow, so I don't know if the tip of Jasper's tail is going to regain it's vitality, but no matter what the case, it's good that the stuck shed is off.

So, that is one less thing in my mind to stress me. Thanks for the help, guys.

[wilomn]

Now you need to watch the tail to make sure necrosis does not spread up the tail. You may need to amputate the dead tissue.