Help get paint/tar off of skin

pheonix · 05-14-04, 11:04 PM

I had thought my sav. monitor had gotten out on me again but was wrong. He had climbed into a basking root/thingy that was in his enclosure that was hollow through a knot hole in it for the reptiles to hide in. Anyways He had got stuck in it so I had to break it apart with a chisel and hammer to get to him. When I found him he was glued to the inside of the basking root. Their was some kind of black goo in it not sure if it was undried paint or some kind of lubricant from the mold when it was made( kind of reminds me of driveway sealer). I had to pull chunks of broken plaster or whatever the root was made of off his skin. Does anyone know a way to break down this goo that is safe. I was thinking varsel but that is not very safe, Some body told me to try mouthwash but was hoping to find some other ideas.

thanks

Scott

corr · 05-15-04, 06:30 AM

There are lots of liquid hand soaps that contain pumice for removing stuff like that. One that comes to mind is Gojo. There is another one at Princess auto but I can't think of the name... something "orange". Most auto supply places will carry these soaps anyway. HTH

snakehunter · 05-15-04, 06:33 AM

i think LAVA does that too, trie that

jwsporty · 05-15-04, 06:57 AM

A natural de-greaser that works well is peanut butter. Likely the peanut oil is the active ingredient.

Good luck

Jim

Scotty Allen · 05-15-04, 08:03 AM

Vegetable or mineral oil works pretty good. I suspect your monitor is just a young one, he will quickly shed and lose the goo anyway. If you can't get it off without stressing the little guy out too much, just let it get a good coating of dirt so it's no longer sticky. He'll be fine.

Definately stay away from varsol etc.

pheonix · 05-15-04, 03:27 PM

I just got back from petsmart were I had purchased the decoration and they replaced the decoration, and asked me to bring my monitor in so they could have it inspected by their vet. The vet said the same thing use and I have thought; that it will likely come off on the next shed. I was just trying to get it off before he licked too much around his face incase it was toxic. My real biggest concern is if their is any internally. I might also try some snake oil I just remembered having around from when my corn had mites.

reptiguy123 · 05-16-04, 06:58 PM

I hope that you sell the replacement!

pheonix · 05-16-04, 10:10 PM

I wouldn't sell the replacement after the trouble it gave me. It's not worth the risk on someone elses animal. Just a little thing I thought I would add though their was one left like mine but the new stock behind it had the hole filled in with plaster. I am guessing that they must have had alot more cases like mine and decided to fix the problem.

pheonix · 05-26-04, 11:13 AM

My monitor finally gave up. It was active and great for the first couple days then he went down hill. He stopped eating so I started to but gatorade in his water dish so he could keep his energy up. A couple days later he stopped drinking and was barely able to move around. I took him to petsmart and they replaced him. They don't sell monitors so I had to settle for a beardie (I was wanting to get a female soon anyways). Thanks for all the help use have given me.

Scott

reptiguy123 · 05-26-04, 02:49 PM

I'm so sorry. Keep us posted to see what petsmart did to try to improve his health. Unfortunately with petsmart, the chances are slim.

Can monitors really drink gatorade? I've never though about using it. Hmmmmmmm.

pheonix · 05-27-04, 11:01 PM

I got the idea for the gatorade from a care sheet, or book I was reading for monitors or other reptiles. They said to mix it no stronger than 50/50 with water. It make sense to me if the animal is not eating and slowing down some electrolytes will help give it some needed energy to maybe get by what ever caused or is causing the problem.

ChokeOnSmoke · 05-27-04, 11:16 PM

sorry dude best of luck with the beardie