Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My buddy and I just got our first pair of juvenille dragons and they looked all greyish about a month later, ready to shed- and the female got most of her tail skin off, as well as some of her legs, the male got most of his head skin off, but thats about it. Theyve been "shedding" now for about three days, with seeminly very little progress. Is this usually such a slow procces? is there anything we can do besides for misting with warm water, becuase they dont seem to care or to do anything about it, like theyre not even trying to shed- how long does the procces usualy take? were anxious becuase we want to handle them but know its not good when theyre molting.

Give them a soak in a warm bath, that usually helps the last of it come off. Why can't you handle them?? I've never heard a reason why not. A good rub down after a bath will usually will usually loosen whatever is stuck off.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

I heard that a molting reptiles new skin will be sore underneath the old stuff and handling him can irritate the new skin. Is this B.S.? Also i read that removing old skin yourself could damage the skin underneath- anyway I would like them to shed as naturally as possible, Im just wonderin how long it usually takes a juvenille dragon to finish the job- my chameleons are done in a single day, and my leopard gecko usually two or three tops

Ok in some reptiles (as a generalization) sure. Beardies can be a little different, the skin is pretty thick and kinda leathery. If you don't "help" remove it sometimes it will just pile up until the next shed, sometimes you can get 3-4 layers deep. If this happens on legs and tails, it can form a ring and cut off circulation (not good). Be careful, you don't want to hurt the new skin, but gently helping them is just fine IMO. Try scrubbing them with a toothbrush in the tub, alot of times that will knock it off.

Make that an old soft bristled tooth brush. Not yours!