Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I know that many recommend using newspaper as a cheap and easily replaceable substrate. I have started using newspaper instead of pine bedding to avoid the intense cleaning that is necessary when cleaning out the substrate. I noticed that my burm was going to be shedding soon so I placed a piece of drift wood in the cage with her to help aid her shedding process. She still appears to be having some trouble. The skin is coming off in pieces as opposed to the one whole piece that I am accustomed to seeing her shed. Any ideas? Her humidity level is ~75% and her cage is 92 degrees on the warm side and about 82-85 degrees on the cooler side. She also has a large bowl of water to soak in if necessary.

Any ideas would be great. I appreciate the help.

Chris

What I do with mine is, right when they clear up from the "cloudy" stage I start misting them 2x a day to keep their skin moist and I put a few peices of indoor outdoor carpet around inside the cage for them to rub against and it always comes off whole.

>>What I do with mine is, right when they clear up from the "cloudy" stage I start misting them 2x a day to keep their skin moist and I put a few peices of indoor outdoor carpet around inside the cage for them to rub against and it always comes off whole.

Indoor/outdoor carpet....hmmm...never thought of that one. I think I will look into that. I just want to make sure that she has clean sheds. Her humidity level has always been sufficient for past sheds, however, I supposed giving a little extra mist to provide an extra aid might not be a bad idea.

Thanks for the help!

Chris

Hi,
I don't have a burm but I like to check out this forum because I think they are beautiful..
anyways.. I use newspaper for the majority of my cages, I've found that using a large log or other rough piece of wood seems to cause the sheds to rip and come off in pieces every time. When it's just a 'regular' hide, water bowl and no wood the sheds comes off in one nice long piece. Just something I've noticed.

I also mist when I see them going into shed, but I am in Vegas so I have to mist them all the time anyways.
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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." -Tim/Rainshadow

I used newspaper for years with my Balls. What they would do once the skin was broken away from their face is weave themselves in and out of their own tight coils, rolling the shed skin backwards to their tails. High humidity was a must still, otherwise it would rip. Hope this helps.

Quig