Instructions
Help Your Lizard When It's Shedding
Start helping your lizard shed when you first see it's skin become dull. Your lizard will begin shedding at its head and end at its tail. Its eyes will become 2 or 3 times it's normal size, but this is all part of the natural shedding process. Offer your reptile massages by gently rubbing your thumb and finger over its head and eyes. It will love it.
Spray your lizard with water to help its skin remain soft and pliable as it begins to peel away. Reptiles who live in the wild usually enjoy relative humidity, so taking care to mist your reptile in dryer climates is important.
Peel the skin gently with your fingers only if it seems loose and ready to come off. Sometimes the skin will just hang limply so peeling it won't harm your lizard. Avoid tugging at the skin if it's resistant. The reptile will normally rub against something to help the shed come off naturally.
Help spikes to shed completely by gently pulling with them with your forefinger and thumb a little at a time over a period of a few days. Also, continue to spray with water as that helps to keep the skin moistened.
Check your lizard's toes, tails and spikes every day or every week at a minimum to see if they are clean and don't have any skin, fibers or hair stuck to them that may cause irritation during the shedding process.
Keep tabs on how often your lizard is shedding. A normal healthy lizard will shed about every 4 to 6 weeks during warm seasons. If your lizard is not shedding, then check for environmental and dietary deficiencies. Also, determine if your lizard is sick. In that case, call your veterinarian to get it checked out.
Help Your Snake When It's Shedding
Provide your small snake with a water bowl deep enough for it to curl up in and so that the water doesn't overflow.
Give your medium- to- large-sized snake a humidity retreat box instead of a water bowl. You can either make it a permanent fixture inside its tank or just put it in there when you notice your reptile start to shed. You will notice this when it's color starts to change.
Bathe your snake when you notice it's eyes getting cloudy. This is a normal occurrence during the shedding cycle which means it is getting ready to shed. Use warm water and soak it for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time and wrap the snake in a damp, warm towel.
Rub your snake with your fingers from head to tail when you see the skin start to bubble up. This means it is ready to come off and the massage will help it along more quickly.
Check your snake to make sure both its eyecaps came off naturally. If not, gently remove them yourself.
How to Help Reptile When They're Shedding
You are the proud new owner of a cute and cuddly reptile, be it an Iguana, a snake or a lizard of some sort, but now it's starting to shed and you don't know what to do about it. Most reptiles shed regularly, so you'll need to learn how to help it along during these natural cycles. Follow these steps so you'll know what to do.