Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, so I posted this last night, but it went away, so here it is again. Last night I gave my male sav a bath, and then took him out to play with him. I noticed he had "cracks" all over his tail, between the rows of scales. I thought maybe it was just from shedding, since he's doing that now, but when I pulled back the dead skin from around one of the cracks, it was still there. It almost looks like chapping of a sort. Also, inside the cracks were all black. In some of them I could see the new skin forming. I don't know what to make of all this. I'm including pics. Anyone know what is going on, what could cause it, and what I should do about it (if anything)?

Heather

PS I hate the new forum format.

Here's the other side...

It looks like the tail is way, way to fat, also the scales are way, way to small. Whick means the monitor is storing fat like crazy and not using it to grow.

This can be caused by many things. But the first would be, temps not in the usable range to use calories. F

So should I stop feeding him as often? He gets two mice every 2-3 days right now. He was growing like a weed for a while, but I think his growth has slowed. The temps in the cage are between 85.5 F and 90.5 F with basking spots of 119.5 F and 146.7 F. At night, some parts of the cage drop down to 81.5 F. At first I thought maybe it was that his skin was dehydrating since it looks like chapped lips, but they always have plenty of fresh water, and they have a wet box if they need it. He was a rescue, so I don't know how old he was when I got him. Is it possible that his growth is just stunted and he won't get any bigger? Thanks.
Heather

Like I said before I'd check my humidity. Good luck.

Oscar, you're a dumbass, just admit you don't know what the answer is and shut up..Heather your monitor should be fine, but if you are really worried I would suggest taking it to a vet.

You only make yourself look bad. Maybe you should think before YOU speak.

Now to the point...
I had a friend whos salvadori had to have a portion of its tail amputated because of a bacterial infection. Hopefully this is not what is happening with this sav. I would take it to a vet just to be on the safe side.
Good luck,
Michelle