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Posted by lizardman on April 30, 2003 at 07:42:38:
In Reply to: blue tongue skink's incomplete shed posted by kiwisue on April 30, 2003 at 05:26:54:
:::I have a baby blue tongue skink (about 2-3 months old.)
:::It has just shed, but the right front claw hasn't shed properly, giving the strange appearance of 4 little toes growing out of the end of the middle toe on one foot!! Of course it can't be 'growing', it must just be stuck - but it is stuck quite fast, I can't gently pull it off. Have tried holding the foot in water, but it hasn't softened it enough to come off. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
:::PS (As I live in Australia, I keep her outside.)
::You may want to soak the skink in luke-warm water for 20-30 minutes, then if the shed skin has loosened enough, you can gently remove it with tweezers. Make sure the water level is below the skinks' should level.
::Thanks Lizardman!
: I took your advice and it worked well. The shed foot came off with some more soaking and a little persuasion. I ended up gently rolling the piece of stuck skin (complete with little toes) in between my finger and thumb, and coaxed it off that way. Everything but her dignity was left intact. Right now she's sitting beside me happily crunching down a snail bigger than her own head. Thanks again for your help.
:PS I've noticed she's got a bit more unshed skin, looking like a T-shirt sleeve over one shoulder. Should I try to remove ALL unshed skin the same way, or just leave it? I guess it depends which area of the body it's on? (She does have rocks etc to scratch on in case you were wondering.)
::
It's important to remove shed(ding) skin from the digits, feet, arms and tail regions as this can cause constriction & in worse-case scenarios, loss of digits/foot and tail parts. You may want to provide some sort of material such as scrap metal, boards or plywood for the skink to access. These materials will retain a moister environment for the lizard to hydrate their skin; thus, easing the shedding process. If shedding is still difficult for the lizard, then default to the warm-water soak method.
Goodluck
