Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am very worried about my uromastyx. Ever since I've had him he hasn't shed right. His head sheds fine but his back and tail doesn't. His tail doesn't have spikes and I'm worried he has tail rot. He had worms once and I thought that might be why he wasn't shedding. But now I noticed strange white-yellow...things...on each side of his inner thighs. And it's really worrying me. I don't know what I should do. I did notice them eariler but I thought it was normal, but they seem to be growing more. He's very active and eats fine. But I'm worried about the wierd white spikes between his legs. Can anyone help me?

The strange white/yellow things you see are probably what some refer to as a waxy protuberance. This is usually excreted by the males and can become more prominent during breeding season, which we are now in. The waxy nodules extend from the femoral pores which run up each side of the inner thigh.

You mention that your uro has not shed properly since you have had him. How long has that been? What is the length and weight of your uro? Husbandry items such as enclosure environment and temperatures as well as diet can play a large role in uromastyx skin problems. You may want to try a few soaks to loosen stubborn skin.

Well, he is about 12 inches but I don't know how much he weighs, I don't have a small enough scale. I've had him for maybe two years. I have no clue how old he is, since the pethope owner never told me. I just kept thinking he'd shed properly one day, but he really hasn't yet. His tail doesn't have any spikes, though which really worries me. It has the ridges, but I'm not sure if that is tail rot or his just bad shedding problem. It did shed once but it was a really thick layer. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and it is just starting to warm-up and the snow is just now starting to melt. I could only keep his tank about 90-95 degrees right now. In the summer, it gets a lot warmer. I feed him pellets and dried crickets (only ocassonly), snow peas, lettuce, apple, banana (which is his favorite), green beans, carrots, about three or four times a week. He has a heat lamp on the top, a heating floor pad thing, a log, and two rocks he can go under. There is that calcium sand lining the cage. (which he doesn't eat.) I give him reptile supplement maybe twice a month. (Is that enough?) And I put water in his cage about once a week. I haven't soaked him because of fear of tail rot and not being able to get the water from under his partly shedding skin. He is still really active, and loves to run around my house. He is just so cute! And he never bites me and he likes to be petted...oh, he's just such an awesome pet. I would hate if he was sick.

I had a problem with Archie's tail not shedding properly, and decided to just let nature take its course, until of course, someone on here pointed out that moisture can be trapped under the dead skin and rot... I ended up soaking him, and having to pry off some of the dead skin (very carefully). Thankfully he had only lost the absolute points on a few small places on his tail.

I would make sure that there is not an accumulation of dead skin on his tail, if there is you may need to help him remove it. As long as there are not any open soars under the dead skin (red irritated areas) he should be fine. You may be dealing with a past issue of tail rot which has already healed. It is my understanding that once they lose the spikes on their tail they will not grow back, but that is really only an aesthetic issue for captive Uros.

My Uro sheds in stages, which is irritating for me because he is grumpy more often, but doesn't seem to hurt him particularly. A good soak, and maybe some gentle cleaning with a soft brush may do wonders for him.

Keep us posted!!

Elizabeth