Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've got a female crested, probably 3-4 years old or so. sweetest thing ever. she's been very inactive the past couple of weeks which is very unusual for her which has had me worried lately. i noticed a few days ago (maybe a week) that she had shed stuck on the nose, and now she's gone into full shed but she hasn't managed to remove it. one of her front legs is caught in the shed and she's having a VERY hard time walking around (esp. with that arm, getting stuck backward and such) and looks to have almost all of the shed still stuck to her although it's loose over her back. been like this for about 2 days and i've been spraying generously trying to keep the humidity up to help her out but it doesn't seem to be helping. i just tried grabbing onto the shed stuck to her arm to see if she could use her own strength to pull her arm out of it but no luck, it's stuck too good. : should i continue to try to manually remove the shed or continue misting more frequently and hope she can remove it herself or what? i'm just worried i'll hurt her or stress her out too much. bad timing cause we're moving in a week which is going to stress her out even more. she's never had this problem before and always removed her shed completely herself, usually before i even notice it.

I'm not really sure if this would help, but did you try allowing her to soak in warm water? I know it helps with other herps, but dunno if she would sit still long enough.
Good Luck!
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0.0.2 Crested Gecko (Anton (or Angelina) & Harley)
1.1 Crazy dogs (Alex & Sadie)
0.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee)
0.1 Amazing Wife =o)
Charlie - RIP 9-8-05 (Veiled Cham)

yeah that's my usual first thought as well (we had a ball python who would benefit from this tactic, as well as our iguana), but the gecko is a little harder to manage and you can just see the terror going through her mind when i pick her up and she tries to get away but can't pull her leg up to walk properly. breaks my heart. :

first off what type of substrate are you using? You may want to consider changing to coco fiber or eco earth it will make a big difference in humidity as well as maybe adding a few plants such as a ficus or snake plant"mothers in law tounge" pothos do really well. You should also add a humid hide in there something as simple as cool whip container with a damp paper towel in it turned upside down with a small hole cut in to allow the crested access in and out of it as it pleases.

well like i said, i've had her for almost 4 years and she's been fine until this shed. we use paper towel substrate because the coco-fiber was hindering her ability to catch crickets without a mouthfull of it. she has a hide which i lift up and spray the substrate directly to keep it more humid in there and lots of fake vines to catch water and keep the humidity up.

i was able to get most of the lose shed off yesterday by holding her in a wet soft cloth and making her walk around in a shallow sink of water, but she still must have shed on her pads because she can't stick still. is there anything i can rub on her feet (mineral oil?) or some other technique to get the remaining shed off her toes?

Sorry to hear that about your gecko.So here's what you do,get a wet paper towel and put it in a deli cup with airholes and a lid,then put your gecko in there over night.In the morning the shed should be moist enough to peel off.Good luck.
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Ashley Lopez's Black Forest Constrictors.
blackforestconstrictors@gmail.com
website

also, once you've gotten it off. Go buy a hydrometer if you don't have one and monitor humidity levels. That's probably the cause.

ok, whatever is wrong with my gecko is apparently very serious at this point. i came home today to find her with her mouth gaping open and her almost panting. as i said she's been very inactive the past couple weeks and has seemed very weak (i tried not to bother her too much during the shed problem, but her legs are shaky and she can barely hold her body up as she moves around- which is only when i try to get her to move). i've hand fed her some baby food a few times but other than that i don't know if she's been eating the crickets i've been offering (they seem to dissapear, but i've seen them jumping around the apartment mysteriously in the past so they may have a way to escape). she was facing the wall so i sprayed that and she repeatedly licked the substrate and wall once wet, which leads me to believe she may be dehydrated. i've been spraying every night as usual and she has a water dish but due to her inactivity i don't know how much she's been drinking. WHAT SHOULD I DO?? i've been very busy moving during the past week otherwise i would have taken her to a vet already, but i could try to take her to a reptile vet tomorrow if they will be able to do anything for her. at this point i don't have much optimism for her recovery, but i'd like to try. :****(