Shed build up- neglect- recovery

[DreamsOfTegus]

I recently adopted Alistaire and he was in a foster home. He had been there 6 months after nearly dying due to neglect...and then the foster went ahead and neglected him too! I am not happy.

Anyway. He has shed built up all down his tail. It's really bad. I have been doing daily soaks, then we sit with him and gently remove the heavy pieces of shed. Unfortunately, where the build up is looks bad. Red, raw, and painful especially on the bottom. He lost the tip of the tail (tip scale and one ring under it, so not a lot). I've been applying antibiotic ointment to the entire tail to try and help the damaged areas heal. I am considering taking him in and if I see signs of infection we're definitely going right away. There must be at least 6 sheds on there- the pieces removed resemble chips, they're yellow and crunchy and awful.

Is there any more to be done?

 

[Dee-Dee Idrais]

Long soaks in warm water with baby oil with aloe and applying the baby oil on after to keep the moister in should help.

 

[Walter1]

As well, add fish oil to his food.

 

[Roadkill]

For the most part, I'd say you're doing about all you can. However, there's a few things I would add. Soaking is the most common therapy prescribed, and it isn't wrong. However, with severe cases of dysecdysis (incomplete shedding) the unshed skin is constricting and causing damage, part of why it's doing this is it is dried out. Soaking in straight water just dries it out further (it leeches out any oils, dissolves other matter, and thereby promotes further drying and constriction). As Dee-Dee Idrais has suggested, you want to make that old skin pliable. Application of moisturizers is just about as crucial at this stage as soaking is. There's a good chance the tegu has infections (not serious, although keep reading), and so I'm not sure on the use of baby oil and aloe (not saying it is bad, just saying I'm not sure this is the best way). I would suggest baths with Dettol or similar antiseptic and then afterwards the application of a good ointment, something with antifungal properties. After this, application of a breathable bandage to keep the area "moist" but able to breathe. For tegus, I recommend bandaging made of several layers of gauze, held in place with duct tape (I know, I get people and vets screaming at me for duct tape, but it's about all that really holds and tegus have such thick skin, I've never had a problem). I don't want to jump to conclusions, but right now in North America there is something of an epidemic going on with reptiles and skin fungal infections. Predominantly it is being seen in bearded dragons and snakes, but this could be just because of numbers and the likelihood of a vet seeing them. Your description of "yellow and crunchy" skin chips suggests to me this might be a possibility here.

 

[DreamsOfTegus]

They don't look fungal to me, fortunately. They just seem very built up and thick, and discolored- but none of the typical malformation of the scale I usually would associate with fungal infection.

I really appreciate your advice! I will continue to do what I am doing and if it worsens AT ALL, I will get him to the vet. I know where he's at now that they will tell me to keep doing the same stuff and see if it helps.

I found some anti-fungal, anti-bacterial ointment floating around and we're giving it a try. I did notice the neosporin softened the dead stuff really well also and seemed to make it less miserable to remove.

 

[Roadkill]

I can't claim to be an expert by any means on fungal infections in reptiles, I've had very little experience with it. However, in my undergraduate coursework I did take a couple mycology courses and have a smidgeon of more knowledge than some may have. I would agree with you that fungal infections that have invaded the living tissue typically present with malformation. However, there could just as easily be fungus living in the non-living tissues that could either be causing shedding issues, or may progress to invasion of living tissue. I'm not trying to scare here, just voice precaution. A little prevention is easier to achieve than medical remediation.

 

[DreamsOfTegus]

Thank you so much. Is there anything specific I ought to watch for in your opinion?