Stuck shed around foot, causing swelling

coldbloodedAL

Avid Member
One of my female bradypodion thamnobates did not shed on one of her feet, it appears to be causing it to swell. I tried picking at some of the loose shed parts to hopefully relieve some of the swelling but no luck..

What can I do to help this? Should i be scheduling a vet appointment?

Pic...
eza4e3ev.jpg
 
I would try to soak her feet and or use shed aid from pet store but u might need ani inflamitory or biotic if infected
 
With the type of cham I would not wait to long that is odd I would take her to the vet regardless incase there is more going on then just retained shed
 
I have some shed aid so ill spray some of that on before lights out.. Ill be calling the vet first thing in the morning as well unless it magically breaks free.
 
try mineral oil..

SOak the area in it for a few minutes.

then using tweezers, try to gently pull on the shed.

thats what I did when Kermit had some stuck shed on his tail.
 
Cover it in antibiotic ointment overnight.

With it being the weekend and such, you may want to go ahead and make an appointment, but she doesnt appear severely injured by it at the moment, and if you can get it to come off fairly soon, I would think she would be fine.
 
I agree with suggestions to try something oily on the stuck shed to allow it to stretch a little and then it might break on its own or be flexible enough that you can sneak something under it to cut it. Shed skin dehydrates once it leaves the body so sometimes rehydrating it will allow it to stretch back out. Definitely try to get it off asap since it's causing swelling.
 
Thanks everyone. I did what Snake suggested and applied some antibiotic ointment since it would last overnight.

I had to go in after lights out to do it, since she was in her "light" sleeping colors i could see that some of the pigmentation around that back of the foot was turning black. It was only a very small area but it was there
 
Hopefully she gets better quickly, but I am thinking the black skin is not coming back. Is it just a tiny bit that won't hurt her?
 
The color change may be temporary, especially if it's only there part of the time. Discoloration can be just irritation at this point, not necessarily necrosis. I wouldn't expect it to be permanent yet.
 
Well with some privately guided advice I was able to get it off. :) It was deeper than i thought though, so it is a bit raw where the piece was.
Here is a pic of the little sucker. I tried for a video of removing it but it was an epic fail lol.
y4ebamyg.jpg
 
Good to hear! Things like this worry me because right now I can't even get my hand too close to my boy without him hiding on me.
 
Shed problem

I use very small knitting needles (from Joannes Fabrics) to hook and break incomplete sheds on horn worms, works well, should do well for chams too.

Nick Barta
 
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