Reptile & Amphibian Forums

O.K. how long does it take to shed. Obviously it must differ. I have two BD's: age: a few weeks or months old??..

The larger one has jumped in size overnight, double almost. She shed in one day. Started that morning and was finished by late evening.

The smaller one started shedding over a week ago and still has small pieces. He has also lost his appetite. He has been eating a little bit, but after a cricket or two loses interest and goes back to his branch. He looks O.K. but is rather timid. I remove the larger one while feeding him to make sure he gets full access to food, but then he just stands there and breathes hard while I'm watching him. Is this normal? He doesn't eat greens yet and is still rather small, maybe 6". I have had him at least 3 weeks.

The larger one roams around the cage, eats greens, and would eat a 100 crickets if I let her. She is happy, and thriving. My little one doesn't move. Just hangs out on that branch. Will catch a cricket, but doesn't seem to want to hunt for them.

Any advice??

I wouldn't worry about the shedding at all, it's normal to take a while sometimes... but I'd definitely separate them. The smaller one is probably intimidated by the more aggressive, larger one and it could cause him/her problems (especially at such a young age). You should separate them asap and monitor the smaller one's feeding.

seperate them see if that makes a difference.

>>O.K. how long does it take to shed. Obviously it must differ. I have two BD's: age: a few weeks or months old??..
>>
>>The larger one has jumped in size overnight, double almost. She shed in one day. Started that morning and was finished by late evening.
>>
>>The smaller one started shedding over a week ago and still has small pieces. He has also lost his appetite. He has been eating a little bit, but after a cricket or two loses interest and goes back to his branch. He looks O.K. but is rather timid. I remove the larger one while feeding him to make sure he gets full access to food, but then he just stands there and breathes hard while I'm watching him. Is this normal? He doesn't eat greens yet and is still rather small, maybe 6". I have had him at least 3 weeks.
>>
>>The larger one roams around the cage, eats greens, and would eat a 100 crickets if I let her. She is happy, and thriving. My little one doesn't move. Just hangs out on that branch. Will catch a cricket, but doesn't seem to want to hunt for them.
>>
>>Any advice??

any parasites. It's a good idea with any new animal wether or not there are signs of illness. Mine cost $6.00 each but I think that's relatively on the cheap side. I wouldn't think more than $12.
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Rob

As already advised, separate the two dragons.

If the smaller one has lose skin hanging here and there, she may be having some troubles with the shed. I would give her warm soaks a couple times a day to help loosen the skin. Minerial oil or baby oil can also be applied directly on the areas she is having trouble sheding.

It's not unusual for dragons to lose interest in food during a shed. But tyically the shed should be over within a week, depending on where the shed is. Dragons typically shed in pieces, maybe heads and legs one week, body and tail the next. Occaisonally they may shed their entire body at nearly the same time. This happened with my dragon and she was miserable for nearly a week, eating very little and sat around looking very unhappy. After a couple soaks, she lost all her skin and was much happier and much hungerer.