Uh, shedding 2 weeks in a row???

[Euphillia]

Last week we had the toe issue, tonite we have his head and feet stuck in ANOTHER shed. Is it normal to have back to back sheds like this? He's been doing it every 4-6 weeks since I had him.

Off to do a warm soak

 

[fuzzylogix]

do you have a moist hide in his enclosure?

 

[Euphillia]

Yes and I have been keeping moist because of the toe issue last week. I wanted to make sure he was OK. He's been in it off and on for a few days but I didn't think anything of it. I went to look at him just a few mins before posting this and saw big flakes of skin and was like WTF. Took his hide off him and I saw all that.

I did get the stuck skin from his head. It was pretty loose. It appears that his tail has some stuck too. Its soaking off well at this point.

 

[Euphillia]

I will also add he is much brighter in color after this shed than his last. Don't know if that counts for anything.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

When they have a growth spurt, they shed more frequently. One of my girls sheds every week to two weeks because she was undersized and catching up.

 

[Euphillia]

OOOO...well that is good to know. I am going to keep his hide extra moist and maybe start misting the tank every few days. I don't want him to go through the stress of a stuck shed again. I still have some toes to work on. I think I got all the skin stuck on the tail off. His feet aren't totally stuck anymore either. I feel bad for him. And it totally panics me too.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Be careful with too much moisture in the habitat, it can present a whole new set of issues. Really, the only time extra moisture is needed is during a shed, and he will begin to rub stuff to loosen his skin even if he doesn't look all ghosty. A warm shallow bath, as many as it takes, along with qtips to work it off can remove that toe shed. It needs to come off asap to keep from constricting and losing toes. Once you get used to his habits you won't panic when little things crop up

 

[Euphillia]

Thank you thank you. I will be soaking again in the AM. I got A LOT of skin off tonite. I think the rest should give in the morning. I appreciate your help.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Eros also sheds like every 2-3 weeks at 11 mos old. He had trouble a couple times ith stuck shed on his toes, head and tail, but since adding a second moist hide with paper towels in a tupperware dish on top of his hot hide along with the sphagnum moss moist hide he has the last 2 sheds have been almost perfect. Last shed he just had a little stuck on the front of his face but the rest of him was a-ok. I found out he wasn't really using the moist hide with the shpagnum moss 'cause he must not of liked how it felt on his feet. He was tub raised so going into a natural set up he likely never expereinced moss before, but the first time he was fixin to shed after adding the paper towel moist hide, he went right in there and sat and sat and sat. That one he likes. Sometimes knowing how they were housed/raised prior to you can help figure out a lot of problems yo might be encountering.

 

[Euphillia]

Ya I got him at a show over Labor Day. I have a tupper ware container with paper towels. Half on the warm side, half on the cool. He's always used it and we have been through 3-4 sheds already with totally perfect results.

So I am just surprised I guess that this happened. Poor dude.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Any nutritional changes?

 

[Jordan]

btw are you sure your not catching him mid shed? ... because a lot of the time people come and say my gecko has got skin stuck on him but really its because he wasnt finished shedding... and if they had just left it over night he would have got rid of it himself.

Anyway im just wondering at which point you decided that the skin was actually 'stuck' ? ... and are you sure he just hadnt worked on his toes yet and you decided it was stuck before hed actually finished? because its normally the last bit they do, they normally sit there nibbling at it.

im not accusing you of this im just making you aware... that sometimes it can take a gecko quite a while to shed, but it doesnt necessarily mean he needs your help or that the skin is stuck.

 

[Dog Shrink]

btw are you sure your not catching him mid shed? ... because a lot of the time people come and say my gecko has got skin stuck on him but really its because he wasnt finished shedding... and if they had just left it over night he would have got rid of it himself.

Anyway im just wondering at which point you decided that the skin was actually 'stuck' ? ... and are you sure he just hadnt worked on his toes yet and you decided it was stuck before hed actually finished? because its normally the last bit they do, they normally sit there nibbling at it.

im not accusing you of this im just making you aware... that sometimes it can take a gecko quite a while to shed, but it doesnt necessarily mean he needs your help or that the skin is stuck.

Totally agree... Eros' last shed where the front of his face was stuck, he had a HUGE flap still on the top of his head. Hubby told me to let him alone, see how he was in the morning 'cause after the last 2 bad sheds I wanted to soak him but he was doing it himself in his humid hide. Well by the next morning he had gotten it ALL off 'cept the very end of his snout... again... around his nostrils. 5 minutes (if that) with a qtip and a careful tweezing it was off. He was pissed about being restrained for the tweezing but sooo grateful looking after it was off 'cause it actually was also along the lip line of his top jaw so it was a rather larger piece that came off than I suspected was there. Silly boy :main_rolleyes:

 

[Euphillia]

The only noticeable thing as far as nutrition goes is he has certainly slowed down in his eating habits. But everything I read here seems to indicated this is OK. He's not looking thin or frail.

I felt that it was stuck because there were big flakes of his skin outside his hide and i hadn't seen that before. Most of his tail was still in the skin and his feet too. His head came off pretty easy. We are still working on his toes today. How long is it safe to monitor the stuck skin?

 

[Jordan]

personally if i see a gecko that is pre shed grey colour... then the next day they will have bits of skin hanging off of them and maybe lots of bits left lying around the enclosure. and then the next day all his bits are gone (apart from the stuff lying around in the enclosure, they wont eat it off the floor) but every now and then they take a bit longer. 1 - 3 days.
Honestly if you see your gecko shedding then in an hour or two, if he's still shedding it doesnt mean he's stuck.
You should leave it about 2 days.
And if it IS still stuck then, it wont have caused any harm, and try and get rid of it then.

i find that the gecko's that DO have shedding issues are ones with actual health problems.
99% of gecko's can shed fine on their own if theyre healthy, even without a moist hide.

I might get slaughtered for saying this but i have quite a few leo's that dont have a moist hide. They simply dont need it. They can shed fine without it, so i give them the extra room. I give moist hides to gecko's that need them. Because most dont.

Sorry guys, but not all my gecko's need a moist hide. dont have a go at me for that. lol

 

[ajveachster]

I might get slaughtered for saying this but i have quite a few leo's that dont have a moist hide. They simply dont need it. They can shed fine without it, so i give them the extra room. I give moist hides to gecko's that need them. Because most dont.

I'm not going to slaughter you over this. We do not keep moist hides 24/7. If I see somebody in shed then I will mist down the hide they have in their tub. There are several times that I have seen evidence that somebody shed, but never misted the hide. There are a few that I know have issues, so I will keep an eye on them to mist them down for each shed. Since we use tubs in a rack system there is not room for a separate humid hide.