# Hi! I'm new but need to ask about blue tongue shedding



## Bluey2001 (Aug 2, 2017)

I recently picked up a juvenile bluey from a pet store due to him being in poor conditions at the store. He had mites through his tank, food and there was even dead ones in his water bowl. He seemed a bit skinny and couldn't use his back legs as there was so much of his shed stuck on them. so I decided to take him home and get him fixed up as it was clear they dont know how to care for they were scared to pick him to put him in the box so I could take him home!!! 

I gave him a warm bath and got most the skin off by gently rubbing his toes with a q-tip and then gave him a mite treatment. I then attempted to see if he would eat and he's a very good eater!! I've had him for a total of 4 days and there's still some shed stuck on his toes that's very stubborn to get off and I was wondering if there was any other methods to getting the shed off without hurting him as they seem to be a bit sensitive.
I've added some photos to show the difference the four days have made and he seems to be eating very good and the mites have completely gone. Thank you<3


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## alichamp (Aug 2, 2017)

Hi!

The mites (if that's what they were) will not have completely gone after 4 days. You will need to continue treatment for the mite life cycle which is 4-6 weeks. What treatments are you using?

Glad he is eating well. 

Two of his toes look swollen but it's hard to tell from the pic if that is from shed still or if there are no other problems, so I don't know whether anything further you do to help remove the shed will make it better or worse - hopefully someone else has some thoughts on that.

Don't know what state you're in, Have you thought about making a notification about the pet store that was keeping him and not looking after him properly?


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## GBWhite (Aug 2, 2017)

Stuck shed on the toes can cause restricted blood flow and result in the loss of the tips and claws (depending how much is stuck they can loose the entire toe). Try adding a tea bag of camomile tea to some luke warm water that's deep enough to cover it's feet and let it soak for about 20 minutes to half an hour. Hopefully this should soften the stuck shed. Then using pointed end tweezers try to gently split the shed and gradually (and gently) try peeling it off around the toes (not over the ends). If the shed stills seems hard when you try to peel it off just repeat the process. It's not guaranteed to work but I've had success using this method previously with juvenile and adult Blueys and it's worth a try. Patients and easy going is the key.

Cheers,

George.


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## kankryb (Aug 2, 2017)

I would leave him/her in a box with an inch of Water for an hour or so then you should have no problem getting shed skin of it's toes


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## Bluey2001 (Aug 2, 2017)

alichamp said:


> Hi!
> 
> The mites (if that's what they were) will not have completely gone after 4 days. You will need to continue treatment for the mite life cycle which is 4-6 weeks. What treatments are you using?
> 
> ...



I'm not completely sure if they were mites as what were in the tank at the shop were awfully big almost like sesame seeds compared to the size of usual mites and I looked him over before I got him home and couldn't see any raised scales or white specs but I did spray him with a reptile spray before putting him into his new tank because it's better safe than sorry and didn't think it'd do him any harm as I just sprayed him in the cardboard box he came in that had ventilation holes and nothing fell off him so I assume whatever it was he didn't take with him.
As for the store I got him from, it was an ACT store and I'm unsure where I could report it to? I had seen reptiles in there before that looked in pretty good condition and I'm not sure if they just forgot about him because he was the last to be sold as I had seen him there a couple months before and he looked pretty happy and only did I come back much later to find him in a worse state. But I'll definitely look into it  Thank you for your reply it helped a lot


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## Bluey2001 (Aug 2, 2017)

GBWhite said:


> Stuck shed on the toes can cause restricted blood flow and result in the loss of the tips and claws (depending how much is stuck they can loose the entire toe). Try adding a tea bag of camomile tea to some luke warm water that's deep enough to cover it's feet and let it soak for about 20 minutes to half an hour. Hopefully this should soften the stuck shed. Then using pointed end tweezers try to gently split the shed and gradually (and gently) try peeling it off around the toes (not over the ends). If the shed stills seems hard when you try to peel it off just repeat the process. It's not guaranteed to work but I've had success using this method previously with juvenile and adult Blueys and it's worth a try. Patients and easy going is the key.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> George.



I've never heard of using tea for reptiles but it does seem like a good idea I'll definitely give it a try! The skin that's left over is more like bands around his toes as he's shed has gone a bit wrong and the toe hasn't come off as a whole like I've seen on other blue tongues as usually it comes off a bit like a glove for him it's kind of come off in chunks. But thank you for the advice


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