Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright so my peach throat was getting his daily bath yesterday and I noticed that he has remnantgs of previous shedding on it, starting to constrict it. I don't want him to lose his toe so I raised his humidity. I was wondering if anybody has any solutions on how to help him and I get those pesky old scales off without hurting my little guy. Thanks!!

Hi, can you give me the current humidity level, and just for the sake of asking, the temps, which type of heat/light bulbs you`re using, and type and depth of substrate, and does this enclosure have a solid top? Thanks!

Right now his humidity ranges between 83 and 86. I keep it at about 90 degrees in there. He has a heat pad on the side of the cage, by his shelf for night time and a 100 watt basking lamp and a uva/b lamp that's set on an 11 hour timer.

And for his substrate, he has 12 inches of it, its a mix of childfrens play sand organic potting soil. It was a real pain to mix but its good for him when he decides to burrow.

And for his substrate, he has 12 inches of it, its a mix of childfrens play sand organic potting soil. It was a real pain to mix but its good for him when he decides to burrow.

Toe death and tail tip death is a sign of dehydration and stress. Either or both.

What occurs is blood is shunted from the extremities and the toes or tail tip dies.

of course, the skin cannot fall off and is often blamed for the problem. but its not the problem.

Also, a cage should not be humid. or dry. different parts of the cage should have humidity choices, not the whole cage being humid. They are not salamanders.

The key is limiting dehydration, with all that heat on your animal, it has to become dehydrated, also, with all that heat and that high of humidity, the cage has to have venting. Its the venting that causes the problems.

Use less heat and less venting, that way, you can have a temp range and limit dehydration. Best wishes and good luck

Hi again, it`s quite difficult without photos, can you put a few up?
As far as the unshed skin on the toe, if he/she has recently shed and there were no apparent problems, the piece may come off itself, the main thing is to have a suitable humidity and temp range, that will ensure proper shedding. If you`re worried, as a "quick fix" you can apply a little mineral or baby oil to the toe, that should soften it enough, just rub a little in, and wait a day or two...
You haven`t said what the basking (surface) temp is, I take it the "about 90f" is the ambient (air) temp. How are you measuring the surface and other temps, digital or analogue thermometer (the analogue can be quite inaccurate)?
You only need to know two temps; the coolest ambient (air) in the enclosure, which should be approx 24c (75f), then the surface temp at the basking spot; between approx 50 to 60c (120 to 140f), no other temp really matters.
Can you also give details on diet? Sorry for all the questions, but it`s important to get a clear picture of how the monitor`s being kept!
Can you tell me the size and type of enclosure, and the total length of the monitor?

You shouldn't be using one 100watt bulb. You should be using a bank of low wattage flood bulbs. 3 bulbs x 50 watt should do fine. Do you have it in a tank?

Sorry about this reply taking so long, hahaha I had finally got a new cage built for him from scratch. Its exactly six feet tall, four feet wide and two feet deep. He's got some branches and a shelf for basking as well as a ten gallon tub in the bottom to bathe in. I have a ceramic heater, two 75 watt bulbs and a uvb/uva bulb in there so I finally spent enough money building the silly thing but he's great now. I still bathe him every day and once every week he gets an aloe bath. Since I live in AZ aloe grows great down here so I chop three leaves up, fill up the tub with the water a little warmer than usual so the aloe seeps out well. And yes, his toes are saved! Thanks for the help everyone!