Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

well i havent been on here in quite sometime....but my gecko seems to be having trouble with his last shed!

For some reason, his shed covered his eyes and has not come off!!! I have tried squirting him with a squirt bottle and such in hopes to soften the skin and have it come off, but it has not worked!! He is not very happy and hasnt been eating at all, I am very worried about him because his big plump tail is getting very skinny!!!!! What to I do to get the shed off? and how do i get him to eat? Shall I force feed? and how to heck would I do that?

Any and all help is appreciated!!!!
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MmmmMMmm....Schizm
0.1.0 Agama, Gypsy
1.0.0 Leopard Gecko, Geiko (our newest addition)
1.1.0 Canine, Cody & Mosely
0.2.0 Feline, Nikkita & Samantha
1.0.0 Cockatiel, Jerry
1.0.0 Parakeet, Keet
1.2.0 Kids
1.0.0 Husband

Um, I am NO expert (I just got my first Leo yesterday) but I've been doing a lot of reading online . . . I've read that if your leo is having trouble shedding than you can

1) put him in a plastic containter with airholes that is very moist and warm for a little bit, and then use a moistened q-tip to try and get the leftover shed skin off

2) Try giving him a bath with a very low level of water (this seemed to be more geared towards trouble with toe shedding though).

Does he have a humid hide?
Again, take this with a grain of salt since I am a novice ... hopefully someone else will have a helpful post . . . good luck!!

I wouldn't recommend force feeding, as your gecko will get stressed, and it will be stressful enough for him when you're taking the dry skin off. Just get that skin off as soon as possible.

Get some kind of container your gecko can't get out of, and have him stand in some warm water for a while. Sometimes 10 minutes isn't enough, I would do it for an hour. Gently rub him with q-tips or cotton balls. If it's really hard to get off, I've used tweezers but you just have to be really careful with them...I found getting skin off the tail was impossible; I just let the tail fall off. Just get the skin off as soon as possible, provide a humid hide and monitor the humidity in the tank...to get it up, I use a large but shallow bowl of water directly underneath the light on the warm end of the tank. I hope this helps and good luck with him, let us know how it turns out!
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0.1 ball python (Kilimanjaro)
1.0 amel corn snake (Houdini)
0.0.1 leopard gecko (Charlie)
1.1 cats (Kitty & Milo)
0.1 mouse (Creepers)

I agree with both they gave great techniques. One more if all fails you can get a pillow case damp and but a washcloth taht is wet inside with the leo under a heat lamp of somesort for about 30min and with a wet qtip it may come off easier. Just a suggestion.

What are your temps? Also do you have a humid hide?

As was already mentioned - soaking in a little bit of warm (100degree) water and using a q-tip to try and rub off the extra skin.

The real issue though is that if your husbandry is correct than this problem shouldn't happen. If your leopard is kept at the correct temps and has an adequate humid hide then she should be able to get her skin off easily.

Douible check with a digital thermometer that your hot temps are 88-92degreesF.

If you do not have a humid hide provided for her then giving her one will probably help to avoid this problem in the future. Take a tupperware container and line it with damp paper towels, cut a hole in the side for easy access and place it near the warm side of her tank. Periodically check and maintain a good level of moisture - towels should be damp - not soaking. Make sure the hide is nice and humid particularly when your leo is about to shed. This will help her to keep her skin nice and soft and she should be able to pull it all off on her own.

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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
2.1 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo,Jeffrey Nothing, Louise)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
1.0 Blood Red Corn (Virus)
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx (Scuttle)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

If you're going to do a soak (which is what I recomend) and do it for more than 10 mintutes you may want to place the container in his viv over the warm side to keep the water warm as it will cool quickly.
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www.LeopardGeckoBreeder.com

www.LeopardGeckoArt.com

13.36.25 Leos
1.2 AFT
1.2.4 Cresteds
1.0 n. levis levis
1.1 Red Ear Sliders
0.0.1 Russian Tort
1.0 Pembroke Corgi
0.2 Cats
8 fish