we are finally getting our first shed! YAY! does that explain his dark colouring? I assume its a shed, I picked him up to feed him this morning and a flake fell off his neck and I see lovely bright green under it. I was reading over past threads...can I use J&J baby oil with Aloe to help him shed? Since everything else has gone wrong with him I'm going to assume he will need some help shedding.
Soak him a lot? Rub him with a cloth? baby oil until I can get shed ease or aloe? (I'm dirt poor at the moment). Anything else I need to know?

I would just soak a couple times a day and mist inbetween.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Use aloe before you try baby oil lol, and soak him for about 30 mins in water thats 80-83 deg, take him out and wrap him in a towel to keep him warm and moist then apply some alose to his whole body..this should help and do this 2 times a day till he sheds completly

I am not up on water dragons but I would wait a bit before trying anything and see if nature takes its own course.
No need to stress the poor critter out if it isn't necessary.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

OK thanks all! I gave him a good soak for 30 mins and he came out of it full of **** and vinegar. I'm so excited to see him grow. Now if he will feed himself we'll be good.

I'm with Merlin, don't bother your water dragon unless you have to. They are often under a bit more stress (and perhaps a bit uncomfortable) when they are shedding and if you are rubbing stuff on him or picking at him when he doesn't need it, it will just stress him.

Do make sure your cage humidity is fairly high (70 to 80%), mist the cage and the dragon a couple of times a day, and make sure he's using his water area several times a day.

If the humidity is good and he's using his water the shed will likely come off within a couple of days (if it really is ready to come off). If it hasn't come off within a week or so he might need a bit of extra help.

Water dragons seem to use their water more often when they are shedding. It's probably soothing and it does help loosen the skin. It's fun to watch them try to scratch their back and even their face with their hind legs.

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Tricia

Yeah he's been hanging out in his water most of the time. It is fascinating! most of the shed seems to be gone in one day. The weird thing was watching him push it away from his eye with his tongue. I couldn't figure out what he was doing at first. I thought "oh no he's having a seizure - just my luck" but nah! just trying to get rid of some shed!

Yes they can do some pretty strange things when they are trying to get that skin off of themselves. It's interesting to watch.

Just a word of caution. They can injure themselves (not often) when trying to help themselves shed ... i.e. scratch their eye instead of the skin, rub too hard on something abrassive. So check your dragon over every once in a while during the shed just to make sure that everything is going well.

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Tricia