Leopard gecko almost lost tail

[magneto]

I have had an adult male leopard gecko for about a month now. It is my first reptile and I am still learning. Today I came home to this:

Now, after panicking for a few seconds I called a friend that has more experience with these geckos and she told me that if it was dropping it's tail I should take a hold of the tail just below the wound and let the gecko pull away and the tail should come off easily.

While I found that idea horrifying and a bit cruel, I trusted her experience and tried it. The gecko pulled away and twisted around and even bit me a few times but it would not let go of the tail. The wound has gotten a bit bigger but only superficially.

The vet does not open for another 12 hours. Is there anything else I can do? Was the tail pulling the right thing to try? I tried googling for info but all I find is what to do after it has dropped the tail, not what to do when it's only halfway.

Any helpful advice is appreciated.

 

[darkness975]

The pictures are not displaying.

 

[magneto]

The pictures are not displaying.

They are for me. Don't know what's wrong if you guys can't see them.

Anyway, my gecko problem resolved itself. It wasn't a case of it just dropping it's tail, it had gotten a nasty cut on it's tail somehow, and the cut just got bigger and bigger until it finally dropped the tail after a few days. It looked bad for a while but it started eating again today. Not much, just one cricket, but it's progress. So for now the crisis is over.