skink biting at feet

[lucasrusinak]

One of my 2 skinks has been very lazy recently so I haven;t seen him much. I knew he was going into shed so I thought nothing of it. He has been out basking this morning and noticed him doing a weird arm movement as if he was scratching the ground. I then noticed a tiny bit of blood around his toes and shortly after saw him biting at his feet.
He is extremely pale which makes me think it may be him trying to get skin off that isn't quite ready to come off, but I would like to get some other opinions in case I need to get him checked out.
I am keeping a close eye on him now and he hasn't done it again since I interrupted him last time.

EDIT: he is a northern, so I do not pay attention to humidity and the temperature did drop pretty drastically here in the past week. Could this maybe be affecting his shed which is bothering him?

[Susann]

Maybe give him a humid hide until he's done shedding. Arm-waving and biting is usually a sign of pain or discomfort; there may be some restriction going on.

[lucasrusinak]

Maybe give him a humid hide until he's done shedding. Arm-waving and biting is usually a sign of pain or discomfort; there may be some restriction going on.

Yeah, I was thinking of how to up the humidity a bit. Since I use aspen options are limited, so that might be best.

[skinks101]

For the substrate in the humidity hide I get Sphagnum moss. I get mine at home depot or there is some on LLLreptile.com

[Millerk850]

Just recently went through the same thing with my northern. I switched him over to paper towels at first to try and treat his wounded feet but it kept staying to dry and adding to the problem. I moved him to the living room to keep an eye on him and to prevent every time he would try and go for them. As soon as I switched over to cypress mulch and gave him a mist every couple of days I noticed he stopped, and the wounds started clearing up much quicker. Could you post some pictures? I'd like to compare the injuries that my skink caused to himself.

[StaceyLeigh]

I live in the NE as well and keep Northerns. I have found that Aspen just doesn't work in the winter months as it gets so dry here. I switch my guys over to Repti-bark in the winter-holds moisture so much better! You can also use cypress mulch.

[lucasrusinak]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I've used aspen for my substrate year round since I got my first skink as a baby 2 and a half years ago. However, he has never had any issues at all shedding and this one (my second) has the occasional shed that needs a little bit of help since I got him a little over a year ago.
Yesterday I ran out and got some sphagnum moss, cut a hole in a plastic container and put it in his tank. He hasn't shown it much interest in it but I will see what happens. I still have some more moss left over that I didnt use, would it make sense to put some of it on the hide he usually sleeps in at night?