Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

This is probably the first post in a long time where i actually need some help. (This goes to show that even those who they THINK they have experience are always learning...and i'm always humble and willing to learn!)

Anyways, back to the topic on hand. I have a really nice hypo tangerine female (50 grams) that has been "showing shed" for MORE than a week now (about 9 days to be exact). This is really bizzare and in the hundreds of leos i've kept/hatched, this has never happened. Usually on average (in my experience), they show shed for 2-3 days max and then actually shed.

Trust me when i say she has all the right temps/humdity etc. She's kept alone in a sweater box with a hidebox and laybox. I even misted her cage a bit more in an attempt to raise the humidity even more...What's going on???

I think the only reason i'm starting to worry is because she's one of my favorite hypo tang females (in my top 5). Also, in my experience keeping/breeding colubrids- a "stuck shed" is a very dangerous situtation (usually fatal if not taken care of). I have tried soaking her in 1 inch of lukewarm water for an hour or so, and other tricks normally used on snakes. But nothing seems to work, hopefully she will shed normally soon...

I may resort to manually "rubbing" her old skin off, maybe just to help her get started?? or if i broke her old skin it may stimulate a natural response and she'll do the rest??...I really don't know.

Does anyone have some advice or personal feedback from their own experiences?? She appears to be eating fine and moving like normal. I've just never had a leopard gecko take almost ten days to shed! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Humbly,

-SFgeckos

I've only had this happen to one leopard... and it was only a week old. No matter what I did I could not get her skin to loosen up, soaks, contant misting of her enclosure, humid hide, etc... It was so humid it there water was contantly condensed on the walls of the shoebox. For some reason her old skin would not loosen up at all, I tried manually removing it with my fingers, as well as tweezers, still no luck. Unfortunately it was fatal in this girls case... I guess she may have just had a genetic defect that would not allow her to shed properly.

Never seen it happen to an adult... If I were you I would definitely remove it manually though. I've actually completely removed some of my lazy adults sheds many a time, they even seemed to enjoy having me do it. I just rolled it right off with my fingers.

But anyways, I'm sure you've manually removed shed before. It was bad enough losing a hatchling to a "stuck" shed, but it would be a real shame to lose an established adult.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com

Leos Anonymous

Red Striped Tangerines, Carrot Tails and Screaming Amel Fat-Tails

It was too weird reading your message. My adult female (3 years) had the same problem her last shed--she was looking "ghostly" for three weeks! She spent that time in her humid hide which I made sure was wet every day. I tried soaking her but nothing happened. The last couple of days during that period her skin was really thick, and then her toes started to point up. Panicking, I soaked her, and gently rubbed her back with my nails trying to get the skin started, she seemed to appreciate this. It finally split. I had to take all her shed off for her, as the skin was restricting her movement. It was all very thick. She is starting her "shed" routine again, and it looks like the same problem. It has been several days where she looks like she should shed, but has not.

Is she just looking dull and ready to shed, or is there actual loose skin ready to come off all over her body?

I've noticed with hypos, especially extremely bright individuals, it's really noticeable when their color changes slightly. I have a hypo who can look very, very dull for a week or more when she is about to shed, and it's very noticeable.

On the other hand, I have this old (12 yrs about) girl who is so dark I usually don't know she's going to shed right up until a day before or so.
members.shaw.ca/youkai/leos/sobek2.jpg
members.shaw.ca/youkai/leos/sobek3.jpg

Hope that made some kind of sense.
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I am highly prized for my meat.

i was more curious whether other people have also had the same problem. (and possible causes why?)

usually i like to let the geckos shed naturally, (plus i'm kinda lazy haha).

it only took about 2 minutes to manually take off her skin. honestly i should have done it about a week ago...that's just my bad. hopefully she will do it herself next time!

maybe i can "line breed" for "good shedders" LOL

-SFgeckos