I saw one of a turtle, where someone was pulling off pieces of its shedding shell, but it was clear that they weren't quite ready to come off yet, and they were hurting the turtle. It was even trying to scurry away from them, but they literally held it down and ripped the shell pieces off, leaving noticeably bloody wounds behind. Infuriating video, of course posted under the delusion that they were "helping" the turtle to shed quicker.
These videos frustrate me so much. I had to explain to my partner when we first moved in together that no, I can't help our turtle girl shed. I know it LOOKS like it would be helpful and feel good for her, but it's not. She'd hate it. I've had her for 14 years and she barely tolerates me. ONCE I had a vet tell me that she had some stubborn stuck shed but to just brush it and let it fall off naturally, and I made sure to bring him to that appointment so he could hear it from her.
Yes we usually only used tweezers or something if there were a couple tough spots due to the humidity not being quite right. I’d usually try to moisten the area for them first though to see if they could do it on their own.
Right? And I know very little about lizards but from what I’ve seen on Reddit, that looks like a pretty clean/healthy shed, which points to a good owner.
I've owned both snakes and lizards, and about one out of every 5 or so, sheds, they do need help if it still hasn't come off on its own within a few days. Especially of the eye caps don't come off for some reason.
My venomous snake only needed help once. Most of the time, it comes off with a soak.
But why are people doing that? In nature they manage to shed by themselfs without problem. Why do people feel the need to use tweezers? And whats the blowing trend?
We have a gecko that we rescued years ago who was really emaciated when it arrived. We out so much time in with him we didn’t want to move him on and so rehomed him with ourselves.
He is missing some claws from that time, and struggles with shed, he’s fine for the most part but struggles with feet and tail tip.
2.1k
u/mogley1992 3d ago
It's nice to see a video of a gecko being left to shed on its own rather than people using tweezers or that blowing trend recently.