SHED PROBLEMS; spend the $, theyre worth it

[krazyeyez]

So, DRAZIL started shedding early this season, right around Halloween actually when she doesn't normally start til late January. A friend of minewas over, Jeremy bales, who recently moved to some humid southern state to farm raise boas, and he recognized the signs before I did. I brought her into my local pet store, where she was sold to me, and the owner agreed, she was in SHED RETENTION. So, not having dealt with this issue since I first bought her ( first owner allowed for poor humidityand she had one toe ring off the nail ), I took their advice and soaked her more than normal, gave her steam showers, and before drying rubbed her with tripple antiseptic, to lock in moisture and heal.
This probably helped maintain her through the dry winter her, but after months of this routine, she still had dead skin on belly face and tail, flakey skin on back where she already peeled, occasional lock jaw, and she refused to eat any fruit. I started to look for more solutions; the flakey sling I found out, is a sign of dehidration, even though she drinks normally, I'm told that her dehidration is due to a lack in activity, which is caused be the offset in humidity. I searched for products to relieve her shed,locally, and was only able to find repti shed aid, which claims to assist in a dry shed... Yeah, not so much. This product I will say, has some good oils in it that will add luster to their scales, and loosen the edges of dry skin, but it is not effective as an exfolient. I finally decided it is time to fund the right thing, no home remedies, no cheap subs... I came across zoo meds shed ease in reptiledirect, for a relatively inexpensive cost. Thus product claims to remove all shed in at most 2x 20 min baths. Not many reviews out the so we'll see. And with the thought of already making an e purchase, I knuckles down and spent the dough to get the zoo med fogger and hygrotherm controller I had been putting off til the new terrarium was built. No more soaking chips, no more wet towel over the screen, my baby's movin' up in the world today.
The point of this post, is to express how I think we all should feel about our pets ... No matter what you try, and it doesn't work, keep trying... No matter what it costs, buy it... Your pet can't tell you what's wrong, its your job to notice, and your responsibility to take care of it, you made this obligation the day you brought them home. As for me, I'm Gunna do whatever it takes to ensure the health and happiness of my baby, DRAZIL.

 

[Compnerd7]

That's cool, it's always good see someone who is concerned with complete care of their animal without skimping things.

I too use a reptifogger it works very well and worth the money. I've had mine for almost 2 years, and a lot of people have issues with them after a while, and so do I, but I have found various methods of cleaning and maintenance to fix all my problems, so if you ever run in any issues, let me know I can tell you how to fix them. A lot of people just give up and throw them away, but if you learn to understand how the reptifogger works, then you can really make them last. One thing too is to use Distilled or De-ionized water in them, helps a bunch in the long run.

I have huge issues keeping humidity where I live, the average air humidity here never goes above above 20% year round unless it's raining. It stays at about 10% or less all summer long. Its great for my dragons, but bad for the Tegu and tropical Tranchulas I have :/ I like to run the shower on hot and then fill the tub with steaming hot water then let my Tegu walk around the bathroom for exercise for as long as wants, he is usually over it in about 4 hours, but it's good for him to have the warm 100% humidity for a while. I put fish oil too in my Tegus mix of food, helps with the skin. I also have just a regular humidifier blasting during the day in the my Tegus room (my room as well) to keep the humidity up, even though I HATE the humidity, I've learned to deal with it haha; it's also good for my Tranchulas and my hardwood floors it keeps the floor from shrinking in the summer time or times when general air humidity is low.

 

[larissalurid]

I agree, you are exactly right, everyone should do everything possible to make sure their tegu is always happy, healthy and cared for in every way. They can't take care of themselves so we need to be there for them. If you are going to buy one you have to treat it like your child.

 

[Dana C]

I also live in a dry climate. Southern Idaho is very dry even in the winter. I mist the cages at least twice daily and actually pour a little water into the cypress substrate. After a few days, I turn it over so I won't get any mold growing. I have had great sheds.

 

[krazyeyez]

Thanks for the feed back guys... I got the hygrotherm controller and fogger set up, and as for the silks shed ease... Well it takes at least half a bottle for a bath big enough for an adult tegu, and I found after the second bath, dead akin did just seem to lift off... Continued humidity helps the most

 

[frost]

usuallly if im having shed problems i hook up my fish air pump and put and air stone in their water bowl and that cranks up the humidity up.

 

[HeatherN]

I too live in a dry place, even next to the beach in so cal, gets kinda dry (I like it, hate humidity, but any tegu would disagree with me). I have seen people use humidifiers in the room in general, as mentioned above, but they had a humidifier with a ribbed hose in the top of the humidifier leading into the tegus cage. This large 10"x4"x3" cage was very humid and comfortable looking! Granted they did have some plants with a water bowl, but so does my cage, and mine isn't as big. Has anyone tried this before with similar positive results?

And im so sorry! Im not trying to thread jack, just want to prevent having to scramble over my tegus dry sheds. Only the best!

 

[Dana C]

You know that in some of a Tegu's range, with the exception of Columbians, they don't experience the humidity levels we all seem to think they need 100% of the time. While in some of the sub tropical climate zones they inhabit do have high humidity levels, they also do well in areas of Paraguay and Argentina that have prolonged dry seasons. T. rufecens habitat is dryer than the ranges of most T. Merianae and colder as well.
Keeping humidity high in Idaho is very hard to do as outside humidity levels will no go above 20% much of the time. To aid sheds and general health, I give my kids baths daily and with the humidity around 90% in the bathroom they can rehydrate effectively. I also create damp areas of substrate. I suspect that burrows provide most of the humidity that is necessary for Tegus both in captivity and in the wild. I can't with a certainty that this is true but it makes sense.
My Tegus have great and easy shed in spite of the arid climate. With baths, misting a couple of times a day and the lowest layer of the substrate slightly damp they are doing great. I should say that I turn the substrate over every week and let it dry out. This also gives my kids the chance to create new burrows and sort of redecorate their enclosures.