Shedding taking longer?

[Sypher]

Hello, new guy here.

Lord Louie Segundo is taking a little longer to shed than normal. The best advice I ever got was that AS SOON AS you see something that is unusual or has not happened before, seek help/advice.

He's a veiled chameleon, and I believe he's about 4-5 months old. I got him at the North Carolina Reptile Show in August, and he was a little guy then, but he's grown. I estimate his size (from the base of his tail to the tip of his mouth) at around 5-5 1/2 inches when he's stretched out between branches, and I would estimate the circumference of the base of his tail to be perhaps...well, I don't know. It's about as thick as my pinky finger, maybe my ring finger. (I was told that the thicker the base of the tail is, the healthier/older he is).

Anyway, when I first got him, his shedding schedule took around 3-4 days, and it seemed like he would just suddenly "pop" out of his old skin. Now that he's (I guess) 4-5 months old, I noticed that his shedding schedule has changed. His skin along the crest of his back split first, and that split is slowly widening to include his sides. The skin on the top of his head seems to be gone, but his throat and bottom jaw are still covered by some skin.

It's on the third day now, and I'm just worried because he was done by now just a few weeks ago. Is 4+ months old enough for where his shedding takes longer than usual? He still has a great appetite and he'll actively chase the crickets, and I see him drink every time I mist (which is twice a day for about 2 minutes with a hand-pump sprayer, so the mist never stops until I let go) and I put ice cubes on top of his cage twice a day (at the same time that I mist).

So, long story short: is it okay for him to take longer shedding when he's 4-5 months old?

 

[chequepoint]

It could be a slight dehydration / humidity issue. I wouldn't recommend using ice as a dripper. These are cold blooded animals, and that ice water isn't the best for them. Maybe try a plastic cup with a pinhole in it and warm water, or one of the commercial drippers. I'd also shoot for one more misting a day at least, possibly add a minute or two to all of your mistings as well.

That all said, as they get older and bigger, their sheds do slow down, though if it seems drastic its worth looking into.

 

[Sypher]

Okay, so ice cubes are bad. Why is it dealers always seem to give bad info? My last chameleon died because I was starving her, all because the dealer told me that 4-5 crickerts every other day was fine. Psh, yeah, that turned out GREAT.

The guy from FL chams was really helpful, and I even asked about ice cubes, and he said those were fine, but okay. I'll take your word for it and try the pinhole method.

But what about his age? Is 4-5 months the usual age where his shedding gets slower? He still has about half of his body left to shed.

 

[BocaJan]

I know that there are others on here that use the ice cube method when they are gone from the home for long stretches. The idea I think is to get the water drips on a leaf. It will end up getting to room temp in quick order. I would think it is ok.

 

[hallenhe]

I don't know about veileds, but I know my panther's sheds were much shorter (and more frequent) when he was a juvenile, and take longer now. When he was 3-5 months old, he would shed pretty much all at once and have it over in a couple days. Now he may shed different parts at different times (feet one week, then nothing for a while, then tail, then the flanks a bit later) and, when he does shed it more or less all at once, it can still take a week or so.
When my Jackson's had obviously somewhat loose skin that wasn't coming off, I tried scrubbing him gently with a new, soft toothbrush and warm (not hot) water. He did not care for that, and I have not repeated the experiment.

 

[dodolah]

As chameleons get older, their shedding process will get longer.
The pattern of shedding can also be random. Sometime, the skin will shed around their heads only.
What you can do to help is by increasing the humidity.

For stubborn skin in troublesome area (such as skin around your chameleon toes and tails), I would try to soak the skin part with warm water.


Avoid manually peeling their skin by your hand or any tools.