Hello, today I rescued a little leopard gecko. The owner had pretty much given up and was sure it was going to die. I couldn't leave it to suffer so "Izzard" came home with me. I am a ball python owner but I don't have any experience with small lizards. He is very thin and dehydrated. He is in the middle of a bad shed. His head was completely covered with stiff dried out skin. He was blinded and I am pretty sure his mouth was mostly sealed shut. I got him at lunch so he spent the afternoon at my office in a plastic shoe box snuggled in warm damp paper towels. This took care of the skin covering his head. I was able to help him remove it. He is now settled at home in a new tank eating mealworms. I have calcium dust but I was afraid it would be too harsh on his very empty tummy. I have no idea when he ate last. My main concern and what I need advice about is his little feet. It think it has multiple shed layers on all four. You can't see individual toes. It's like he has socks on. I gave him another warm soak while I was setting up the new cage. I tried to remove some by rubbing with a q-tip but he was freaking out. I don't want to stress him out any more. The nearest reptile vet is 1 hour away. Sorry this is so long. Thanks.
Unexpected Gecko. Newbie needs help.
- Thread starter Darby
- Start date
Hi there. It is so sad to hear about gecko in such shape 
Hopefully he will get better while you will take care of him :main_yes: I'm not sure if mealworms are the best for such gecko, I would try to mix them with some crickets or roacher, maybe waxworms. About his feet, if it does not turn black, it is still good. If a piece of skin is left around geckos finfer, it will turn black in few days and drops in few next days/weeks. Fingers will never grow again, so I would probably try to remove it slowly with wet cotton swab. I know it could be stressfull for gecko, but it is worth that. Or at last try to remove it from the feet just to the fingers. But leo can live quiet normal even without pieces of his fingers, when I bought my first gecko, he was already without end pieces of fingers, but he is doing pretty well, living like normal gecko.
Hopefully he will get better while you will take care of him :main_yes: I'm not sure if mealworms are the best for such gecko, I would try to mix them with some crickets or roacher, maybe waxworms. About his feet, if it does not turn black, it is still good. If a piece of skin is left around geckos finfer, it will turn black in few days and drops in few next days/weeks. Fingers will never grow again, so I would probably try to remove it slowly with wet cotton swab. I know it could be stressfull for gecko, but it is worth that. Or at last try to remove it from the feet just to the fingers. But leo can live quiet normal even without pieces of his fingers, when I bought my first gecko, he was already without end pieces of fingers, but he is doing pretty well, living like normal gecko.
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- Somerville, MA
Mealworms will be fine. Soak the gecko in about 1/2" of warm water for a minute or so and then use your fingernails to try to pull off as much shed as you can. It may take a few tries over a few days, but the more you can get off, the better. Don't worry if there's a little bleeding or if some of the toe tips come off.
Aliza
Aliza
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