Painful, premature shedding?

[jacqui778]

Since I have rescued Gem, she hasn't had a proper shed, except on one of her legs. By 'proper' I mean, the whole limb. While she was shedding her leg, she was also shedding the base, and only the base, of her tail. Recently she shed JUST her little finger and a small portion of her wrist. I got Gem back in early July. I'm starting to get concerned, because she hasn't shed completely yet.

Also, she appears to have scales that are shedding one at a time. It reminds me of chipped paint. The shed skin pops up, she rubs it off, and all seems well-- but, upon examination of the scales, I've noticed that they're small, soft, and very, very sensitive. Gem will NOT let me touch them without jerking in pain and attempting to run away.... this breaks my heart.

At first, the individual scale shedding started on only her tail-- the part that didn't shed before, which would be a bit below the base. But, since then, it's gone to her arms, and the spikes on either side of her neck, where the black marks are. I'm starting to worry, as the spikes, too, are underdeveloped. She also had 2 prematurely shedding spikes on her beard.

The shed skin also isn't like regular shed skin. It is moist, soft, and doesn't break easily-- as opposed to regular shed skin, which is dry, and falls apart if you aren't holding it delicately.

If there is anything I can do for my sweet Gem, please tell me. I'm tired of seeing her in pain, and flinching whenever I try to stroke her gently. I'm sick of seeing pain in her eyes, and watching her run away from me.

Jacqui

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jacqui,

Are you giving baths right now? Can you post a picture for us of her?
You can also try using some aloe vera gel to help moisturize the scales a little bit for awhile. This is usually pretty effective.
What is the humidity in her tank right now? If it is too dry, she will have trouble shedding. It needs to be 30-50% to help maintain healthy membranes & with shedding.

Tracie

 

[jacqui778]

Hello Jacqui,

Are you giving baths right now? Can you post a picture for us of her?
You can also try using some aloe vera gel to help moisturize the scales a little bit for awhile. This is usually pretty effective.
What is the humidity in her tank right now? If it is too dry, she will have trouble shedding. It needs to be 30-50% to help maintain healthy membranes & with shedding.

Tracie

Yes, I am giving baths, even though she doesn't like them much. Sure, I can post a pic.... what would you like a pic of? I guess I could get the painful scales on her tail for you. Any others?

She doesn't have much humidity in her tank now. How could I raise it? I knew she had high humidity in her tank before I got her (a bubbling water dish, high temps) so I was a bit worried about an RI. I've been keeping the humidity low to monitor her, but I'm pretty sure it would probably be safe to raise it back up a bit....

Jacqui

 

[Drache613]

Hello Jacqui,

Just an overall picture but especially the areas that are having trouble. If the humidity is lower than 20% she may have trouble shedding. To increase the humidity simply put a water dish in on the warm side for a few hours a day & that should help quite a bit.
How is she doing today?


Tracie

 

[jacqui778]

Hello Jacqui,

Just an overall picture but especially the areas that are having trouble. If the humidity is lower than 20% she may have trouble shedding. To increase the humidity simply put a water dish in on the warm side for a few hours a day & that should help quite a bit.
How is she doing today?


Tracie

I will get pictures for you.

A water dish will be added, then. I'll also have to get a new humidity measuring thingie. The one that the guy I got her from gave me proves to be broken, so I've been reading the wrong humidity the whole time.... :?

She's doing well today. I had to replace her bulb, as her old one wasn't getting hot enough anymore with the cold weather, and she wasn't too happy about me being in her viv screwing in a lightbulb. :roll:

Jacqui

 

[Gail]

I though I read something about adeno virus causing weird, gummy shedding. Tracie, do you know anything about this?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yes Gail, you are right Adeno virus does cause some very strange shedding issues. There is no rhyme or reason, it is just a symptom of it & you just have to treat it as it comes.

Tracie

 

[jacqui778]

Hello,

Yes Gail, you are right Adeno virus does cause some very strange shedding issues. There is no rhyme or reason, it is just a symptom of it & you just have to treat it as it comes.

Tracie

.... what are the other symptoms of Adeno virus? Is it something I should be concerned about?
Could it be possible that Gem has Adeno?

Jacqui

 

[spurlee01]

Whoops, sorry I was trying to copy info from here to another thread and didn't do very well.

 

[jacqui778]

Whoops, sorry I was trying to copy info from here to another thread and didn't do very well.

Thanks for the help. :roll:
Joking, joking!

So, apologies about not posting on this thread in awhile.
Just to let everyone know, I talked to Gem's vet at church (hmph....), and she says that maybe it's just a side effect of poor stores of vitamins and protein in the past, and her body still has to adapt. She also said that I should boost temps and see what happens, and she agreed that aloe would be good on the scales that hurt. I asked her if Gem's being underweight could have a play in it, and she said it's possible.
Does this info check out with you guys? Anything she/I missed?

Lucky for me, I was going to switch Gem's bulb to a hotter one, and, what d'you know, it BURST in my hand. The whole glass part of the bulb just broke off!

Jacqui