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Beardie...shedding?

kat1204 Oct 24, 2006 05:20 AM

Hi,

My beardie has been shedding his skin for a few days now.
I'm just wondering how long it's supposed to take, and what I can do to help him, if anything.

I noticed he was shedding 4 days ago, so I gave him a 20 min soak in the bath both on Sat and Sun. Some of the skin has come off, but he still has quite a bit to shed off I'd say. He's now got bits coming off his face(what does he look like!!! :OD)

Should I just let him shed it in his own time, or should I help him out, perhaps with more soaks?

Haven't been able to take pics of him in shed. Pics below are the ones I posted for an ID of what morph he is. Any ideas?

Thanx in advance

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Kat

1 male beardie 'Khan'

Replies (1)

PHLdyPayne Oct 24, 2006 01:40 PM

not much you can do with the shed other than what you have been doing so far. As bearded dragons shed in patches, some areas take longer to shed off completely than others. Typically a week from the time the skin starts to turn greyish or milky to the point it begins to flake off. I find limb, head and tail sheds take the longest. Body sheds seem to explode off the body suddenly without any real indicating it is starting to flake. One day they will be all milky grey in the body, the next, half the cage is covered in bits of skin LOL.

Having a few rounded stones (about the same size of the dragon's body) scattered about the enclosure will give them something to rub against, especially with head sheds. Watch the toes and tail tips to make sure they shed completely off. Unshed skin on the toes and tail tip can be retained and over time tighten and cut off circulation, eventually leading to the death of the toe/tail tip. For particularly stubborn sheds, baby oil or mineral oil can be applies to the toes/tails to help soften the skin and you can gently pull it off with tweezers. Soaking in luke warm water is good as well.

As for the morph your dragon is, not really sure...it has the nearly patternless appearance of a snow or pastal, or what do you call them, hypomelanistic? In the one picture it also looks almost lavender, but it could be the lighting on that particular picture (the second one I beleive it was).
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PHLdyPayne

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