# Will a broken toenail grow back?



## Jeremy Hodges (Jul 17, 2018)

So I noticed this morning that a toenail on my big guy was cut off pretty far. Its not all the way off but about 60% of the nail is gone along with the black part on the top of the nail. When I was cleaning it, it did start to bleed. I rushed my fella to the bath tub and cleaned it off, put some iodine and some triple antibiotic on it. He is sleeping in the living room with me so Im making sure no dirt from his cage gets in the wound. 

Ive read conflicting statements on if the nail will grow back or not. I have a blue tongue skink that was a rescue and had a nail in a similar situation and grew back fine, so I was just wondering. 

It does not seem to be infected and I have no idea how it broke off. I do let him outside everyday and sometimes he walks on the concrete patio, but his last shed was great and he gets two baths a day along with a always running humidifier in his closet, so I dont think its due to humidity. We do have some thick carpet but he's never had any problem with a stuck nail. 

Sorry for the bad images, he's sleeping under his bed.


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## Walter1 (Jul 17, 2018)

Seems cut too close to grow back.


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## Jeremy Hodges (Jul 17, 2018)

Thanks for the replay, I hate that, you try so hard to keep your pets perfect and happy then something weird like this happens. So will he always just have that little nub of a nail or will the rest of the nail fall off?

Whats odd is that its still a point at the tip, as in its not shard or dull. Its hard to see in the images but it looks like just like a short nail.


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## Walter1 (Jul 17, 2018)

Hard to tell. Keep it clean. My money's sadly on permanent, but you never know.


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## dpjm (Jul 20, 2018)

One time my tegu's claw came right out, it got stuck in a screen and ripped completely out. I didn't think it would ever grow back but it eventually did. It took over a year before I noticed any growth.


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## Trede (Jul 25, 2018)

Once while I had Talia out at a park and a little boy was interacting with her, he tripped and accidentally stepped on one of her toes. The claw was about halfway ripped off the end of the toe, and it was bleeding a little. (Her initial reaction to the injury was to take a few steps forward and sigh heavily while giving the kid stink eye...I swear she doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body) I put some styptic powder on it (Talia has a "go bag" with puppy pads, poo bags, temp gun, nail clippers, files, a collapsible water bowl, etc) and she seemed to give approximately 0 f***s about the whole incident. A few days later, the claw fell off. Within a couple months, the claw had grown back, although it is lighter colored and has a much more pronounced curve to it than it used to...I'll try to get a picture of it when she wakes up (lazy gu is lazy).


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