Mdred
New member
Hello friends, I would like to ask you for advice.
I have 12 juvenile H. Orientalis, 6-7 months old, offspring of my adult pair. They're in full aquatic setup, 112 litres (30 gallons) aquarium with about 7,5 cm (3 inch) of water,
with floating moss, other plants and wood. They have plenty of places to rest, it should minimize the risk of drowning. I prefer this method of raising them instead of terrestrial phase. I change about 1/3 of the water every other day, spot clean every morning and evening.
Everything went smoothly with their raising, until now.
I'm not sure why, but they started to have problems with shedding. It seems to me like the remnants of their old skin are left on their limbs or toes and it's probably blocking the blood flow. As soon as I noticed it, I carefully tried to help them, but unfortunately, one of them lost its limb. I separated him/her into a different box and I'm trying the salt baths method, because I noticed a white fuzz around the wound. Today I noticed the second one with the same problem, his/her leg is already swollen after I carefully removed the old skin.
I'm not sure what can be the cause of this problem. If it is the raising summer temperature (I'm trying to do my best to cool the aquarium, but unfortunately I don't have AC in the room, maximum water temperature was 22 degrees (72 F), usually a few degrees lower), or something else. I'm aware that shedding problems are the sign of health issues, that's why I'm trying to find the possible cause of that and if possible, to help the injured ones with recovery.
Is there anything I can do to help the injured ones, besides salt baths and cooling? I have not tried fridging, because I wasn't sure if the fridge temperature of around 5°C wouldn't do more harm than good.
Does anyone have similar experience with problematic shedding and how did you solve it?
Thank you for your advices and opinions
I have 12 juvenile H. Orientalis, 6-7 months old, offspring of my adult pair. They're in full aquatic setup, 112 litres (30 gallons) aquarium with about 7,5 cm (3 inch) of water,
with floating moss, other plants and wood. They have plenty of places to rest, it should minimize the risk of drowning. I prefer this method of raising them instead of terrestrial phase. I change about 1/3 of the water every other day, spot clean every morning and evening.
Everything went smoothly with their raising, until now.
I'm not sure why, but they started to have problems with shedding. It seems to me like the remnants of their old skin are left on their limbs or toes and it's probably blocking the blood flow. As soon as I noticed it, I carefully tried to help them, but unfortunately, one of them lost its limb. I separated him/her into a different box and I'm trying the salt baths method, because I noticed a white fuzz around the wound. Today I noticed the second one with the same problem, his/her leg is already swollen after I carefully removed the old skin.
I'm not sure what can be the cause of this problem. If it is the raising summer temperature (I'm trying to do my best to cool the aquarium, but unfortunately I don't have AC in the room, maximum water temperature was 22 degrees (72 F), usually a few degrees lower), or something else. I'm aware that shedding problems are the sign of health issues, that's why I'm trying to find the possible cause of that and if possible, to help the injured ones with recovery.
Is there anything I can do to help the injured ones, besides salt baths and cooling? I have not tried fridging, because I wasn't sure if the fridge temperature of around 5°C wouldn't do more harm than good.
Does anyone have similar experience with problematic shedding and how did you solve it?
Thank you for your advices and opinions