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My son has a leopard gecko that recently had a bad shed. It took us quite few days to soak the remaining skin off of the feet and tail. Now three of the toes are turning red then balck along with the tip of the tail. Does anyone have any advice on this? I have search the web and cannot seem to find anything like this. He's pretty upset.

She rarely eats and has just been taken of that pet store calcium sand the pet store had us buy. I would say about a week has gone buy that she hasn't been on sand. She was eating the sand rather then the insects put in her tank so we have been watching the sand come out slowly but she still doesn't eat. She seems healthy looking except for the areas turning black which were the areas that had trouble shedding.

If she was eating the sand, and now she's not eating at all, then you need to take her to see the vet. It's very possible that she's impacted, which can be deadly.

As for her toes, it sounds like she's going to lose them. The dead skin can cut off the blood supply, causing them to fall off. The tail tip will probably fall off, too, if it looks the same. Unlike the toes, however, the tail will grow back.

Good luck!!!

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

Well, I can't say its going well. I have had to get a crashcourse on Geckos in a small amount of time. We called the Vet after soaking her in warm water a few times a day and trying to get her to eat waxworms and I am not at all happy with what I was told. First off they said the tank should be 70-85 degrees max. Petco told us 80-95 even 99 was ok. They believe she is not eating because of humidity and temperatues. I have put a container full of wet papers towels and a hole for her to get in before talking to her after reading about it here. She has been in it off and on. She passed two stools since my post after soaking, they were very yellow. She has eaten only two wax worms since my post with urging from my son. The vet has told us to tube feed her with chicken babyfood 2x a day giving her a mouth full for 2-3 days. They aslo said something that really has me upset! They said if that doesn't work I could then have an appointment or go out and buy another Gecko!!!!! Now I realize the office visit is more than the price of another Gecko but this is my son's pet and he loves her! Unfortunately this is the only vet within an hours drive that will see reptiles. I will foLlow their instructions but I am not sure how much faith I have in them. Are the temps really supposed to be that low?

Btw, after the soakings her toes are looking better but I doubt the tail tip will be saved as it is pretty black now and it almost seems like she has no feeling in the tail tip.

Any advice is appreciated.

First off what Petco told you is a load of crap unless its a heat lamp for bearded dragons. I should know because I have a pair and their heat lamp is about 90 degrees and their basking light is 115 degrees. The other thing is that the vet sounds like a jerk too. Anyone that actually gives a damn about animals won't tell you to go buy another one without seeing it first to know for sure that it won't live. My male geckos tank reads at 80 degrees with just the heat lamp on. At night it reads 75 without the heat lamp and the UTH running. Some people might disagree with that but if I raise the heat to more than 80 he stops eating all together. My female on the other hand likes it a little warmer. Her tank sits at about 82 with the heat lamp on and 75 or a little warmer with the UTH running at night. More than likely she's in a lot of pain because of her toes that might be part of the reason that she's not eating and the heat is probably another reason. If she loses her toes she'll still be able to live a normal life. My female is missing most of her toes on her front feet but this was the fault of her former owners not me. She just shed recently and I had to get the extra skin off of a couple of her toes after soaking them, even though the skin had been softened it still hurt her a little for me to peel it off but it was better than her losing more toes. I'd suggest lowering the temp in her tank to 80 to start with to see if that will get her to eat. If you don't have an under the tank heater I'd really suggest getting one. I hope this helps and I really hope your gecko makes it.

70-85 is the proper temp for a leo.Make sure she is getting planty of water to help her get rid of the sand,use a syringe to drop water on hre mouth,she should lick it off,you can feed the baby food the same way.I wouldn't recommend tube feeding unless you had x-rays done and you know for sure there is no blockage or you could damage her stomache/bowels.Also try soaking her in some warm water,sometimes that will help pass the sand.

Thanks much to both of you. We gave her some babyfood chicken using a child's medicine syringe (can do drops with this thing) and it went pretty well. Then we let her sit for an hour or two, dripped water on her mouth which she did drink quite a bit and soaked her in some warm water again. This time almost instantly and quite explosively she deficated in the water and let me tell you...it smelled awful! I have never smelled anything like it since changing baby diapers! Do you think since this has happened we are out of the blockage woods? The more I bleached out her soaking tank the more it did resemble a babyfood/rotten smell and there was more sand in it again but mostly it was dark brown rancid junk. After all that, she did eat one wax worm all on her own. Btw, we have her tank down to 80-70 during the day and we were going to go back to just leaving the UTH on at night.

Dare I say I am seeing hope here in the dark tunel.

I've seen my geckos lick and eat the sand before but I was told that they do that to help them digest their food. My bearded dragons eat vegetables with sand on them and it doesn't hurt them one bit, not that I condon them doing it because I don't. I know what you mean about the smell, for some strange reason water makes them go to the bathroom. I give my dragons bath's regularly and everytime I give them a bath they both use the bathroom in the tub. From what I understand if they're using the bathroom then they're not impacted, its more than likely she's in pain from her toes. When you're in pain you don't want to eat either so its understandable. Until you get all the skin off or until its toes and tail fall off keep feeding it from the dropper so at least you know that it's eating. Like I said if it does lose its toes it can still live a perfectly normal life. I have proof of that sleeping in a tank in my living room. I really hope that your gecko pulls through just keeps us updated on its progress.

Well I don't have high hopes for this Gecko once agian. Today she shed which she just did a couple weeks ago. I thought great! she's going to eat....WRONG! It's gone more downhill. Her tail tip has the sores reopened since the shedding, I think it pulled them off and she is now biting her entire tail and all her toes not just the red/black ones. She refuses to eat and spends her time going between the warm hide and the humid hide on the warm side where she will sit and bite herself. She rarely ever doesn't slide around on her tummy now and just appears to be very close to dying or in extreme pain. I am now not sure if she is too far gone or not to find another Vet who would care to see her. I have prepped my son that she's not looking good and may not make it. Not a fun task indeed. I'll let you know if anything changes.

Thanks so much for everyone's help.

I took my son's Gecko to the Vet today and just wanted you all to know what she said. She gave Gex a 50/50 chance of making it and said she was not as bad as most of the Geckos she does see come in. She said she is very well hydrated for as sick as she is and she has a lot of gas built up in her system. The intestinal upset has cause black and blue marks on her body that are very tender to her. The Vet feels that the tail tip that turned red and now black is a burn from running the temps so high in the tank. I am not so sure that I agree with that since the tail got that way after the bad shed but who knows for sure. She gave her a vitamin shot and checked the fecal which was clear. She doesn't feel the gecko is impacted. I am to force feed her after giving her the day off today as long as she doesn't get overly stressed from the force feeding. I am also to pump her full of calcium with the feedings. That is pretty much it. She said she will drop that tail eventually but it's good that is hasn't happened while she is still not eating on her own. The Vet also reccommended we use a UV light on her 12 on and 12 off which surprised me since I have always been told that it was not needed. She was pretty firm on the point that she should have one. She said the UV radiation really helps them and makes them healthier.

I also won't deny the fact that she did tell me most people who bring their geckos in have them put to sleep and that it was an option for us at this time. My son and I were not ready to give up on her just yet. I am keeping everything crossed that she makes a turn for the best soon. This is really wearing me down. It's so depressing and draining.