Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A man came into work a while ago saying he moved into a new apartment, found a 6" gecko in a 3gal tank. No heat or UV or food or water.

I offered to take him, and after 3 weeks of no luck the man brought him to me to take home. The skin on his feet we know has been there for at least a month, he's been through an entire shed since then and still he can't shed his feet.

We've identified him as a white lined or skunk gecko. He's got a UV although I know he's nocturnal and a heat lamp, misting 3 times daily and he's beginning to eat dusted crickets, in a 10gal tank and screen lid.. The humidity seems to be helping but his feet look bad enough that he may even lose the toes. Is this common? Should I soak him, like a snake with a bad shed? That was my first instinct but I don't want to stress him out any more than he is right now. Should I anyway?

Thanks for any help. He was eating about 3 crickets a week while the other guy had him, he ate 2 yesterday and 3 more today, so I guess the heat and humidity are helping but I don't want to start him up too fast and have him regurgitate it all..

That's about it, I hope I can save this little guy, maybe even his toes too...

Is it handleable at all? If it lets you, you can gently remove the shed on your own. There are several ways to do it. The way that I prefer is to moisten his feet and your hand and gently roll the skin off each finger. You can do 1 foot a day or turn this into a 30 minute session up to you. Takes a long time this way but it is stress free and I have gotten even skittish geckos to calm down and relax their feet doing this. Soaking wont hurt if you want to try it, but not like a snake. Dont float him, since he would probably not float. Simply put him in a shallow dish or something to get moisture in there. You're doing great so far, getting it to eat is half the battle.

I'll share something that worked great on my irascible little cat geckos. Get something like a rubbermaid bin, put some holes in the lid, and put a big wet bath towel on there. Let him run around on that for a few hours and his feet should be looking much better and it will also be easier to try and get the stuff off by hand (or q-tip).
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?