Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i bought the shed aid and i am trying it right now. ALl i do is spray it on the skin and rub in and then peel off skin right? thanks.

yep thats always worked for me. i really hope it works for you otherwise ill feel bad. sometimes i had to do it a few times b4 it all came off. let me know how it goes.

all i do is spray and peel off with my fingers? thanks. Im going to give it another shot tonite.

i have a hard time getting the back foot toes.

have you had any luck? ya it is time consuming if the gecko doesnt want to hold still or let you touch it. its hard to get at the right angle. keep trying yo will most likely get it. i would normally just grab a small peice and wait for the gecko to move by itself and pull it off.

There's a simple solution to this.. give them the right conditions and they will shed all by themselves. I had one female come in with 3 rotting toes on each back leg and at least one on each front leg. I only helped with the first shed and with that I used merely saline water to help soften the skin before rolling it off them. This was the only time I had to do it. Her second shed came off perfect and so did the ends of the dead toes. What was left I used a stiptic pencil (A silver nitrate pencil) on to stop any blood flow and she healed fine. She also, incidentally, had burns on her eyes from being in constant UV lighting. They;re still healing but with minimal good care.

Give it a proper, moist humid hide and keep it that way and the sheds will improve.. I dislike using any kind of "chemical" or "all natural" shedding aid with them. Hell I hesitate to use medications from a vet with reptiles due to their metabolism being geared towards heating a specific temp to get rid of germs and bugs. And those medications are more geared for humans, cats and dogs. Not reptiles.

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

are you saying that if the conditions are good for the next shed the old skin that is currently around the toes will come off on its own?. im not sure what is meant by rolling skin off. I have been rubing it with my finger tips. A guy in the pet store said to do it that wey.

Pretty much.. you use warm saline solution which also happens to be sterile. That shed-ease you don't know if it is or not at all, but anyway, soak her feet and up to her belly in warm saline for at least 30 minutes in a small container and then just roll your fingers gently on the toes.. they're very flexible and won't break if you do it correctly. You roll them between your fingers lightly and get what you can off. If the toes are already black.. they'll come off with the next shed if the conditions are right and her nutrition levels are up. If condition and nutrition isn't right her first shed will feel papery which it shouldn't. It should feel moist, slightly stretchy like a nylon glove and soft not in any way crinkly. Their healing ability is amazing though I do recommend if she has bad toes to get some stiptic pencils from a pharmecy or keep baking soda around to stop any bleeding that might happen when those toes do come off. But, given correct conditions and proper humidity, the bad shed will come off with the next one even if you have to help it along a little. For healing of those bad toes, make sure she has an area where she has access to higher heat. I give all my geckos a belly heat area of about 110 degrees.. with ambient temps just above the substrate being 95 degrees or so...but they can also retreat from that heat to a cooler area because I use only Under tank heating. I hate bulbs of any kind for leos. They're nocturnal, they don't need them. The ambient light of a room is plenty to keep their day/night cycle correct. But anyway, one other thing I would do is get some stuff called Jumpstart.. available at herpsupplies.com for less than $11 shipped and give her small doses of that to help with electrolytes, calories and easily digestable vitamins/minerals. I run a small reptile rescue and basically the things I keep on hand are Saline water, extra heat pads, betadine, SSD Cream (Silver Sulfadiazinine Cream)Hibi-cleanse (chrlohexadrine for disinfecting cages and furniture) local anaesthetic (Xylocaine, Lidocaine, etc) small guage syringes, turkey baby food, vanilla ensure, jumpstart and centrum vitamins. Thats my emergency kit for rescued reptiles. These things and higher heat are usually all thats needed to beat minor to moderate infections for me anyway. then again I've been doing this for 10 years with reptiles... 18 with small animals of all kinds. Severe infections need a vet..

Nutrition plays a major role in proper shedding. The essential fatty acids and oils they need are vital to allowing them to shed. Heat is vital to their immune system and allowing them the opptions to control their internal heat is the best way to deal with any animal that is sick, anemic or depressed. Their immune system is geared towards their body heating to a certain temperature to work at peak efficiency and kill whatever bacteria/virus/bug they're carrying. All this artificial stuff cannot make up for what nature has provided these animals. All they need is for us to realize that they have the tools necessary. We just need to give them the conditions they require to use those tools and far too often people make the mistake of using a set of rules when taking care of reptiles is a learning experience for any keeper. You will never know it all about any species no matter how much you read/study/research. That is the challenge of this hobby. Learning your own way to do things that work for you. Follow good husbandry that works for you and problems will be few and far between.

Sorry for the long post but... all of it is very true. These guys have been surving in worse conditions than humans have even existed. Its not their problem when they get sick.. its our problem for not providing them what they need to keep themselves from getting sick.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

would offering some meal worms maybe help with the diet?

Offering any variety of live and supplemented foods would help. My leos all get superworms and mealworms and soon to be starting on roaches as well... I'll be alternating the food sources so no one is impacted by the numbers I have to feed off. Large mealworms I go through almost 1750 a week... Move the adults to superworms and you go through less than a 3rd of that total with 23 geckos at various ages.. I plan to add the roaches as a 3rd and final feeder for my breeders and young juveniles. They also get at least 2 doses of jumpstart (Appetite and caloric/vitamin supplement twice a month in addition to their normal calcium and vitamin regimen. I don't overuse supplements though.. usually the week they get jumpstart they don't get any other supplementation at all save for gutloaded food items. I've come by these methods through my own work and effort and found my adolescent leos to be superior in size and health at 4 months of age than most people's (This means 30 grams at 4 months.. ) Once in a while I'll have a baby that fails to start eating well and I'll have to assist feed but thats not common any longer.

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

Quote "She also, incidentally, had burns on her eyes from being in constant UV lighting."

I just got a little Leo, and I keep her under a lamp 24/7 ...Is that bad? she has little hideaway things for her to get out from under the lamp, but should I turn it off from time to time?