Hi everyone - I'm new to all this so please forgive me if i'm doing anything wrong. Houdini is approx 9 months old. He has just shed for me and it looked fairly complete with one really big piece and three smaller pieces. The problem is that before shedding he looked to have dry skin around his nose and still has it after shedding even though the head part of the shed looks complete.
He's only been with me two weeks and the first week was spent sorting out the flaws in the vivarium he uncovered. I used to keep Bearded Dragons but gave the tank a thorough clean and houdini had a great knack of getting behind the fake backing (polystyrene i think)so at first i thought it was possibly through rubbing into that (i even thought it was glue used to hold the backing) but shedding has proved (to me) that it is not the case. It had sand in it before but i did thoroughly clean however he may have come into contact with some when he got behind the backing. I havn't tried to interfere with the area as i am not sure exactly what it is.
Temps are good to guides and humidity 50%. He hasn't eaten for me yet but in fairness he hasn't had much settled time. I was informed he had eaten two days before taking him but no faeces which i read in the forums tends to accompany a shedding.
How easy is it to get a good look at the nose area as he is very defensive and i want to leave him be for a while.
It could just be stuck skin, my 08 gets this round his nostrils occasionally after shedding. Do you have a damp hide in there that he can use? (i.e. damp sphagnum moss in a hide) Does he also have something rough he can rub it on (like some bark or stone)? Does it look sore or does it just look like dry skin? Edited to add, forgot to say hello and welcome! :)
Set up a damp hide when his eyes clouded over although he found another spot to shed. He was in the damp hide this morning (unless he's escaped) and i have a few rub areas. The area just looks like dry skin - i should try and get a photo but i'm reluctant to disturb him as his moving in has been far from settled and the unsociable swine only comes out after i've gone to bed lol .
He went in the bath yeaterday for 10 mins and i maybe will try him again in a couple of days. I will give the moss another spray as well.
Id get a picture if you can. It could be a bit of retained shed or it could be a rub spot if hes had trouble getting his skin off before. This basically means that hes been rubbing his nose on things to get his skin off (which is normal) but if hes had problems shedding he may have been rubbing excessively which can cause this wee sore.
If it is a rub spot then a wee drop of iodine on a cotton bud should do the trick but if you can get a pic first thatd be ideal :-)
D
0.1.0. Royal (Salmissra) 0.0.1. Western Hognose (Spiderman)
quote:Originally posted by ruxpin64 I'm so happy I may lay on my back and pee in the air like a baby!
Thank you guys for replying. Houdini is 100% more sociable now so i ran a very shallow bath and had a good close look at the area. It became apparant that it was old unshedded skin and over a couple of days i raised the skin area without removing it and let him do the rest in his moist hide. Its now gone so now i'm on to my next challange - to get him eating!! - does it ever end.
Nose looks rough
Posted - 21/03/2010 : 21:11:15
