Hello everyone! I was hoping that someone could shed some light on a perplexing dilemma that has developed in my 2 year old male lewisi hybrid. He has been growing rapidly and shedding frequently. With his last shed, he had a little retention over his dorsal spines. After a good soak, I manually removed a small piece. To my dismay, the spines beneath were very soft at the tips. I assumed I had prematurely removed the piece and caused the damage myself. However, in the following months, he seems to have retained all of the skin over his dorsal spines that had not already shed at the time I removed the small piece. I have been afraid to remove the skin manually because I was sure that I had caused damage the last time I tried this. A few days ago, I was soaking him in the tub and I noticed that the tips of his spines were becoming transparent. Clearly the spines underneath the retained shed were receeding anyway. I removed another small piece to find the same thing only the tips were clearly more remodeled and not quite as soft. These damaged tips will progress over the next few weeks to dry completely and drop off! Yikes! Anyone have any idea what's going on? I've had him since he was a hatchling. He's been in the same enclosure for over a year, and I've never experienced this problem before. I'm beginning to think he must have traumatized them in some other manner (thermal?). Any input or advice for treatment would be appreciated. I've been applying triple antibiotic ointment to the exposed ends. He is otherwise bright, alert, and eating well. Thanks in advance for any advice.
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Shriveled dorsal spines on Lewisi cross post shed?
Replies (3)
Sounds like some sort of calcium deficiency but hard to say, Best to take him to a herp vet if it persists.
Good luck
Azul had a similar problem at about the same age. He is now 5 years old but you can see the resulting abnormal spikes in this photo. I honestly think his dorsal spike tips were "singed" by too much heat. They are growing nicely now and he has no problems with shedding them.
what exactly is that called? (scientific & common names) im starting to get very interested in these 
