Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if anyone has ever seen a problem like this before....

I have an adult texas indigo female. She mated in Fall 2008 and the male was kind of rough with her and left a 1" bite gash about 2/3 down on her body. She went on to lay 10 eggs last Spring, but she has had this weird shedding condition ever since.

About every 10 days she goes into a shed cycle. Yes, only 10 days! She needs a lot of help getting the shedding off, usually with a humid hide box. Every other Indigo that I have will shed just fine even without the hide box. Her shed comes off in pieces and smells really, really nasty! It also has a very slimy feel to it. If I don't assist in the shed, she will get 2 sheds piled up on top of each other and then has all kinds of problems getting them to come off. This has been going on for months now. I know that it's time for a trip to the vet, but I've had so little success with reptile vets in the past. I thought I would ask here first...
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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps

Some more information may be needed. One question that comes to mind is about how she healed from the injury. Injuries to their skin will trigger shedding as that is the way they repair their skin. The more extensive the damage, the more times they may need to shed. It may be possible that her skin has not completed healing or some other condition is still existing with her skin that is triggering her to go into shed mode. To much humidity may be a factor and could cause skin irritation that would trigger the shedding and may account for the high moisture content of the shed skin which may also account for the odor. If that is the case, a dryer area with a basking light may help. Other keepers may have some suggestions. At any rate good luck with her.

ECT

may be a result of a fungal /bacterial dermal infection.....resulting in some of those symptoms