Sore/raw feet?

[Metal_Gecko]

Hey guys,
During the recovery of my skinny male Bell Albino, I came across something new today...
He shed for the first time(that I've had him) last night, and it was successful, but this morning I found him lifting his 2 back feet into the air and shaking them, kinda like they're sore, or raw.
They are very pink, and seem very tender. I'm worried they're hurting him...

Does anyone know why this happened?
Did he make them sore from getting the shed off???

-Wes

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

Anything he could have burned his feet on? You don't have a heat rock, right?
Possibly raw from digging? What's your substrate?
Have you checked his belly?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

The poor little guy... poor housekeeping can cause some fungal issues and a lot of tenderness. The conditions the animals were kept in prior to your rescue are questionable at best. Usually when someone is ready to be rid of the animals they haven't been cared for very well. Use paper towels in his cage and a moist one for his hide when he's about to shed. He needs super clean conditions to heal up and prevent infection. Plus paper toweling is softer on the feetsies. I wouldn't try to use any ointments as things would stick to his feet.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I agree with Laney... also is there any chance his feet might have not beeen 100% ready to shed yet and it's that new prematuerly exposed baby skin? Eros had this happen with his tail and it looked painful. Use the sanitary precautions Laney mentioned and give him 48 hrs to see if it gets any better. I know when Eros' tail was like that within 2 days it was back to normal.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

I'm really worried now, his pink has turned to brown, like it's scabbed over or something, and seems crispy/brittle...?
I'm sure this has something to do with his shed, because his back feet, and tail were the last to shed(feet first, then tail), and the tip of his tail tured pink today like his feet were yesterday...
Now the tip is starting to turn brown like his toes!
I'm really freaking out about this, and there's no vets open around here on the weekend.

NO heat rock!!!

His UTH isn't hot at all, as a matter of fact, it seems barely luke warm...???

Papertowels as substrate, and I change them daily, or every other day.

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

Can you get a good pic hon?

 

[sausage]

I must say I have seen this before when for some reason parts of the body are not ready to come off as much as the rest but they still pull it all off any way! Silly things.
Mine do sometimes get the rawness on their nose and end of tails. It looks a little bit scabby once it healed, then normally goes back to normal the next shed.

Keep washing the feet to soften up the scabs as that could be quite irritating on his little feet and he might start chewing them :S .
Hope it heals quickly

 

[Metal_Gecko]

I must say I have seen this before *snip*

It looks a little bit scabby once it healed, then normally goes back to normal the next shed.

Oh thank god....
I've been stressing soooo bad about this.
I don't want him to lose any fingers or anything....

They seem to be getting a little better.....I think?

-Wes

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Well...
His feet/toes are starting to look better, and the color is coming back into them!

Unfortunately, for him, the *pads?* of his feet are still scabbed over, and if he articulates his toes too much, they crack and bleed...

I've put some Neosporin(w/out pain reliever ) on the undersides of his feet to help, and it seems to be working quite well.
Hopefully the little man will be back to his normal happy self, very, VERY soon!

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

You can also use bag balm

just so you don't make him antibiotic resistant by constantly using an antibiotic cream on his feet. Personally I don't like using antibiotic cream for more than 4-5 days then I usually switch to bag balm. You can find it just about anywhere.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Damn.... I think I had some of that somewheres in the house too... :tongue3:

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

I woud think even mineral oil would work 'cause at this point you really just want to keep the scabs moisturised so they don't crack and irritate further. Maybe even regular old KY or other personal lube as long as it doesn't have all the additives, or even very lightly with olive oil. All are great moisturisers.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Well the reason I used the Neosporin, is because it was recommended in a PM by a Mod who is also a breeder.

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

Yeah I understand that, and I also suggest it for initial use, but prolonged use is not recommended even says it on the bottle itself but I think that says 7 days. The reason for limiting use is to avoid antibiotic resistance. Now that you're in the healing process and have produecd scabs, you need to prevent the scabs from drying out and falling off or cracking before they're ready to come off, hence switching to a moisturizer insted of an antibiotic agent. Know what I mean?

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Good food for thought, thanks for that!

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

You're welcome Happy to help :main_yes:

 

[sausage]

my vet said i could use over the counter lacri lube eye ointment to keep scabbs moist.
it works a treat. that also has minerals in it.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Sorry Sausage.... I'm not sure I follow...?

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

I think sausage meant as an alternative to using mineral oil to help keep the scabs healthy until the feet are healed. Lacrilube is pretty much the same thing as using mineral oil with a little extra lubricants.

Ingredients:
Active Ingredients:
Mineral Oil 42.5% (Eye Lubricant),
White Petrolatum 56.8% (Eye Lubricant).

Inactive Ingredients:
Chlorobutanol (0.5%), Chloro butanol, or tri chloro-2-methyl-2-propanol, is a chemical preservative, sedative hypnotic and weak local anaesthetic similar in nature to chloral hydrate.
Lanolin Alcohols.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Oh, oh, oooooooooh....... I gotcha.

I'ma look for some of that then. Thanks!

-Wes