Repeated injury from shedding

[gothra]

I have a gecko that has hurt himself during the previous shed. When I checked on him, he has a large area of reddish bruise on his belly. It looks superficial, because it has distinct outline. So I guess he either have pulled out a piece of skin that is not quite ready to come off, or he scratched himself from the cage furnishing. I applied some antibacterial cream to the area. After 2 weeks, I can still clearly see the bruise, and he shed again last night. When he is done, the area becomes irritated, there were 2 spots that looks like its almost bleeding. I looked at him again this morning, the area becomes all red and bruised again, exactly like how it looked after his previous shed.

So, my question is, this is going like a loop. The next time he sheds, he'll pull on that same area again; how can this come to an end? Besides cleaning the area and applying antibacterial cream, is there anything I can do to help him? Anyone have similar experience to share?

[got spots?]

Alright I would say just leave him or her alone. I accidentally thought I pulled off a lil shed when I first got my leo. I dont know what it was but it stayed there for like 2 sheds. I would keep an eye on him though.

[gothra]

Here is a picture I took just then:


With a clearer look, the bruised area looked smaller than before. It is more concentrated on the centre now, the redness on the outer edge has faded a bit.

[maximusx6910]

I have a question, not doubting you, but is there a heat rock? it just looks like a burn?
I honestly am not experienced with health issues. But i have seen a burn before online looks similar to that.

[JordanAng420]

How is he doing otherwise? Is he eating and having normal looking bowel movements? What kind of substrate are you using right now? The real question is...how did that spot come about in the first place? This we may never know, but if you've been applying cream for two weeks with no effect, i'd be concerned about the injury being internal...however, before jumping to conclusions like that, you should rule out other stuff first...could he have burned himself? Any other geckos in the cage with him? Could he have fallen from somewhere?

I'd give it another week, and if it doesn't improve or gets worse, it might be time to take further action.

[JordanAng420]

In fact, if it gets any bigger at ALL, you should take him in. I'm concerned it might be blood, the appearance of the lighter pink surrounding the darker pink concerns me. A simple x-ray will show if that area is, in fact, internally bleeding.

How do the scales feel around the area? Is the skin affected at all?

[gothra]

The lighter pink was in fact dark pink/purple before his shed last night; so I thought he has improved a bit. At least the extent of the area has reduced. I'm pretty sure that the area was due to his previous shed; this was the one that had a sperm plug last time, so I had been checking on him very often. Besides that his belly is bruised, he is eating alright, poops look normal. He is by himself and I have not changed a thing in his tank for years. He has carpet substrate and UTH at 92F for heating.

The scales feel normal, no scab, just bruised.

[gothra]

I'm worried about internal bleeding as well; but nothing in his tank is higher than 5 inches. I had shined a light to look at the area very closely, it does look superficial to me (this might not sound right, but I see many tiny faint red lines on the surface - blood vessel?). That's why I thought he has pulled off the skin that is not 100% ready to come off.

[Stomlin35]

I would recommend watching for his next shed cycle. As soon as it looks like he's shedding, give him a quick bath.

My oldest gecko had trouble shedding this last cycle. I had to help her out and she also ended up with a reddish spot. It's been clearing up nicely over the past week.

If it doesn't get better in a week, I'd say vet check.

[gothra]

To ease my mind, I took him to the vet today. The vet confirmed it is dermal, could be a burn or he just had a rough shed. The wound doesn't seem active to him, so the redness and bruise should recede with time. I checked the temps all over his tank with a temperature gun, nothing seems abnormal; highest temperature spot was only 92-93. Perhaps I need to force him into his humid hide next time he sheds.