Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Kaiya, female R. brevicaudatus shed soon after I got her about 2.5 months ago and had a problem with her right hind foot. From about the "ankle" down it did not come off and sort of encircled her leg. I kept it moist with jojoba oil and hoped it would release in the next shed - well, it did not She just shed and that part of her leg didn't even split (skin). She seems to have limited use, can't seem to clasp, and it always remains dark. I am afraid she may be losing circulation and do not know what to do. Being about 1.25" long it is difficult to handle. Any advice helpful!

lele,
Makeda,
Kaiya,
and Bart

You must get that skin off. If the skin did not come loose with the oil I don't know if putting the cham in a sink or plastic box with just enough warm water to cover the foot (let the cham stroll around in it for 30 minutes or so) will help. You may have to get a second pair of hands to help you rub it off by hand. The stress of handling will be a better option than losing a foot.

If so you may have to snip that rolled part. Try to slip the tip of a pair of cuticle sizzors between the rolled up skin and the foot and snip the skin so it can slip off the foot. (I know it's tiny and you may not be able to do this. I had to do it with a baby day gecko once and it was not fun.

I have to do this on a regular basis with my skink's toes.

I soak her (but you could soak just the little chams feet) for a while (at least 20 minutes) in warm water....then use a round toothpick to help ease the band of skin off her toes.
I would not use scissors...the potential is too great to slip and cut the foot.
Between the toothpick and my fingernail, we can usually get it off...sometimes it will take two or three soaks though.

It does need to come off though, especially if you're seeing discolouration of the foot.
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Kim

...it isn't that the skin is even visibly separated from her leg/foot now. This happened over 2 months ago with that initial shed. I tried most of what you all have suggested to no avail so I kept it "oiled" since. Then, she just shed this week and I was watching that area but no skin even loosened

I will try to let her wander in some water for awhile and see if anything changes - she's going to hate this! Makeda and Bart are very tolerant of any of my intrusions, but Kaiya runs when she sees my hand in the tank! The reason I named her Kaiya is b/c it is Japanese for "forgiveness" (I like to do names with meanings to fit personalities - Makeda is African for Queeen of Sheba and she is the Queen Bee!) hoping she will forgive me for all my intrusions! LOL! Just today I got the last piece of shed off her belly in the hopes that it was attached to leg skin - but was not. She was not happy about all that handling!

lele

No...you were clear to me. My skink has what I think were a few YEARS worth of unshed bands of skin.

They were so thick, that when I finally did get them off, they have now left permanent indentations in her toes. And the scales there never return to thier normal green colour. they are now permanently very dark green/black colour.

It took a very long time to get those old bands off, now I just stay on top of it every shed. I never want it to get as bad as before.

soaking is the key...at least for Dill. I just work on one toe at a time...usually only doing one or two toes per soak.
I know your little girl has the band around her ankle...(I bet it's about the same size as one of Dill's toes though!).

anyway...don't give up.
And good luck!
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Kim

If that doesn't work, they have special spray especially for shedding at Big Apple Herpetological (sp?). And I'm sure they have it in other places. It helps to egt rid of unshed skin.
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~Julie~
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