Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We received a 5 year old female that apparently never had a humid hide. There was some skin left over from previous shedding on most of the toes, and a bit of the face.

I took a piece of gladware (looks like thin tupperware) and blasted a hole through the side with a blow torch. It made a nice smooth round hole about the right size for her.

She now spends 90% of her time in the humid hide. When she shed the other day, the problem spots seemed to be taken care of for the most part. There is one toe that we're keeping an eye on.

I think she's making up for the years she didn't have a humid place to go, and she doesn't know how long it will be there so she's enjoying it while she can.

This is my first leopard gecko.
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ETChipotle

What do you put in your humid hide ? Towel ?

I'm sure my wife knows where it is, but the paper towel is working okay for now, but we'll use sphagnum moss because it looks better.
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ETChipotle

She probably just finds the humid hide toooooo comfortable to leave. If you really want to spoil her, you can try making two humid hides--one for the warm side and one for the middle of the tank. I do that with some of my leos, and they use both.

About that retained shedding, it most likely won't come off by itself, particularly on the toes. When she sheds, the skin will just get caught on the toe until layer after layer builds up and cuts off circulation.

You'll have to help remove the retained shed. There are several methods, but the one I find best is to take a disposable tupperware container and cut a few holes in the lid. I do four holes--one in each corner--that are big enough for them to stick their nose through. Then place some paper towel on the bottom and fill the container with enough warm water to almost reach the bottom of her belly. Put her inside, put the lid on, and wait. If the retained shed is recent, you only have to wait 5 minutes, but if the shed is old (more than a week), you'll need to wait about minutes. The humidity of the container helps soften the skin, so when you remove her, you can gently "roll" the skin off her toe with your fingers. Have some tweezers handy, because the older retained shed is pretty tricky.

If that doesn't work, it's possible the tissue inside the skin has already died, so there's really nothing you can do. In this case, the toe easily falls off by itself.
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5.6 leopard geckos

chickabowwow