Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone, I'm new to kingsnake but I've had my leopard gecko for almost 7 years. Lately I've noticed some negative things happen to him....
For instance in the past couple months after every shed he leaves some dead skin on all of his toes.
I've been trying to get him to gain some weight, which he has, but it's only a little bit and he seems to not be very interested in food at times.
I just bought wax worms for the first time and when I opened them they didn't look very good and they were squishy when you touched them, does that mean that I shouldn't give them to my leo?
Today I was going to feed him and then I noticed that a couple toes on one of his front feet were shorter than those on his other foot... I know left over shedding can cause them to lose toes but its only a little shorter and he doesn't seem to be very sensitive on that foot.

Guys, what is going on? What should I do? I honestly can't spare a ton of money to go to the vet and have them remove the shed... Is there anything I can change to ensure that he removes the skin on his toes? I'm pretty desperate so please put in any advice you can. Thanks in advance for any posts.

Well, first, waxworms are squishy, they are soft bodied caterpillars. If they are starting to black, dont feed them, but a squishy cream color waxworm is good. Second, as far as the toes go, you have a humidity problem. A moist hide permanently should prevent the problem in the future. You need to be more vigilant about checking his toes after every shed, and you can remove any left over skin if you catch it within a couple of days. A drop of mineral oil on the toe(s)
followed by a warm water or steam bath, and some gentle removal with your finger, fingernail, tweezers, or q tip should do the trick.
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het RW from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino from Petsmart (Cloud)
0.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko from Petco (Beatrice)
0.1 Stripe female (rehabilitated rescue)(Pepper)
0.1 Jungle het RW hatched by me! (Jungle Bunny)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko from Petco (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko from Petco (Rainbow)
0.1 RW Stripe hatched by me! (unnamed yet)
0.1 Leucistic rescue (Lucy?)
0.1 Tremper stripe from JMG (Delta)
0.1 SHCT hatched by me! (Blinky)
0.0.1 SHCTB hatched by me! (Sunny II)
0.1 Ball Pythons
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Hatched: ~50 leos

I agree:

I'd just like to add there are two products on the market to help with stuck shed, originally developed to help snakes and many people have found success with them.

We have T-Rex Bio Mist and had to use it on our crested once, but you could easily mist until soaked a paper towel in, say, a shoe box sized container and let the leo crawl around a bit. (I wouldn't spray the gecko directly as you would for a humid type gecko) The advantage of the mist is it contains jojoa wax and aloe vera which will soften the shed more than water alone.

Warm water or product, either way you shouldn't need a vet visit for shedding problems, just patience and time with your leo. Good luck.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

after the warm soak/oil, ive had good luck with a mini foot massage. just taking their lil feet in between your fingers and rubbing them seems to losen the skin pretty well.