Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have kept treating Petey with Warm baths, applying Tritops ointment and not putting him back in sand which could have made it worse I think. Since this happened over the weekend, I couldn't get to my vet till Monday & was really hoping to get some answers previously. The vet finally saw him on Mon afternoon & said I'd done everything right so that was a relief since I was so terribly worried the entire weekend about what I'd done & feeling guilty. Now I know he'll be OK so I'm ecstatic everything worked out OK.

here is the nicest way i can say this...
you should NEVER pull skin off a lizard for any reason.

There may be other things that could be causing skin shedding issues such as enclosure size/temp/food/etc... you should do some reading up on uro care.... uro wiki try and google it there should be plenty to read there that is up to date

Thanks 4 being nice & 4 the advice. However I do feel I need to defend/explain myself here a little. The huge dry piece of hanging skin was bothering & even aggravating Petey which is one reason I got him out to see what was going on. He was continually biting & pulling at the skin so with the authority & permission of my vet, altho I'd never done this b4, I tried to help him out a little by gently pulling the dry skin off which was flappin in the breeze & about ready to come off anyway. When I did it pulled farther than I expected it would. I realized I made a mistake even with the OK from my vet and would NEVER in a million yrs do ANYTHING to hurt or cause pain to any of my lizards as I love them and they mean everything to me. Being disabled and alone in my house they are the only company or living things I have contact with every day & they're all I have, being like my very children. As I said I've kept lizards for 12-13yrs (and uros were my first) so I'm not without experience or knowledge in their care. All of my lizards are fat, happy, well-adjusted, extremely tame & personable with people and I take great pride in caring for them and meeting their every need. I indeed know I
made a huge mistake when this incident happened & as it was on a weekend
I thought I could get a little advice until I could get to the vet Mon but that didn't
happen. Believe me I did not mean to offend anyone or upset them and I am
extremely sorry if I did. I've NEVER in my life "peeled" a lizard as I know the
health hazards of this behavior. I simply erred in trying to help Petey get
skin off that was obviously already falling off. So please accept my apology for
any offenses my postings thus far or my mistake with Petey may have caused
anyone to feel about me. I've felt extremely guilty since this happend last week
and have punished myself all week 4 being so stupid. I sincerely love my babies
& only want the best 4 them so again I'm sorry. I am brand new to this forum &
would like to keep posting. I can only hope I've not ostracized myself by appearing to b such an idiot. I do not hold myself out to b an expert by any
means but as a "hobbyist" I can only say that even tho I've kept these guys
almost 13 years and I have learned a great deal about them and am by no means a beginner, I stlll dont know everything and we all make mistakes. I can only learn from this & do better next time. There can b no other expert or
hobbyist out there who can possibly love their lizards any more than I do & there's no greater motivator in the world than love for your animals to inspire
u to learn more, not repeat the mistakes u've learned the hard way and keep on doing ur very best to ensure their good health & happiness. Thats my continued goal for as long God graces me with their wonderful company and even tho my
disabilities cause me great pain every day, I will always make sure they have
what they need even if I have to go without myself. My lizards always come first & foremost so please don't hold this one mistake against me as I'm very serious about the well-being of all my reptiles. Thanks

time to find a new vet. if he thought it was so important to peel skin from any reptile he should have either done it himself 'as a professional' or come up with a better way. im sure you only had the best intentions in mind when doing this... but there are other options besides peeling the skin. could have raised humidity to assist in shedding, applied ointment, rubbed it with a wet q-tip ... just a few things off the top of my head for next time hope that helps a bit .. good luck with the recovery.

Welll I thank u 4 ur advice. I know what u mean about the vet. I've had him now since I got my 1st lizard & there were no reptile vets in this area at the time. This one said he had worked with iguanas b4 and a few monitors -- the only 1 not over an hour away who was willing to even "work with me". Another vet opened up a few years later & I had just purchased a new red Nigerian Uro who refused to eat when I brought him home & was w/in a week wasted away to almost nothing. I went to the new herp vet who definitely needed lessons in his bedside manner. I was already upset over my new lizard (Cupid) being so sick & this vet barely looked at him & said there was nuthin he could do except put him out of him misery -- he wouldn't even try. He was rude & obnoxious & when I practically begged for info on what to do, he said it didn't matter what I did, he would die anyway. He then dismissed us & charged a huge bill for basically doing nothing. On the way home, I took Cupid into my regular vets office but he was on vacation for a week. I brought him home, made mush out of his greens & kept tryin to feed him, soaked in warm baths, rauised the temp in cage, etc but he passed away in 4-5 days. I've discovered a couple of herp vets in Greensboro who have opened since then but it takes bout an hour fro
for me to get to them which is why I've stayed with my old vet who's only 15 mins away. Thats one reason I wanted to join a forum like this where I can learn for myself & get advice from others. I appreciate u recognizing the fact that I did not do this intentionally & never meant to hurt Petey. But I am sure that if he was at my vets at that minute, the vet would've pulled that skin off since it was so dried out & ready to fall off b/c I've seen him do it b4! I usually bathe all of my beardies & uros when they start to molt as I've read this is a good way to help them have a good shed. If this isn't right please tell me! But Petey's back to normal and is running around already bobbing (or flapping as my daughter calls it) at the females so thank God I had a good outcome.

soaking uros is a no no. if the water isnt dried off in between the tail spikes fungus can develop. you may want to google 'uro wiki' and find theres plenty of stuff to read there