# How does shedding work?



## Vayjining22 (Oct 13, 2014)

So, sorry for the odd title.... But typically, in your own animals... How do they shed? 

What part of the body does it start on typically? 

Is it uncommon for one part to shed earlier than others? (head a week before body?) 

How often does it happen?

How can you tell that their starting the process? 

When I purchased my red hatchling he looked to be just finishing his head and foot shedding (glossy dark green head appeared), but I never saw his body shed. 

Reason I ask, is because his body almost looks couldy, and kind of fuzzy textured.. Don't Know if that's the right word, it's kind of hard to explain. 

However his head is so shiny and clear. 
Is this normal?


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## Josh (Oct 13, 2014)

Sounds totally normal. Last shed, my tegu started with her feet then her legs and tail then her head and lastly her body. The cloudiness is the skin getting ready to shed. As for frequency, it depends on the animal, the age, and the growth rate. Younger growing tegus shed more often than older tegus.


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## Vayjining22 (Oct 13, 2014)

Great thanks!!


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## N8bub (Oct 13, 2014)

My boy sheds every week. Depends on how much your feeding. Like josh said lots of factors. It seems like boo boo starts his sheds with his tail tho.


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## Vayjining22 (Oct 13, 2014)

Wow, once a week. That's impressive!


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## Vayjining22 (Oct 16, 2014)

As predicted he started shedding. 

He's scratching like a dog and rubbing against everything. Is this normal behavior during this time, or is he uncomfortable?


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## sage (Oct 16, 2014)

I just got my tegu but my water dragons always did that scratching like a dog thing. Soak him in the tub for a half hour that always helps my snakes I use 80-85 degree water.


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## N8bub (Oct 16, 2014)

Very normal, that skin ain't gonna come off by itself. Give him a nice long soak in the tub, keep humidity up in the cage and before you know it, shiny new tegu! I personally enjoy when they get done with the shed because you can see subtle changes in coloration from the last shed if you look close enough. My boy seems to get whiter and the blues are coming in, I suspect your reds should just get more vibrant! Post pictures we like those


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## Vayjining22 (Nov 9, 2014)

Quick update on my red. He has shed three times now since this. And he seems to be starting another right away......and he......well......is turning blue lol

Incredibly hard to see due to the MVB but its really strange. Only the back half of his tail is red he does have lots of orange...but his back is very blue!.


Eggs and crocodile diet today. One of his favorites


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## N8bub (Nov 9, 2014)

Good looking lizards! Is he still biting?


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## Vayjining22 (Nov 10, 2014)

He hasnt tried to bite anymore which is nice. He seems to be becoming more friendly as we progress. 

I still havent just reached in there and grabbed him yet, but if i bring my hands near him he'll walk over and climb on my hands and arms. I should probably take the hint and just take him out!! He surely isnt scared and hasnt yet whipped or huffed at me or my presence, even once. He just stood up at me all big and bad the first day. 

Hes probably trying to invite me to handle him more by not being aggressive or scared.


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## N8bub (Nov 11, 2014)

Yep, if he's climbing on your arms by himself take him out of the cage. He's fixin to be amigos!


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## laurarfl (Dec 27, 2014)

Nice pattern! Where did you get him from?


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## Vayjining22 (Dec 27, 2014)

I picked him up from chicago reptile house. They claim their animals are all CBB, however i didnt delve any deeper into the sourcing. 

I will post updated pictures after the current shed he's in right now. It has to be some kind of cross or something because it doesnt look like a red at all, nor does it even really have any red in his pattern at all. 

Furthermore, it doesnt have the coloring of any tegu ive seen. Kinda weird. I was just hoping for a normal red lol.


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## Vayjining22 (Dec 29, 2014)

Here is Sushi!
Notice the amount of blue on the back, very strange....the camera doesn't even come close to capturing it. Granted the MVB appears to be causing the blue, i assure you its not (hates the camera outside the tank)

Also excuse the dirty and small basking platform i have to get something bigger, they just grow so fast!

Still has to finish tail shedding.

Most of his red is on the last half of the tail only. Is this how normal reds look as they grow?


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## Jackie & Hellboy (Jan 15, 2015)

Doesn't look all that normal to me for a red but looks pretty, I kind of wish my red looked like that


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## Vayjining22 (Jul 6, 2015)

Going to bump my own thread here for an update.

Since this thread. We had the thing inread about but never wanted to experience...... a "Bad shed" as seen in the pictures the tail was hanging on to the old skin, and it did so for around 6.5 months. Meanwhile his body skin began to pile up as well and shed terribly.

The only thing during that time that changed was i basically removed ground meats from the diet completely and went strictly whole items.

I mist the same, and kept humidity up yadda yadda. So reading all the bad threads about stuck sheds i picked out three things.
1. Humid hides cant be good enough
2.Cod liver oil apparently is black magic
3. Soaking, and or rubbing.

So i ugraded hides to a much larger one with no holes in the side (upside down flower pot liner) like my previous one, and you can see that, to enter the hid he must scratch his entire backside on the top portion of the "door" So i had #1covered.

Let me tell you, i had given like a capsule of CLO a week but reading around i was hearing tablespoons a day etc. So i was upping the dose to a tablespoon every 4 days until i saw results. So #2 was covered.

And i started to wet towell treatment so #3 was covered.

And of course voila!! Just like magic thick,yellow, icky patches of skin were just coming right off. An already happy and active tegu is far more happy id say, and hes VERY beautiful under that old skin. I dont want people to think i was purposely delaying helping him shed, but i got stuck in that rut, "im doing enough of what it says, maybe it will get better". Odds are, it wont. And i now realize i have a "bad shedding red" but thats okay!

He still looks like an odd tegu, lots of yellow and blue on him like in the previous pictures. Maybe somemore experience people can verify if hes a straight up red or not.


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## Vayjining22 (Jul 6, 2015)

Also, for clarification...my grammar isnt as bad as my posts lead on. Sometimes i ramble whilst pecking away at my phone writing these longer replies. And spelling on these things is rough. Lastly, the cellphone canera does no justice to Sushi.

So, i apologize for all this and thank you all for bearing with me every time i post.


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## N8bub (Jul 12, 2015)

Glad to see things working out. Sushi looks awesome, love the outlines on the spots. Beautiful contrast


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## Vayjining22 (Jul 12, 2015)

Better picture of him


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