BLUE TONGUE SKINK SHEDDING PROBLEMS. HELP

[JuliaDemi]

Hello, about 2 months ago I got my first blue tongued skink. I already wrote on this forum and tried to find information on my problem, but could not find an answer. My English can be a bit bad, sorry, but I really need help and advice. My female blue-tongued Merauke skink had a poor shedding. During the first bad shedding, she suffered 2 scales on her head, but they quickly healed. I treated them with betadine and everything quickly passed. However, a couple of days ago we had a second molt and it went even worse. I noticed the beginning of shedding while bathing, she began to lose old skin, although in appearance she was not completely ready. Cracks and scratches formed on the new skin, like depigmentation, and this is only in some areas, it seems that the skin was not yet ready for a change. They are very rough to the touch. I am attaching pictures of what it looks like, some of the scales are half pink, now that I have treated them and anointed them with healing reptile ointment they do not look so intimidating.I did not tear off and did not interfere with her molting, the skin moved away by itself, but now the new layer scares me. I have a suspicion that my Merauke lacks vitamins. What could it be?

I must say right away that I clean her terrarium every week and change the substrate, the humidity, as it should be for this viad, is 70-80%. The substrate is coconut chips. Please help me with advice if anyone has experienced this. We have already made an appointment with a herpetologist and plan to visit him next week.

[Janella]

Hi there, the number one issue with bad shedding is lack of humidity. However, if your humidity is at 70-80% that is good for a Merauke. Have you tried to do a warm water soak? Make sure the water does not go above the shoulder level. Soaking helps loosen any stuck shed layers and helps remove them. I would soak your skink twice a day for 15-20 minutes at a time. See if this helps. If it doesn't help then, I have seen some skinks get weird fungal infections and my guess is that is what it is. Keep the appointment for the vet to have it checked for sure. As for substrate...I am a big fan of Zilla Jungle mix with a layer of reptile bark on top. This holds the humidity well, and the skinks like to burrow in it. I have never had an issue with sheds using this. I also spot clean their tanks daily and only do complete changes every 3 months. I also moisten the enlcosure with water once a week to help with sheds/humidity. Again this method never has failed me. I hope this helps.

[JuliaDemi]

Thank you for the answer. I'm pretty sure it's not a fungal infection, as I regularly change the substrate and treat the terrarium with a special solution against fungus and dirt. Maybe I didn't describe the situation well. She managed to remove the shed very easily after 20 minutes in the bathroom, the scales did not get stuck, in the photo all the old scales had already completely disappeared. and there was nothing left. The problem is that the new *I_Can't_Read varies in color and appears to be damaged in some areas. It feels like the skin was not ready for a change, but the molt has disappeared. After I treated it for 3 days with betadine, everything almost healed, however we will drive to the herpetologist on Sunday to find out what it was. It reminds me of the situation with poor shedding in eublefars, when removing the adhered skin, they remain damaged. So I thought that the problem was vitamins, maybe she lacked vitamins this month (

I'll write tomorrow after we visit the doctor. The doctor specializes in blue-tongued skinks and will tell me exactly what is wrong with my baby (

[Janella]

Gotcha, Let me know what they say tomorrow.

[JuliaDemi]

My blue-tongued skink and I visited the doctor. A fungal infection was not confirmed and a bacterial infection too. The doctor was of the same opinion as I was that she lacked vitamins, he said that there was no need to treat it with anything, it had already dragged on, dried up and looked great. We were prescribed to give vitamins with calcium without D3 once a week, before that we gave it once every 2 weeks, and monitoring the next molt. The doctor said that she may have started shedding prematurely because she was in the bath for a long time and the top layer of the skin was soaked and began to peel off earlier than expected and also said to reduce her bathing to once a week to 10-15 minutes. We will wait for our skink to shed again, hopefully the situation will improve and this will not happen again.

[Janella]

Great news and thanks for the update. I hope all goes well next shed.