# Nose injury



## Brian A (Mar 22, 2016)

About two months ago, I got Amaru a new enclosure which is front opening. Prior to that he was in a smaller aquarium with a mesh top. He knew that he exited through the top and got into the habit of leaping bodily into the mesh hanging overhead whenever he wanted to come out. Very effective at getting my attention to let him out for some exercise, but it caused some damage to the front of his snout. 

I figured he should be healed by now. He's even had two full shed since then. It looks better than it did two months ago, but it still looks kind of freshly injured, almost like a cut that someone constantly picks at. He no longer hits his snout so viciously against anything. He just engages in the usual digging behavior and sometimes rubs his snout against things, including the front glass when he wants out. 

Should I be worried? Is this just how his scar will look from it? Is there anything I can do to promote further healing? Do lizards take longer to heal? Is it maybe infected?


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## Dee-Dee Idrais (Mar 22, 2016)

Apply antibiotic ointment just like you would for yourself. It works for tegus as well. Good luck


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## dpjm (Mar 22, 2016)

If it is infected then you will notice puffiness, discoloration, and even some discharge of pus. An infection can certainly slow the healing process so that is something to look into. You may choose to treat it as if it was infected just to be on the safe side.

Alternatively, the healing may be slow because he is rubbing his snout on things like the glass, as you mentioned, . Try putting up a visual barrier over the glass in the areas where he is rubbing - this is a common thing to do with Chinese water dragons, which are notorious for snout injuries.

A vet trip never hurts either, especially when the injury doesn't seem to go away on its own.


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## Jrock23 (Mar 22, 2016)

Ok, I'm not a vet, but two months is a long time if the scar still look fresh. I guess your tegu is in a glass tank. You need a wooden enclosure (plywood) with plastic glass to avoid injury. Also post a photo of the scar, Triple antibiotic ointment does work best but it will take a few sheds to heal properly. If you think it maybe infected you should make an vet appointment asap.


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## Justin (Mar 24, 2016)

My little guy ran into some brick steps (don't ask my stupidity) and he busted a scale off his nose. I applied a small amount of neosporine and it healed up after two sheds. I'm not saying neosporine is what to use but I used it and it worked for me.


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## Jrock23 (Mar 24, 2016)

Justin said:


> My little guy ran into some brick steps (don't ask my stupidity) and he busted a scale off his nose. I applied a small amount of neosporine and it healed up after two sheds. I'm not saying neosporine is what to use but I used it and it worked for me.


neosporine works great as well as triple antibiotic ointment I use both to treat wounds on my animals... How is your tegu doing and is the scale on the noise fully healed..


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## Justin (Mar 24, 2016)

Mine if fully healed and doing great.


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## Brian A (Mar 26, 2016)

Here's a couple pics of his nose. It actually looks better than it did even a week ago. I'm hopeful that it is on its way to being fully healed. What do you all think?

His old enclosure was glass with a mesh top. Although I wrapped colored paper around three sides to make him less confused. Current enclosure is PVC all sides except front which is glass. I'll upload a pic of that, too.


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## Walter1 (Mar 26, 2016)

Brian A said:


> Here's a couple pics of his nose. It actually looks better than it did even a week ago. I'm hopeful that it is on its way to being fully healed. What do you all think?
> 
> His old enclosure was glass with a mesh top. Although I wrapped colored paper around three sides to make him less confused. Current enclosure is PVC all sides except front which is glass. I'll upload a pic of that, too.


Sounds positive- nose and enclosure, both.


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## Jrock23 (Mar 27, 2016)

Nice, I like your enclosure


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