Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

It's been almost month now since Grass started his shed, and in fact he's already started a second one since then. But his tail end (the last six inches or so) is just refusing to come off! I can tell he had little to no humidity, and no baths, with his previous owner -- he had layer upon layer of dead skin built up in places like his feet, spikes & tail. And it looks like the skin is cutting circulation & preventing growth of his tail. I wish I could adequately describe how the very tip looks, but basically it just appears as though it's being stunted & suffocated by dead skin.

I'm giving him a good soak every day, and spritzing him with water about every hour. But I'm only getting about a half-inch a day to peel off his tail. Does anyone have any recommendations for helping it along a little quicker?

Also on a related note, can iguanas tail-drop intentionally like anoles? He'll get cranky when I'm working on him, and does a real quick side-to-side shake of his tail. Freaks me out every time that he's going to drop, so I have to stop what I'm doing. Makes for very slow progress. Am I being paranoid?

Thanks in advance for advice,

-atomic (human) & grass (ig)

I have heard that a little bit of mineral oil or vegetable oil can help a shed along. hope that helps.

When our snakes get ready to bust a shed we make sure & handle them with vitamin E oil on our hands so they get a good coating (after the milky phase, just before the shed) & I'm thinking of rubbing some on Forest's spikes too.

They sure look like any little bit would help.

He too gets cranky when he's shedding so I was thinking of doing it at night when he's sleeping & I mean Forest is ZONKED when he sleeps.

I'll let you know how it goes. Keep me posted too.

Terri

As good a picture as I have of his spikes...

Spikes can be a pain, I try while Anna is in the bath, I fill it a bit more deeper and just pour warm water over her to loosen the shed on the spikes up, and get them off while they are soft from the warm water, if that doesnt work I use a little oil, usually as the water is down some, I put it on the spikes, she really doesn't mind, of course that is where I clip all nails as it just seems to lull them, they close their eyes and just let me.

LOL, off we go to the tub...warm water & some vitamin E oil...

I can see Forest rolling his eyes now...

Vitamin E oil is a *great* idea, thank you. I will pick some up today. Heck, my skin could use it, too!

Would you believe I use cheap old mineral oil or baby oil after a shower to moisturize MY skin but the spoiled green baby gets VITAMIN E OIL!!!

LOL.

My hunny said Forest's salads look better than HIS too....hehe.

Terri

Tell me about it! Right now, I've got no human food whatsoever in the house, but the big green baby's got his own shelf in the fridge that's crammed full. He eats so well, he's going to outlive me!

Hmmmm. Lets see my freezer is full of all sizes between fuzzies and rats, and squash-veggie mix for the reptiles. (I blend and mix every couple of months and freeze)
The fridge holds two containers of greens as uro's eat somewhat different greens than the igs and dragons.
I have lights everywhere, which does not help to keep the house cool in the summer, lol.
I know what you are saying!!!!

n/p

I had the toughest time with Grass's spikes. Like I mentioned, it looked as though he'd never had a decent soak in his life when we got him, and about half his spikes were just absolutely ruined by constricted blood flow. Poor baby, when the coverings started coming off he lost a lot of them. He looks like he's got a buzz cut now

But the good news is, they're growing back fast & in fact I just removed shed from four of the shortest ones, right behind his hood. My dream is that someday he'll look all nice & butch with a great big mohawk!

I put a little petroleum jelly on his tail end this morning, right after his bath. Hopefully it'll lock in the moisture & help speed things along.

- atomic (human) & grass (ig)

Here is the smaller of my two igs, I believe his lack of spikes, and fingers and toes, (he only has 10 of 20)is from mites and bad sheds.
He is doing fine now, and his spikes are even getting a little bigger now

Monti still loves bathtime

SO cute! ohmygoodness!!

There are not many things cuter than a baby ig enjoying a bath...

Well, the vitamin E oil worked wonders. I applied it to his tail on Wednesday, and left it alone until this morning. He's in his soaky-bath now & I've just got the last of the skin off. It came off super-easy in nice big "chunks." But SO much of it, soooo many layers, like he'd never shed it in his life.

But poor baby -- I was right about his tail-tip. I'd been able to tell that the last 1/4 inch was black & unhealthy looking, and when I finally got all the skin removed, it became apparent that the black part is rotten & falling off. I will be putting plenty of Neosporin on it once he's out of the bath, and will certainly keep an eye on it to watch for infection.

Anyone else have advice/ideas for what to do about this? I'm glad, at least, that it's such a tiny bit & it didn't spread any farther.