I took Richard to the vet Friday because of a worrisome looking spot on his tail related to a retained shed. He's had problems shedding his tail for several months - I've tried all the products, in addition to vitamin E, aloe vera, you name it, but he had several tight bands on his tail. Finally one of them turned black, and although it was still supple and had range of motion, I decided a vet visit was in order.
Not only did I find that my little fatty now weighs 726 grams, up from 544 a year ago, but the vet (Margaret Emerling at Gentle Care in Lawrence, KS - we ADORE her!) gave me some great retained shed advice. She said to bathe him twice a day, and after he's been in the bath for 15-20 minutes and absorbed some water in his scales, pinch the tight bands on his tail to try to get them to crack. This lets water under some of the scales, and gets them to loosen and stretch, and the scales underneath to get moisture too. Then after the bath while his tail is still wet, put vaseline on it to keep the moisture in.
I was surprised that Richard seemed to enjoy the tail pinching. No squirming away, no stink-eye, no nothing - I think it helped relieve the pressure almost immediately. After a couple of these bath/pinch/goo treatments, individual scales were starting to come off the tight areas - huge thick concrete-like scales that were solid black. Today, after four days of treatment, the biggest band of skin floated off in the bath! And there are shiny new scales underneath!
I wouldn't put Vaseline on anything they can lick, like their feet or legs or face, but it sure helped my big fella's tail!
Not only did I find that my little fatty now weighs 726 grams, up from 544 a year ago, but the vet (Margaret Emerling at Gentle Care in Lawrence, KS - we ADORE her!) gave me some great retained shed advice. She said to bathe him twice a day, and after he's been in the bath for 15-20 minutes and absorbed some water in his scales, pinch the tight bands on his tail to try to get them to crack. This lets water under some of the scales, and gets them to loosen and stretch, and the scales underneath to get moisture too. Then after the bath while his tail is still wet, put vaseline on it to keep the moisture in.
I was surprised that Richard seemed to enjoy the tail pinching. No squirming away, no stink-eye, no nothing - I think it helped relieve the pressure almost immediately. After a couple of these bath/pinch/goo treatments, individual scales were starting to come off the tight areas - huge thick concrete-like scales that were solid black. Today, after four days of treatment, the biggest band of skin floated off in the bath! And there are shiny new scales underneath!
I wouldn't put Vaseline on anything they can lick, like their feet or legs or face, but it sure helped my big fella's tail!
