Handling a shedding baby

[Vodevil]

My baby girl is going through her first shed ever with me. She is my first beardie/reptile so I am not sure what to expect in regards to how long it will take and how fragile she is right now. It is a full body/legs/tail shed, everything but her head is white and starting to peel off, and she definitely isn't ecstatic about it. I feel really bad handling her but I still have to for feeding/baths, and since her appetite is low I am offering her food more often then I would if she were pigging out like normal.

I guess my question is, how fragile are they during their shed? I am being very gentle with her of course but she is little, just 2.5 months old so I am paranoid about hurting her by handling her/picking her up, I am scared just picking her up could accidentally force skin off where it isn't ready yet, is this possible from gentle handling or am I overestimating how fragile their skin is during this time?

 

[CooperDragon]

I don't know that they're any more fragile. You definitely don't want to pick at the skin but you can handle her normally. She may enjoy some time on a carpet or other surface that she can rub against and help remove the shed on her own. The duration of sheds can vary from a few days to a few weeks.

 

[AHBD]

Like Cooper said, handle as usual. I've raised a ton of babies, no harm whatsoever in handling them.

 

[Vodevil]

Okay awesome. Thanks guys.

 

[Vodevil]

Well, I got home from class this afternoon and my baby was going HAM on her hammock, almost the entire shed on her back had peeled off towards the bottom and she was trying to get it off. I watched her for a few minutes and misted her a bit but she was acting so cute and funny so I grabbed my phone and caught the last bit of it.

The huge chunk of shed came off shortly afterwards, just her head left to go now xD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKVhNvbS6v8

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor girl. I'm glad the shed came off easily. In the video it looks like she's saying "help! I just exploded!"

 

[Vodevil]

Hey guys,
So I have one concern, she refused to eat anything all day yesterday and doesn't seem to want to eat anything so far today either and is looking skinnier than usual. Part of her head is in shed (I believe) but it looks very different than any of her body shed did. I just wanted to post a pic and ask if this looks normal?

It is just her nose area so far that is looking VERY white. Is this normal for head shed or is it something I should be concerned about???

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that looks normal. Her nose and mouth are about to shed which is probably why she isn't eating. You'll probably see her start to rub her mouth on rough things to try and loosen the skin. Let her do this on her own but don't try to help. She should be able to get that shed loose after a bit and hopefully her appetite will return quickly.

 

[Vodevil]

Phew. Okay! Thank you, Cooper. :notworthy:

 

[Vodevil]

Little update.
Her entire head has been turning grey-er so I think her entire head is getting ready to shed now, though the super white area around her nose and mouth hasn't come off yet. She has refused to eat ANYTHING over the past 4 days besides 3 crickets, two on Friday night and one today, which has made me quite worried since she usually eats around 25-30+ per day. She has also lost about a gram and her poops are still regular but they are much smaller and runnier.

I just ran out to the store and bought some organic butternut squash baby food and a little dropper syringe thing and gave her some of that. She did have a good bit of that and seemed to enjoy it for the most part so I will keep that up for now so I know she is at least getting something... If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know!

 

[CooperDragon]

The squash is fine. You can also use baby food chicken. I tend to reserve the syringe feeding for critical care but as long as you're just offering drops on the nose and not being too forceful it shouldn't be a big deal. It's common for them to go off of food for a bit during a shed, especially around their face and mouth. I know her routine is a bit off and it's good that it raises flags to you but (in my opinion) so far things sound normal for a rough shed cycle.

 

[Vodevil]

Things are still going a little rough over here! She has barely eaten at all for over a week now. Every few days she will randomly eat a few crickets but otherwise, nada. The mouth area of her shed has come off but the rest of her head has not finished shedding. I only gave her baby food that one time up until just now when I decided to give her a little bit of it again.

She has also gone to the washroom while sleeping which has me worried. I have woken up and found a small runny poop/urate in her little bed area more than once during this time. Is this normal or should I be worried? She is drinking as normal but not eating much so that could explain the runnier poops, so my main concern is that she is going while she is asleep...

 

[CooperDragon]

The lack of appetite may still be from the continuing shed. She's still pretty little so pooping frequently isn't uncommon. Is she waking up during the night to poop or is she pooping while sleeping? The watery nature is probably due to excess hydration as you said.

 

[Vodevil]

Hey cooper,
I'm not really sure if she is awake or not when she goes but she is definitely not moving when she does go as I have found all the nighttime poops on the same spot of her little bed, right where she sleeps.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm not quite sure what to make of that, it isn't something I've seen. Perhaps others on here have seen nighttime pooping and can offer some advice on it.