| If you read Xander's Story, then you already know that he had severe tail damage when we rescued him. In fact, the damage was so bad and had been untreated for so long, it was potentially life-threatening. There was a break in the bone as well as significant damage to the flesh of the tail - damage so bad that the bone was exposed in several places. It looked as though someone had taken a potatoe peeler to his tail. |
 In addition to exposed bone, there were clear signs of infection and decay. Just looking at Xander's tail made me want to cry, and made me ashamed to belong to the same species as those who had done this to him. |
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It was clear from the moment we got him that Xander would need to have his tail amputated. There was no way in the world that damage was going to heal, no matter how many antibiotics we gave him or how many creams and salves we put on it. We had recently gone through a fairly bad experience having Bailey's tail amputated at the only herp vet we had found. What should have been a simple outpatient surgery turned into a three day, five-hundred dollar ordeal... and Bailey almost died in the process. With this in mind, we decided to do Xander's amputation at home. |
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We spent days researching at-home amputations online. We consulted dozens of iggie websites and groups, contacted our ig-expert friends. You'd have thought we were planning to perform open-heart surgery instead of a simple amputation. When all was said and done, we were quite over-prepared. But here's what we did: First we gave Xander some Rescue Remedy (an liquid herbal extract for calming), then we wrapped him in a towel with just his tail sticking out, and then we iced the tail for about 15 minutes. We got a large butcher's knife from the kitchen, using both heat and alcohol to disinfect it. We had a solution of betadine prepared, a bottle of QuikStop, hydrogen peroxide, a tube of Neosporin, and plenty of cotton balls. |
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When the time came to actually do the deed, we put towel-wrapped Xander in the bathroom sink with his tail on the countertop (washed with alcohol first). I held the knife over his tail as I would when chopping green beans for his food... I made sure the knife was in the right position - I didn't want to take off too little and have to do this again, but neither did I want to take off too much. I just couldn't watch, though, and had to close my eyes and pretend I chopping vegetables. It was over in an instant, and Xander hardly twitched. |
