Just a Question

[Johnny Dodo]

Now, let's say you have a lizard.
Its tail falls off and obviously, you leave it by itself, knowing it'll grow back.
But what if you put antiseptic on the part where it got removed?
if you put hydrogen peroxide, betadine, or alcohol, what would happen to the tail's growth?
would it hinder the growth?
Would it do nothing?
For those who have experience when they first had their lizard's tail fall off.
(This is for a science project and Lord God am I behind sched for this project.)

 

[viper69]

Those are all painful to apply for the lizard I suspect.

 

[Dandrobates]

I would consult with an exotics vet before making any assumptions one way or the other. Different species have varying sensitivities to medications and metabolize them differently than we do. Some of these may very well hinder healing (hydrogen peroxide in particular) Also, as viper said, some of these may cause extreme pain upon application. It would be ethical to review any relevant peer reviewed literature on the matter instead and not carry this experiment out in real life.

 

[The Snark]

@Dandrobates H2O2 would tend to chemically cauterize the wound so not a good move there. So the question asked is would human intervention help or hinder? If it is needed povidone iodine would be the weapon of choice as it primarily works on the micro-organism level and doesn't target cellular regrowth. Alcohol? Mixed blessing. The rule is it needs mechanical assistance to get the sterilization job done, IE rub and/or scrub.
I'd say go with the barrier, the p-i. Alcohol and H2O2 are one shot and gone. P-i will normally require repeated applications though.

 

[Dandrobates]

@Dandrobates H2O2 would tend to chemically cauterize the wound so not a good move there. So the question asked is would human intervention help or hinder? If it is needed povidone iodine would be the weapon of choice as it primarily works on the micro-organism level and doesn't target cellular regrowth. Alcohol? Mixed blessing. The rule is it needs mechanical assistance to get the sterilization job done, IE rub and/or scrub.
I'd say go with the barrier, the p-i. Alcohol and H2O2 are one shot and gone. P-i will normally require repeated applications though.

Mader’s Reptile and Amphibian Medicine and Surgery chapter 130 details wound management in detail. I’d direct the OP there for a greater list of options that are known to facilitate healing. Under the direction of a vet, I think it would be wiser to investigate the pros and cons of the meds listed in the chapter as opposed to the treatments listed in the OPs post.

 

[The Snark]

@Dandrobates Yuppers. When in doubt, have a chat with the folks with the 'been there, dealt with that' experience. Often you get a bonus when doing that in that the experts may have different methodologies. That feeds your pre-frontals giving them a chance to analyze from multiple perspectives. IE: "I think it would be wiser to investigate the pros and cons..."

 

[Johnny Dodo]

Thank you for the data! As for why I asked the questions, I won't be doing it on lizards themselves so I have to gather data online since it seemed cruel to do it on the geckos (specifically house geckos.)