Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My savannah has problems with shedding. especially around his toes. he lost some of his toes do too this and i have to give him an assisted shed almost everyday. His humidity is right and everything. But i was wondering if you have heard of any other lizards with this problem or if they'res an easier way to fix it?

"His humidity is right and everything."

If everything was right, you wouldn't be posting this question.
What is right? What is right to you might not be right for the critter.
To much is just as bad as not enough. You have to figure out what "IS" right.
What are you using for substrate? Are you keeping it damp, muddy, dry, what?

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I just lurk here, but I want to emerge and make this comment: I've never seen resistant old shed without the abscence of proper humidity. Many humidity gauges give faulty readings. Radio Shack has one or two good ones, but you have to put them in the habitat to get good readings. If one of my lizards had resistant shed I'd do that.

IMO you have a defective humidity gauge, or an improper setup, or you're not quite telling the whole story.

In the meantime, keep rubbing/picking those toe sheds off.

Happy herping,

Roger

np

My BT is shedding too, but not that he has any problems....yet:-S. But to avoid that "yet", id like to ask some questions:
-My substrate is that "pieces of coconut" kind of thingy mostly its dry (unless he tips his water dish, by accident), as for some wetness, i take him out daily and place him in a halfway filled bathtub, for him to swim and soak a bit. I always stay there watching that he doesnt get tired and sinks. My question is....anything i need to add or remove from that situation?
- Second is: isnt peeling the skin gonna hurt the poor creature? I mean, i do have the tentation to peel any loose skin i see on his toes, but i always thought it would hurt him (evidenced my tegus). Whats the "special" way of helping him with shedding, if problems came up?
Thanks and Cheers,
Sheri

like that. Mostly because many people do not want to here it.

First, putting your landloving monitor in the bathtub is a bit like putting your goldfish on the floor for a small walk(flop) while you clean their tank(humor). It most likely will not kill either the goldfish or the monitor, but its not fun for them either.

For V.albigularis, deep water means its flooding and its time to seek high ground like finding a nice sturdy tree or find the Ark. Swimming water is for such species as niles, waters, mertens, even mitchells. Many of the indo species are good swimmers, but do not seek water.

A landloving monitor only seeks water to soak if its dehydrated. So if your monitor is doing that, then fix the reason its dehydrated. Whoops, and if its too hot, they will seek water to stay cool. Both of these things are not good things.

I understand your doing the best you know how, and soaking is very common, but so is dehydrated monitors.

I am sure many here will help on how to keep your monitor from getting dehydrated to start with. First understand, houses are normally horrifyingly dry for reptiles. If you make your house humid enough for reptiles, then your house would rot and mold. Second, air movement passes this dry air from our houses over the monitors. This is the problem. Monitors, most all reptiles can only expose themselfs to fairly humid air. Think Fla. in the summer and all the reptiles. Or Az. in the monsoons.

So take it easy, have fun, and find out ways to not soak species of monitors that are not semi-aquatic. Good luck FR

So true...But not my fault. I was also questioning when the VET told me to let the albig swim to do exercise. Before he told me that, i only let him be in water that only covered the bottom part of his stomach, to stop dehydration. Now im hearing that i was right before when i thought BTs were more land than aquatic...but hey, you get the info from a vet and you mostly think "hey!hes gotta be right, coz, hes the vet, aint he?" Caresheets dont mention the loving-level of BTs towards water neither.
In ventilation matters, the holes are on the side, not on the top like everyone is against.Hes also next to the window, which now in summer (Spain gets really hot) i open it during the day. And last thing he has a water dish to drink whenever he wants (which is basically after every sunbask or food)
Again, i only got the wrong info from what looked like the right person, but ill go back to setting only a puddle for him
Cheers,
Sheri

Great, In areas that are semi-desert, like were albigs occur, they maintain they moisture levels with their food and using burrows that have around 50% humidity. That is not wet but a little humid. However you allow this is fine.

Also, as with every trade, there are good ones and not so good ones, vets are no exception. A vet that recomends you have an albig get exercise thru swimming is a sure sign you need another vet. Albigs get their exercise thru digging. If given the right soil, they dig dig dig dig, like a wheel in a mouse cage.

By the way, my grandparents are from Spain, hence my name, Retes. Do you know what that means? Thanks FR

Does Retes mean 'sexy'?

Hmmm, figures you would throw a new thought out there about monitors...so are you saying a monitor that digs and digs isn't 'maladjusted' or unhappy? Could it in fact be happy?
So far I have taken any creature that digs at the cage confines to be unhappy...maybe it depends on where the animal in question is digging? As long as its not at the door or corner, is it ok?
Hmmmm...
D.

Hi Goon, I think Retes means passionate. Theres no arguing that, hahahahahahahahahaha. OK, I think it has to do with net peoples as in fishing, from the northern coast.

About digging, It depends why they're digging. Burrowing monitors dig, thats what they do. As with gophers and moles and such. They dig burrows, then dig other borrows(they can have more then one) You can never have enough burrows.

But if they are digging because what they have is not working, then thats another story. Its our job to figure out which is which. Is it cause they want to or is it cause they need to, or is it cause their nuts? FR

Fr said "Is it cause they want to or is it cause they need to, or is it cause their nuts?"

I can answer that one, my albigs and savs dig because they need to, the argus digs because it's nuts.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

You know the old saying, "if everyone around you is nuts" Then theres a strong possibility that your the one thats nuts.

If you have a whole bunch of argus, and few other monitors, which one is nuts????? The argus? the other(normal) monitors? or the keeper??

The answer is of course, the keeper. So you own an argus, that makes you nuts. hahahahahahahahahaha. FR

Np
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Ive given my BT a "chipped-an-pieces-of-coconut" thingy as soil. But he wont dig and he doesnt use the burrow as much as he use to. Could the lack of humidity in the burrow be the cause of lack of use? Gotta check that.
Retes.....doesnt sound like a spanish surname:-/ dunno...
Cheers,
Sheri

Forget humidity. Try more heat first.
D.

I will have to agree with Frank on this. Hi Frank how are you?*waving hello from yonder*

What I invested in, and I have to say it is a lifesaver when it comes to humidty, is a simple water sprayer. They run 13 bucks at home depot for a one gallon size sprayer. I set the nozzle to fine mist and I just let it run once every few days. I spray the cypress, the dirt, and most importantly the kids. They seem to enjoy it very much and it is very noticble that they hydrate just as easily, without the stress of being soaked or dunked, as when you stick them in a tub of water. Actually, not speaking for anyone else here but me, I find that they rehydrate within fifteen to 20 minutes of being misted, as compaired to a half hour to hour soaking, from when I used to do that years ago.

Try it regularly, it seems more natural, they like the "rain" if it's warm and soft enough and overall it's much easier then moving them from their enclosure to a soaking tub or your bathroom. Less stress more natural

Good luck !!!!

In many of my cages that don’t have dirt, I simply use a large mutt of sphagnum moss with I keep wet, in other cage I prefer a Rubbermaid with wet perlight, I just punch holes on top, my lizard love to sleep on them and they keep the cage hydrated well.