Shedding problem

[Elijahsmom]

No one thinks these pictures looks like tail rot do they? I was readying online trying to figure out why his tail looks so dark and I came across tail rot. The shedding skin does not come off on it's own, when I tried to let it go the natural way all the skin just accumulates. I have to use warm baths and a toothbrush now to keep the skin from piling on. Elijah is shedding again now. He seems to be doing this monthly. He is so lethargic with this shed it seems like, I bought him a lizard hammock recently and now he spends almost all his time there. He comes off it to eat and then he basks after eating but he goes straight back to the hammock. Am I being overly paranoid?

 

[diamc]

It can be normal for their tail to be darker than the rest of them BUT it shouldn't be almost black continuously. It's hard to tell from the pictures but does it look to you that the blood supply to the tail might be cut off?

Did you try the 100% cocoa butter stick? We have had very good results with that when nothing else worked. Did you look at the pics I posted here showing the before and after results from using it? viewtopic.php?f=45&t=124767&start=0

Since he is now acting lethargic and you think it is from the problem shed, it would be a good idea to have a vet look at it. How is his appetite? Is his beard darker than usual?

 

[Elijahsmom]

Yeah I did find and try and coco butter, his tail is always dark like that. Everyone that has looked at him has made a comment about how much darker his tail looks then the rest of him. I know they will change from light to dark depending on how much heat they want to absorb but his tail never changes a shade. I can't tell if the blood flow is restricted, it's not swollen but he does flinch it away the last time he shed and I was having to help him with it. I can touch his tail and he doesn't care about that. His appetite seems fine, he is a cricket eater, he always goes off veggies during a shed and thats was he is doing now. Poops have been normal, solid, though he no longer goes in his cage, he waits for his bath. He just spends all of his time now in that hammock.

 

[Elijahsmom]

Alright so I'm back with another shedding questions about Elijah. I have really no idea how old he his, when I brought him home from the pet store in October he was I dunno may be give or take 8 to 9" and then he went through a huge growth spurt! Now he is about 15" and weighed in the 250g range @ the vets office last week. The vet stated that Elijah was in good health, my question is however, he recently shed the top of his head and around his eyes and mouth a few weeks ago and then nothing else has been shed. No discolorations of the skin, no behavior changes, nothing! He continues to have stress marks but I think thats cage related. They always go away when I hold him or he is in the bath tub, I put him back in the cage and they re-appear. I moved him into the 40 gal over a month ago and his shedding just seems to have slowed way down. Thanks for the input as always guys!

 

[Elijahsmom]

Any input? Am I being paranoid?

 

[diamc]

So, would you think he is roughly 9 to 10 mo old? What did the vet say about the tail discoloration or did he finally shed it? Is he still acting lethargic?

They don't shed as much when they are close to a yr old as they would if they are a baby and do shed in spots as they get older.

Could you fill us in on your tank setup, temps, thermometer, UVB (distance, age, type), also how often you're dusting with calcium and vitamins? How many crickets or other feeders does he usually eat daily and what greens are you feeding?

 

[Elijahsmom]

You got it, the vet didn't say anything about his tail discoloration, I asked her about it and she wasn't concerned. He did finally shed the excess skin from his tail but I had to help him with a lot of warm baths and a toothbrush. Elijah isn't lethargic anymore, I mean he glass dances from time to time, he moves about his tank, basks and moves in and out of his hammock during the day. He has a voracious appetite! Daily I offer him collard greens, squash, mustard greens and turnip greens. He gets silk and phoenix worms most days, those are usually on days that I have to work as it's easier to leave them in a bowel and he can eat them when he warms up enough. He will eat easily about 10-12 of those. On days that I'm off I given him crickets or dubia roaches, which he will eat about 30 crickets (large) and about 10 or so dubias. I calcium dust his crickets Mon to Fri and vitamins on Sat and Sun. Do I need to dust the dubias too? He lives in a 40 gal breeder that I moved him into a little over a month ago. He has two heat lamps, a 60 watt on one side that keeps the cooler side at 78 to 81 most days (depending on the weather outside). His other side is a 75 watt heat bulb that keeps his basking area 97 to 103 again depending on the weather. I measure temps with a thermometer with a probe. Humidity is about 40 to 43% but lately it's been raining and the humidity has been in the 50% range, my husband and I are getting ready to move into a house with a dehumidifier. He has a 24" UVB bulb, it is a reptiGLO 10.0 but I haven't been having any problems with it, his eyes are great, no twitches or anything. I have a reptiSUN 10.0 on order and should be getting here this week. I bought it on April 16th. He gets baths everyday I'm off work, which is 4 days a week. His lights stay on for 12 to 14 hours a day. He has a hammock that is 8" from his UBV. I think that I have covered everything. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!!

 

[diamc]

Everything sounds very good, the only thing I would suggest is dusting the dubias too.

I'm glad to hear that you finally got that difficult shed off his tail, my beardie was lethargic acting when he was having a hard time with a body shed that the Cocoa Butter stick did help with.

I'll bet his shedding will be faster & smoother when you get the Repti-Sun. Since there have been some issues with the Repti-Glo, the safest way to use it until your other one arrives is the have it 10" from your beardie and right alongside a bright white basking bulb.

Good job. :wink:

 

[Elijahsmom]

Thanks Diane! Alright, I'll move his hammock 10" away from the UVB. It is right behind his basking light and I meant I got his reptiGLO on 4/16 but I ordered the reptiSUN Sat and was shipped Mon and should be here soon. Hopefully when I get that in his shed will pick back up. I just started him on dubias this week but I will start dusting them. Thanks again. I'll keep you posted, I started a thread on Elijah in another forum.

 

[Elijahsmom]

Alright I'm still worried about Elijah's shedding. I've had the reptisun 10.0 tube for about a week now I suppose. Elijah (probably about a month ago) shed some skin off the top of is head but the shedding has just stopped! His tail looks slightly discolored like he might shed it but it's been looking like that for about 2 weeks now. It's rougher then the rest of him too. I don't know, I soak him in warm water about 4 days a week. When he was in his smaller tank he seemed to be shedding constantly but now since I've moved him into his larger tank he has not had a total shed. :|

 

[Elijahsmom]

So Elijah shed all his discolored spots which was his front legs, one back leg and some of his chest. It's weird, I've never seen him shed like this! It's taking FOREVER! I'm worried because I've read on google about beardies having problems with shedding when they are sick. The vet said he checked out fine so I don't know, should I increase the baths?

 

[Elijahsmom]

*bump*

 

[Elijahsmom]

Can I seriously have a weird enough bearded dragon that has a problem with a ReptiSUN UVB?! I've had the Reptisun 10.0 in for about a month now, Elijah still have not shed properly and this week he has been lethargic, eating fine but still going to bed earlier and not wanting to get up when the light are on. Now his left eye he is leaving shut most of the time....It's the eye that points towards the UVB bulb when he is basking. I've turned it off but I wanted some input, can this really be happening, no one has EVER said anything bad about the ReptiSun's could I have gotten a bad bulb? Should I go back to the ReptiGLO???

 

[diamc]

What is the distance to the UVB? It is a strip fluorescent bulb, right? Are you using it right alongside a bright white basking bulb? How often are you dusting with calcium and vitamins? What substrate are you using?

 

[Elijahsmom]

It's a strip light UVB, it sits right behind his basking bulb and thats a bright white bulb. He sits about 6" away from it he has the ability to get closer but where he likes to bask is 6" away. He has repticarpet as substrate.