This might work - and more clearer to understand ( UNTESTED )

#!/usr/bin/perl

# Standard stuff to catch errors
use strict qw(subs vars refs);            # Make sure we can't mess up
use warnings qw(all);                # Enable warnings to catch errors

# Other Stuff
use SDBM_File;
use POSIX;

sub database {
    my ($pseudo) = @_;

    # Declare our variables
    my %dbm;
    my $db_file = "CTIC.dbm";

    # Tie the dbm with the file, opening it read-only
    tie %dbm, 'SDBM_File', $db_file, O_RDWR, 0;

    # Get the list
    my @list = split( "__", $dbm{ $pseudo } );

    # Get rid of the dbm
    untie %dbm;

    # Add the count to the end of the list
    push( @list, scalar( @list ) );

    # Return the list
    return @list;
}
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