Hello all! So this is a new one to me. My 9-12 month old Bearded Dragon, Iggy, is having a difficult time shedding some scales around the muzzle/facial/head area and the scales in question are a clearly different colour (unhealthy looking, but surely not fungus related) to the rest of the scales. I was told by the pet store to put a small water dish into his vivarium to raise the humidity, but I'm worried about the possible problems that could incur. I already give him baths every 2-3 days with warm water, up to the neck (I watch him very carefully and never let out of my sight plus he enjoys a small swim). I then use a syringe to douse the rest of his scales with water and he always closes his eyes like a good boy so I can get around those more delicate parts
So what should I do, if anything? Thank you once again too. I can post pictures tomorrow when we both wake up, as it's bed time right now.
A photo of the troubled shedding is below; he likes sitting up on my keyboard like that, and I'm not sure why It certainly makes typing difficult, especially for this post! *chuckles* I see why you call that the milk mustache, my Iggy is kind of getting that at the moment too as of this morning.
I agree with AHBD, it's just looks as if that shed isn't quite ready to come off yet, and certainly doesn't look like an issue at all.
And raising the humidity inside his tank/enclosure will not help him shed any quicker, certainly not since you're already giving him a bath every couple of days already...Dragons can live within a very broad range of humidity levels without any issues at all, like from 10% humidity up to 70% humidity and they'll be fine, they aren't like Tropical Reptiles...But that's not the issue with raising his tank humidity in this particular situation, it's that it's not going to help. It's simply shed that isn't ready to come off yet, and that looks completely fine.
It's very odd how they shed sometimes, what sheds first, what sheds last, what shed the last time very quickly is now taking forever, etc. It's all dependent on how they grow and how thick the skin is the areas that are shedding at the times they are shedding. The bottom line is that you can't really gauge it at all, it will happen when it happens. But he looks great and the shed looks normal.
I agree with AHBD, it's just looks as if that shed isn't quite ready to come off yet, and certainly doesn't look like an issue at all.
And raising the humidity inside his tank/enclosure will not help him shed any quicker, certainly not since you're already giving him a bath every couple of days already...Dragons can live within a very broad range of humidity levels without any issues at all, like from 10% humidity up to 70% humidity and they'll be fine, they aren't like Tropical Reptiles...But that's not the issue with raising his tank humidity in this particular situation, it's that it's not going to help. It's simply shed that isn't ready to come off yet, and that looks completely fine.
It's very odd how they shed sometimes, what sheds first, what sheds last, what shed the last time very quickly is now taking forever, etc. It's all dependent on how they grow and how thick the skin is the areas that are shedding at the times they are shedding. The bottom line is that you can't really gauge it at all, it will happen when it happens. But he looks great and the shed looks normal.