Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am stressing out. I have a 6 year old leopard gecko who has been periodically having shedding problems. I generally bathe him in lukewarm water, and sometimes assist him in gently rubbing/pulling off his old skin....

Last week I noticed he was having some shedding issues, so i bathed him, but did not pull off the skin. Extra skin was on his head and fingers, and usually after baths he takes care of it himself.

Now, he appears to be shedding again, and hadn't taken off all the old skin. Why is he shedding again so soon?

I bathed him today, and was gently pulling off the skin over his eyes, and one eye...well, I couldnt even see an eye, all I saw was puss. One or two of his toes is also all bent weird and brown.

I am freaking out. It is late in the evening and none of the emergency vets in my area handle reptiles. What can I do to help him til morning? Has anyone experienced this before? Will he die? I dont know what to do. I am so scared. I dont even know if I can afford a vet because I am too broke to even buy groceries right now. I know sometimes they have to remove toes.. but what about the eye? Could it be gone? or just infected? will it be able to heal? I know he obviously needs a vet, and I will get him to one.

I am sorry. I am having a panic attack. I love my pets very much and I am feeling incredible guilt right now. Does anyone have any advice? I cant deal. I shouldn't be allowed to have pets.
Please help w/ any advice. I really need someone to talk to. My husband just got really mad at me over this, and doesn't want me to even take him to a vet.

My aol AIM is LzdQueen.

I could take pictures of him w/ my digital cam if anyone thinks that would help. Im really scared.

Well, it sounds like you really need to provide a humid hide first off. Soaking the gecko is fine, but if he is having a persistant problem with shedding, you should probably provide with a humid hide.

But, by the sounds of it. You should definitely try and find a vet that can take care of him. I know you said you don't know of any around you, but you could call them and ask them if they can direct you to another one that could be relatively local to you. And some vets, if they are cool about it, put you on a sort of payment plan to get the bill fitted.

If you don't take care of it, there is a possiblity that he could die.. especially if an infection is causing the puss. The eye may also look like it has puss, but it could be just the skin... I had a gecko that had that happen and I thought it was puss, but after removing it carefully with tweezers, the eye was fine underneath.

For now, put him in a humid box until you get him to a vet. Probably on wet paper towels.

Sorry I can't help anymore than this...

I do have a humid hide, with that coconut bark stuff that comes in a brick and you soak... I think i'll change it to paper towel, just to make it more sanitary.

There are vets that can see him tommorow, reptile specialists. Im just panicked tonite. Not been a good day.

Thanks for your advice.

You are welcome. Hope that all works out.

Have you looked on anapsid.org to double check that there are no reptile vets in your area?

~~Dusty Windom
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So Many Alleles, So Little Time...!
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~~The Gecko Barn~~