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 #1647425


Danielle11
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 Pale Monkey Tale

I think Lois is about to shed, however i’m not sure. Last time she shed i dont remember getting all pale. The humidity was down for awhile and i couldnt get it up for the life of me until i tried putting a wet towel over the front of the cage and that has worked wonderfully.. Hopefully that was all it is, but she is getting really pale, what else could it be? She doesn’t seem to have any other symptoms. she doesnt hav emuch energy but she never has since i brought her home.
03/04/08  12:47pm

 #1647684


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1647425


 Pale Monkey Tale

Hiya Danielle,
About a week or so before shedding, monkey tails can go completely washed out in colour and appear totally different to normal. Here are two of mine showing "normal" and "pre-shed" colouring:



They will actually go back to their normal colours again a few days before actually shedding. If there is nothing else wrong I imagine thats what it is. It freaked me out the first time one of mine did it (my original two never changed colour before a shed...I think it depends on the pigments in the skin. Green seems to show a massive difference, and brown relatively little).

I worry about your skinks lethargy though. I cant remember if I asked you, but what are the temperatures like in the viv? Monkey tails dislike cold, but also extreme heat - a general ambient temperature in the mid-80s is preferred, with much hotter or colder areas mostly being avoided. Its also recommended to give them UVB lighting to aid digestion. Perhaps its worth taking a fecal sample to the vet if you havent already to make sure she doesnt have any parasites or anything.

If your skink seems otherwise quite alert when you go into the cage etc, and doesnt have droopy or sleepy looking eyes, perhaps shes just an old skink. I have two very mellow and laid back skinks that have periods of great activity and then just spend the rest of the time being very lazy. When I open the cage though they all perk up and come over and see whats going on. I think they are just older than all of my other skinks.
03/04/08  04:02pm

 #1647768


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1647684


 Pale Monkey Tale

Wow! that is qutie a difference. I’m positive she’s about to shed. The underside of he head has some scales already coming off. The temperature in viv is between 87 and 90 and she has a UVB light that i keep on durign the day. I brought her to the vet when she ws sneezing a lot and i told her that she only deficated maybe twice a week, he said that was ok. I also mentionned she was listless to him and he said it may be because she is alone and recomended a mate for her but also that her responses were fine when he checked her out. I think she may just be lazy. She moves a lot more at night and since i’m asleep i dont get to monitor it as much
03/04/08  04:53pm

 #1647908


Danielle11
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1647768


 Pale Monkey Tale

* My typing skills amaze me sometimes. For being a student who produces upwards to 20 papers a semester i can be awful sometimes. I meant to say lethargic instread of listless, im sure you can pick out the rest!
03/04/08  06:25pm

 #1648674


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1647768


 Pale Monkey Tale

That sounds ok then :) Like I said, I have two that I think are older than the rest of mine and they are noticably lazier than their younger counterparts - when you disturb them they become quite responsive, but when left to their own devices they just love lying around. I have a pic of one of them (the female, Gremlin) in such a pose:


She would normally have her eyes shut dozing as well, but she heard me moving about and woke up lol.

As they are crepuscular/nocturnal, its good to hear that she is so active at night. I dont think theres likely to be anything wrong with her :)



03/05/08  07:06am

 #1648776


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1648674


 Pale Monkey Tale

Oh wow she’s very pretty. I was told Lois was pretty young when i bought her, but i guess there is no way for them to be able to tell. I would love to live Lois life, all she does is bask all day. I dont think much is wrong with her aside from being lazy and maybe a little lonely. I cant wait to get her a partner i feel bad her being alone all this time. : (



03/05/08  09:18am

 #1648920


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1648776


 Pale Monkey Tale

Heya,
Yeah, its quite hard to gauge the ages of them. Sometimes you can get an idea from how they look - the female there generally looks more aged than my other skinks - but husbandry can affect their appearance. Looking at the shedding rate of my skinks, that female sheds much less regularly than some of my others - some of my young (at heart, if nothing else - they look young anyway) skinks shed twice or more in the time it takes for her to shed! I dont know if there is any correlation between age and shedding, but my senses tell me that they are older.

It would be nice to get her a companion...females can be very fiesty about who they will accept as a "friend" though, so be careful! ;)
03/05/08  11:58am

 #1649151


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1648920


 Pale Monkey Tale

Well i was a little surprised that she is shedding again so soon. the last time she shed was less than three months ago... Just a few days before christmas actually. So maybe that means she is young... however i dont know how that compares to a regular shedding cycle. This summer i am hoping to ease her in to a mate... I figure introducing them on neutral grounds and possibly constructing a whole new viv for the both of them would make it a little easier. There is only one place here, that i know of, that i can buy another skink from so im not left with many options unfortunately.
03/05/08  03:41pm

 #1649242


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1649151


 Pale Monkey Tale

Hmm, interesting...most of my skinks shed on a roughly 2 month cycle, but this little female has shed probably just over three months ago and just completed another. To be honest, I suspect humidity might have an impact too - not infrequently all of my skinks shed all at the same time, or within a few days of each other, so I wonder if theyre triggered by rainfall or something. I read an article that said that adults shed roughly every three months, so I guess mine arent far out at all.

Introducing on neutral ground is definitely the way to go - as females can be particularly aggressive (males in my experience are only hugely aggressive to each other) I would strongly suggest against putting a "stranger" in your skinks territory. I usually introduce mine through mesh initially so that they can sniff each other but not bite. You can usually get a good idea of how things are going by the first few moments; curious tongue flicking is great, but sharp jerky movements are something to watch out for! I have been recommended to rub a bit of slightly soiled substrate from one cage onto the new skink so that it smells like the other; this confuses the conflicting smells and can make introductions go better.



03/05/08  04:37pm

 #1649304


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1649242


 Pale Monkey Tale

Yeah i’ve heard the thing about rubbing soiled substrate on the new skink and it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to me. I’m hoping she may livin up a little more with a friend (so long as they get along haha) she does seem quite lonely... but she could also just be very laid back, she does like to be up on my arm and neck. There has been a drastic change in the humidity in her tank recently. I’ve been trying fro months to get it up but it always teetered towards the much lower end on the scale and i think that’s what made her first shed a little more difficult. (as you might remember i had to bring her to the vet and he said it was a bad shed around her nose that was making her sneeze), so i’m hoping the humidity, which is much better because of the wet towels, will help her shed much more easily.



03/05/08  05:06pm

 #1650179


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1649304


 Pale Monkey Tale

Yeah, the raised humidity should help out a lot with shedding (although mine do still occasionally get nose plugs of skin that drive them mad for a couple of days...I ahve tried to help by pulling them out, but the skinks are never very reciprocative). I wouldnt say that it would necessarily make her more active, but it will probably make her feel better!

Good luck with finding another to pair with her. We caught one of my males copulating with one of his two females last night - they have never bred for their old owner, so hopefully this is the start of something good! :D One of my other males, the one that fathered the baby born in January, has also shown some amorous intent, but his female wasnt very interested. My third male (the one that I think is older) hasnt shown an interest unfortunately. but there is still time! ;)



03/06/08  11:47am

 #1650340


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1650179


 Pale Monkey Tale

Not a whole lot stresses Lois out. When her nose was plugged she let me get at her with a tooth pick to help her get it out, she just sat on my arm like nothing was happening. So i’m hoping she’ll take that attitude with a new mate. I have to call to the store to make sure i can sex the skink myself before i make any commitment to buy i though. They are a small chain of petstores that dont guarantee the sex of the animal. The skink would have to be ordered in so would be gambling a lot even on the sex let alone whether or not Lois would get along with him. Hopefully you will be hearing the pitter patter of little skink feet again soon in a few months! I was wondering if you could tell me what size tank would be apropriate for a family of three (hoping that all goes well and they breed). Im thinking of building my own, however im no expert and am looking fro somehting relatively simple. : )
03/06/08  03:14pm

 #1650461


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1650340


 Pale Monkey Tale

Lol she sound very mellow :) Its a shame that you are so limited in options - perhaps it might be a better idea to get in contact with a breeder that can ship to you?

Ah, I hope so...its a looooong wait though (around 8-9 months), and this is the first time that they have mated. One of my other pairs were seen mating in April and May last year, so there is still quite a bit of time left until the "breeding season" ends. We’ll see what happens! :) Im a bit paranoid though as all of the skinks in that group are aggressive/defensive enough without having babies to protect!

I have one of my pairs in a 4’x6’x2’ viv, a trio in a 3’x6’x2’ and another pair in a cage the same size. 4x4x2 is recommended as the minimum size for a pair or small trio, but I think you’d probably want to increase one of the dimensions by another foot for three adults. We have built all of our cages, as its just so much cheaper than buying them...its not horrendously hard, but then, my boyfriend is quite into his woodwork! :) YOu can see the cages on the link in my profile.



03/06/08  04:58pm

 #1652871


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1650461


 Pale Monkey Tale

I’ve seen the photos of your vivs they are beautiful! Ever since i got lois ive noticed that when she is basking she will do it with one eye closed, switching it up every now and then. However the past couple of days i noticed she has just been keeping one eye mostly closed all the time, even when i handle her. Yesterday i noticed her eye seemed to have build up on it and was very watery when it was opened. I called the vet but he’s out of the country for a month and he’s the only reptile vet on the island! I had drops for her nose when she went last time and the instructions say they can also be used for ear and eye infections. So i started her on those last night because it truly looks like an eye infection as her other eye is unaffected and she isn’t sneezing or showing other symptoms. Do you have any other suggestions for me?



03/08/08  02:21pm

 #1653670


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1652871


 Pale Monkey Tale

Hmm, I really dont know what to suggest on that one...that older female had one eye stuck shut when I got her (my boyfriend thought she had lost the eye when he had a look at her - but I had had a close look at her before we bought her and knew that she hadnt lost it), but it didnt appear to have any build up and the eye was fine after a quick clean. I would personally just bathe it in warm water and cotton wool to try and clean off the discharge and see if it helps her to open it. It might be worth putting the question to the Yahoo Corucia Group and seeing what they say - there is a lot of experience on that group :)

With the switching of eyes when basking, it seems to be totally normal - all of mine do it. Sometimes when I hang around taking pictures of them they slowly open the other eye and it takes a few seconds to focus - so their eyes appear to be looking all over the place, lol.



03/09/08  04:41am

 #1653859


Danielle11
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   Message To: Johelian   In reference to Message Id: 1653670


 Pale Monkey Tale

Yeah i cleaned the eye last night and then used those drops. They are just an general antibacterial for infection i believe. I didnt have to clear out her eye again this morning so i was pleased. I’m sure she will be fine... I’m new to the reptile world and i worry about everything because i see her as very fragile... I’m like an overprotective mommy. I think i would go crazy for worry if it wasn’t for all the advice you give me!
THanks : )
03/09/08  11:37am

 #1654294


Johelian
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   Message To: Danielle11   In reference to Message Id: 1653859


 Pale Monkey Tale

Yeah, just keep an eye on it...perhaps she got a bit of dirt or something in it. If you have any doubts, just give your reptile vet a ring and ask for some advice :) They should be very helpful!

I totally understand; one of my first two monkey tails died a few months after I got them, and ever since then I have been deathly paranoid of accidentally killing them. To be fair, I believe that the female was sick when I got her; she was quite thin, and initially ate a little but then totally stopped eating altogether. We took her to the vet umpteen times for many different treatments, but she never recovered. However, since we had to watch her deteriorate and were totally helpless to do anything, I just have a tremendous fear that they are very delicate and will drop dead at the slightest problem. If I think about it rationally I dont think that is the case - they can be "emotionally" very sensitive and upset by stimulus in this manner, but generally they seem reasonably tenacious little guys. I think that experience just totally put me on edge.



03/09/08  05:50pm


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