A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Captive care and husbandry.

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Lucas Basulto
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Location: Monte Rio, California

A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Hey all! Im having a little trouble with my Red Ackie shedding. The skin on his feet and head has come off but the rest of his neck, body, and tail is still stuck....I have tried 20 minute warm water soakings and spraying his cage down every couple of days but its still stuck! Any advice on this is much appreciated!

Luke
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

Put him in a critter keeper with soggy sphagnum, not big, cozy, and small enough to fit in a temp neutral area of his environment, even if that means moving or taking out artifact temporarily. The adhered shed will come off readily and he won't fight the soak so much.

If you use a Tupperware container drill holes don't punch them with a screw driver etc. But I have noted they are calmer in soak in a transparent container in their environment. Any remedial procedure has a better quality of therapeutic value overall, if stress is minimized with a little extra effort.

It might be good to do a check on your env and see anything needs to be changed or re addressed. Sometimes dynamics change with seasons, room ambients, etc
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

Make sure he is actually in residual shed in the areas you mentioned, and not just pre ecdysis. Sometimes for reasons not fully understood, shedding in monitors and other lizards is not always uniform. If you are sure it is in the separated ready phase, place a nice loose mesh of the wet sphagnum on his dorsum and head. If it is indeed residual, corneum will absorb the moisture and come off, either with easy pulling or like gossamer in the moss stew. The acidic nature of the moss aids in this, greatly.

Added edit : Do not apply any Oil type substance to the area if there is any question that the shed is not residual. Premature aggressive softening and sloughing of the shed can marr your animals dermis for life, and cause a permanent shedding issue in the area.
dbh
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by dbh »

Monitor lizards don't shed all at once. How long has this been going on? Perhaps you don't have a problem.

David
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Lucas Basulto
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Location: Monte Rio, California

Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Thank you both for the info! I didn't think that it may still be pre-shed. Its only been about a month or so since I first noticed he was in shed so I will wait it out and make sure it all comes off before resorting to other means of dead skin removal. However, he has taken on a "dusty" appearance since I got him about a 2 years ago...here is what I mean:

Here is a pic of him then:
Image

and a pic of him now (notice his neck) :
Image

Thanks again!
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

That look is pretty normal for them. He's a good looking guy Lucas.

My Gallotia shed non uniform like, too. Often starting in tail sections, and the wrists and 'fingers' circling them like bunches of bracelets and rings. With their bitchin blue dot shirts they look like 70s Rock Stars.
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Thanks Kelly! :thumb:
Alex
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Alex »

He looks healthy to me also.

Are his toes Or tip of his tail falling off? That's were uneven sheds can be harmful.

It looks like you have a good dirt, is it 2 ft deep? And is your cage screen top or is it solid top?
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Lucas Basulto
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Lucas Basulto »

Alex wrote:He looks healthy to me also.

Are his toes Or tip of his tail falling off? That's were uneven sheds can be harmful.

It looks like you have a good dirt, is it 2 ft deep? And is your cage screen top or is it solid top?
Yes he has lost one toe with me, I forgot to tell my brother to spray him down semi-frequently while I was away at school so he didn't get the humidity needed for a while. But I soak him every other day while he's in shed and pick off any skin I see on his toes.

No, his dirt is only about 4 inches deep but its never completely dry and he doesn't seem to have a problem with it, he borrowed under a rock and seems pretty happy. His enclosure is solid with sliding glass doors. :thumb:
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

Ive kept acanthurus without the 18" rule - hey wait, i thought it was, 20 :shock: ;)

I have no critique with the method, at all, although i dont think it has to be carved in golden slabs.

But alternative method can work, by providing a deep stable "burrow" that has the advantage of being able to access inside to address temps and humidity. Ive built them out of alot of things and provided sub to dig at too, for enrichment.

The perception i have is that having deep crevice shelter is more important than them personally digging it and that the more stable it is, the more confident they become. Mine, completely unhandled would rush out the door onto my leg (floor level front opening encl) to take food placed on it and turn around and go right back into the env.

If you really want to replicate the perfect varanus environment - a couple of boulders, a giant dead tree trunk, or a deceased wombat hole should definately be used :P otherwise you are doing it wrong :D ;)

Almost every terrestrial lizard you place in deep substrate will dig itself a burrow to conceal itself.

Being in association with solid structure, seems to be a topography preference, like what your guy has done in his environment.

He looks very well cared for, and content.
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

Lucas if you build a ledge closer to his primary basking light, you may be able to use less wattage to achieve your POTZ.. and the humidity won't blast out so quickly. A secondary beam on a space where you have to actually work with to determine, blends it out better. The ledge can be constructed on your work table, and it should have a segway part that forms an easy flow from his favored hide spot to the hi end temp ledge. What you use, or whether you screw it together or heavily glue gun it is up to you, but I find either cork or slate works good, cork being very easy to cut and manipulate quickly, and slate because it has good thermal properties under radiant heat. Cork is toothy and makes a good "stairway " ie segway .
It also provides an easy way for him to find another spot, shift his basking position to a milder one without leaving it all together. The more surface area he has to be on, filling the empty air, the more usable you make space.

Hope you don't mind me sharing and gettin all Viv obsessed I just love this stuff
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Kelly Mc
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Re: A little advice on Ackie shedding issue?

Post by Kelly Mc »

Secondary beam meaning light. Going to fast on this phone. This phone needs to change its world view also. Its stubborn about the simplest words. It won't let me type blip. There it did it again. Blop. Its like pulling a tooth to get Blop.
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