BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hello, new BTS owner here!

My IJ baby just got in from Fedex this morning and he's settling in. As i was putting him in his new home I noticed that both of his front feet had quite a bit of stuck shed. I'm not going to mess with him now as he just got here, but in a few days what can I do to help him? I'm not sure if I can put him in a shallow soak for awhile or what to do. Please any advice helps!

HI and congratulations on your new bluey. Humidity is going to be the key with an IJ species. The higher the better. Then in the mean time a humid hide with spaghnam moss will help a ton. Last you can soak. Be very careful with the toes though. Stuck shed can cause restrictions and their toes can actually get damaged or worse pulled off from the shed. The shed on the toes needs to come off as soon as possible. Sorry I can't elaborate more at the moment, I am at work.

Janella's good advice as usual! I'd let him stand is a shallow pool of lukewarm water for a while to loosen up that shed on the toes. It won't hurt him. Better to address the situation right away, before it gets too hard and toe loss results.

Cant stress enough how important this is. When I first got my skink a couple of years ago all pet shops and veterinarians tbat I spoke to would give me misleading advice on humidity. I tried to do the best I could but vets insisted that humidity wasnt a contributing factor to the problems I was having. Subsequently this led to toe loss and further then infection which was very upsetting as I used to have to give my skink injections each week. Since changing things round to the way I thought best the problem has seized, humidity is very important whist caring for an IJ and I think its something that a lot of people do not realise. Most care advice given out from what I have seen from outlets in the UK has typically been for northerns which is a little bit different.

Good luck with your issue!

Adherent shed is only an issue if it restricts blood flow to a digit or tail or limb.

Otherwise , it's a matter of being patient and perhaps modifying the husbandry (humidity , options to rub on hard heavy rough surfaces, protein component and protein type (too much of the wrong protein can cause difficulty in shedding in skinks (my reptile vet told me this , one reason why I no longer give dog food to my skinks)).

Aloe vera or aloe vera juice can help break up stuck sheds.