Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 leopard geckos I rescued from Petco. My fiance worked there for a while and they would get in drop offs and they can't sell them if something is wrong with them. The only problem with them is the one had his tail knocked off in a fight. I've had them for almost a year, and never had a problem. But now, after doing some more research on them.. I see theres a slight problem. The gecko with the missing tail, his shed doesn't come off his toes. There like webbed together by shed, it's not really bad, but I read that its not good for them. I'm curious as to what it means if they don't shed all their shed off their toes? It said to try using a wet q-tip to ease it off, but it doesn't work. Thier toes are so fragile and the sheds like on there really good. How can I get it off without hurting them? Please let me know!

The reason for removing stuck shed on toes, and tail tips for that matter, is that as this skin dries it constricts, shrinks, on the toes causing the circulation to be cut off. Which in turn causes the toes to fall off. If using a humid hide isn't enough you may have to take a wet wash cloth and while holding the lizard, rub the shed with the cloth till it loosens enough to remove. Hope this helps. good luck.

Quig

You can soak your guy in a shallow dish of warm water and even use a drop of olive oil on the toes if it's stubborn. It's important to remove it though, so it doesn't cause problems. Your gecko looks healthy otherwise, nice and fat. I got two of mine the same way, and they have turned out to be really nice pets after some initial TLC.
You will get more answers directly from the leopard gecko forum if you have questions in the future about anything.

Good Luck!
Sue