Tail shed issues

[basedonfact]

Gah! I've had him for two months almost, and now all the sudden I have questions for you.

My little dragon, who is probably about 5 months old now but hard to say for sure, has a history of shed issues. I thought I was prepared. Regular vet visits and experimenting while he was still in our companies care gave us a remedy that was consistently working. During his shed, he (much to his own hatred) gets daily ten minute soaks, two in one day if he's having a particularly heavy shed. He's already gone through four sheds while at my house (frequent shedder!) and until the last one he had no issues. However, he completed his shed everywhere except for his entire tail about 5 days ago. There is no flaking or rough edges; It goes straight from beautiful orange scales to dull grey and needing to shed right at the base of his tail, all the way around. It's showing no signs of coming loose.

For your knowledge, he is 112 grams. His basking spot is 105 degrees, cool spot is 78 degrees, and nighttime temperatures are 80 on the warm side and 70 on the cool side. (He stays on the warm side.) I keep the UVB/UVA on all the time, Basking spot is on 14 hours a day. He gets a spray every other day. (We were doing daily, but he was starting to get liquidy poo, and I found that every other day resulted in better consistency.) He gets calcium crickets as most of his diet, and also gets a blend of mustard greens, radicchio, endive and escarole. (same salad my bunny gets) and one to three mealworms or waxworms daily.

So my questions:
Have any of you had any good experience with shed-aids? We never had to look that far since the soaks were working fine.

Can I over-soak? Is there a risk for over-hydration? Was thinking of moving his soaks to three times a day for a few days.

Will a small raise of humidity levels in his tank possibly help? I am assuming that this is a BAD idea since my humidity is already higher than I'd prefer thanks to all our rainy weather right now (at 45%) but I wanted to be sure, anything that can help I want to try!

When is it time to see the vet? My best interest for him is always in mind, but at the same time I don't want to jump the gun (my exotics vet is crazy expensive, but is the best around no doubt) and spend a fortune to hear "Just give him another week."

Thanks for any help! Sorry for being such a noob. Still so used to mammals, this is all still very new for me.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

First off everyone is new to this at some point and there is never a reason to apologize for asking for information or help at any time that you are not certain and need it. One of the keys to being a great dragon caretaker is to always ask if you don't know. Guesswork when providing proper care for a creature is the surest way to a bad ending that there is
I really don't recommend multiple soaks a day in most cases. One instance that I would would be in an extreme case where the dragon hasn't gone to the bathroom for a very long time and even at that it is not something I jump straight to.
It's very common for dragons to shed in patches and for some areas to fall off easily and quickly while others take their time.
On tails and toes you do want to be a bit more aware of looking for potential problems but what you are watching for is for signs that the shed is cutting off circulation and blood flow to the extremity.
If there are no signs of that then things are probably fine and nothing to be alarmed with.
As far as ShedAid products I have only used a few and to be honest have had better results simply being a little more patient and letting Mother Nature take care of it.
If you want you can give your dragon a daily soak in 105 degree water for 20-25 minute for a few days to help but more than that is really excessive as is constant misting which I am not a huge fan of any way. These are dry climate creatures.
I also never recommend adding water dishes to a dragon's enclosure especially if you already have a higher ambient humidity where you live.
Again these creatures are dry climate creatures and although they are adaptable to some degree to humidity fluctuations they really are not designed to thrive in constant high humidity or with being soaked or dowst in water frequently and excessively.
One last thing I would point out is that your dragon's basking spot needs to be 110 degrees Fahrenheit which is the correct temp for his age and necessary for him to thrive and develope.
Hope this is of help.

Enjoy!

 

[basedonfact]

We took out the bowl after the first post, but I'm just so paranoid with his previous history that I'm having a little panic attack for him! I'm not too sure what to look for with circulation issues, but his whole tail is a little stiff. I think that's just from the dried skin.

I'm pretty sure we've got a well balanced diet, but is there any harm in adding a reptile multi-vitamin to his salad to be sure? I know too many vitamins can be bad too, I don't want to kill him with my overdramatic kindness, but I want to give him every shot he's got! Thanks for being so helpful.

 

[Germ]

Here is a really decent feeding & supplementation schedule ...

General feeding/supplementation schedule:
For hatchlings and young juveniles (up to 2 months): Fresh greens/veg. 1-2 times daily - Live prey 2-3 times per day
Dusted: All Live Prey five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – one day per week calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For juveniles and sub-adults (2 months to sexual maturity): Fresh greens/veg 1-2 times daily - Live prey 1-2 times per day
Dusted: All Live Prey five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – One day per week with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For adults (generally 1+ year): Fresh greens/veg 1- 2 times daily - Live prey every 2-3 days.
Dusted: Live Prey every other feeding with phosphorus free calcium - Twice per month with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

As there are different circumstances that may arise, this schedule is recommended only as a general guide and may be altered to accommodate individual situations. Using a tracking method of when you dust prevents unnecessary use of product and more importantly, potential harm to your dragon! With proper and effective UVB lighting, supplementation with vitamin D3 is not imperative but should be provided in small amounts. Excessive levels of oral vitamin D3 can potentially lead to the excessive absorption and utilization of calcium and/or toxicity as can the excessive use of supplements containing high levels of vitamin A. Over use of any supplement can have the potential to cause serious health problems, stick to an appropriate supplementation schedule.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

...I'm not too sure what to look for with circulation issues, but his whole tail is a little stiff. I think that's just from the dried skin...

No need to panic...when I mentioned that you need to watch for circulation being cut off on toes and tails during a shed, first off realize that although it does occasionally happen, the signs are easy to see and catch early before major damage occurs and in most cases a few extra soaks in the tub will make the shed release thereby fixing the problem.
Here are a couple of pictures to better illustrate what a shed that is stuck and constricting around a limb cutting off circulation might look like. (And just so you know it's nothing to panic about neither of the dragons suffered any permanent damage or loss of any limbs because their keepers caught it before damage was done.)

Hope that helps!

Enjoy!!

 

[basedonfact]

Just wanted to update that we did get his shed off eventually! It wasn't to the point that the pictures above show, but it was very tight. I did try some shed-aid agent, not expecting any help from it. The next day the shed had started I'm still thinking it was probably coincidental, but I will be keeping the shed-aid in my care arsenal for further testing if needed...