Hey star mamma!! I’m sorry that today has been rough for you!! :( How do Patton, Roman, and Logan groom/take care of their scales in ldad? 💕💕💕💕
they’re all different because they all have different types of scales!
roman is the most complicated bc he has his spines to worry about as well as his scales. for the permanent spines (i.e., the ones that don’t regrow, which are on his arms/elbows and along his spine), he mostly polishes and cleans them. because they’re permanent spines, they kind of work like human fingernails in that they keep growing unless you trim them. they get worn down naturally when he hunts, but roman will also sharpen/file them down as needed. for the deciduous spines (i.e., the ones on his tail that he can fire out and regrow), he has to be careful that the places where the spines grow out don’t get sand in them or infected, especially when they’re missing spines. he also does a “shed” once a year where he sheds all his deciduous spines and regrows new ones, so he’s Not a Fan of That Shit. for the rest of his scales, he’ll use pieces of seaweed to wipe them down or brush them off.
patton will wipe his scales down with seaweed as well, but he also lets cleaner fish come and help him out. (all three mer let cleaner fish help them clean their teeth). patton has longer, more tentacle-like fins, so sometimes he has to detangle them. that can be messy and or painful if they’re super knotted, so roman and logan will usually help him out there.
logan doesn’t have a lot of the issues that patton and roman does because he doesn’t have spines or tangly fins. he does, however, have difficulty reaching the fin on his back, so he needs his dad or brother to help him with that. also, he has to wipe off/clean his facial scales daily because if sand or other gunk builds up on them, his electroreception will be thrown off and he won’t be able to sense his surroundings as accurately (which is bad, because he is Blind).
also, all three of them clean their gills twice a day when they’re in the ocean. they just gently slide a finger along the gill to clear out any sand or gunk that gets stuck there (which is the mer equivalent of blowing your nose to clear out snot).
