Brand new owner worried...please help!

[Akari_32]

Welcome to GeckoForums! You need to keep a wet hide in the tank at all times. You can even ditch the water dish. In the mean time, make a shallow dish of warm declorinated water, and place the gecko in it and help him out with that stuck skin.

I've also just stuck with paper towels. They're easier to clean. Or you can use tile with some sand underneath.

 

[amygotgrace]

Ok I put him in a shallow dish of warm water and he ran out pretty quick. Hope it helps and I hope he goes into his humid hide soon.

 

[Dinosaur!]

make a humid hide filled with moist paper towel, sphagnum moss, or some uther moisture holding substrate, and that will help the shed ease off if him. if it doesn't come off by tomorrow, soak him in a chest deep warm bath, and very carefully pull the shed of yourself. he wont like it but it will help him a ton! I hope this helps!

 

[amygotgrace]

Well he ran through the warm water I put him in rather quickly but when I left him alone he went back into if for a few seconds on his own so I hope this helps. I made a humid hide (warm) earlier today but he has been basking on the cool side since then and has not been in there so I hope taking off the heat lamp will cool it down to his pleasure and he will go in.

 

[Akari_32]

Raven actually likes it when I help him shed. He rubs all up on the tweezers like a cat. Weird little lizard....

The only time I've had to give a bath to help with one of mine shedding, I had to keep her corralled in the water. Didn't like it at all. But I wasn't about to leave a sight impaired gecko with shed stuck on her toe.

 

[amygotgrace]

He won't eat crickets today but will eat meal worms...how many is it ok to give him?

 

[Dinosaur!]

as many as he eats in 15 minutes, or just put them in a bowl for him. geckos will quit eating when they're full

 

[amygotgrace]

the temp is down to 89 on the warm side now. I don't understand why he is still just laying by the side of the tank against the glass. He's been that way all afternoon except for a few times of trying to get the shed off.

 

[amygotgrace]

Well now I felt his belly and it was cold so I put the heat lamp back on top! help please

 

[Dinosaur!]

my recommendation is to just leave him alone for a while. seeing that you only got him very recently, it takes geckos a while to acclimate to a new home. he may feel secure in that spot, and just wants to get used to his surroundings. as for the shedding, put him in an escape proof container so that he HAS to soak, and then work his skin off. also you could find a rough textured stick or something, sanitize it, and put it in for him to scrape the skin off on. I really hope this works or helps!

 

[Poppy243]

Is the temp you are measuring the air temp or the floor temp? Leopard geckos do best with belly heat, it helps them digest. Since switching to the carpet, have you checked to see if the floor is still actually warm? The carpet looks rather thick.
Also, my gecko has a tendency to sleep in one corner of her cage all the time. The other lays on top of her hide most of the time. Sometimes I think they just find a cozy place they like and hang out there.

 

[amygotgrace]

That was the floor temp. Well he/she finally went into the humid/warm hide. Really hoping all the shed is gone in the morning or I will put him in something that he will have to soak and take if off. I'm so afraid of hurting him!

 

[Dinosaur!]

as long as your gentle, and the skin is wet and loosened, he should be perfectly fine!

 

[Poppy243]

I second what Autumn says! I've done that with my geckos. Most of the time I put em in a plastic tub and fill it up to their chest with bathtub-temp water. I usually judge the water temp based on whether I would be able to step into it if it was in a bathtub, and then make it slightly cooler than that. Then I leave em in there for a while, like 15 mins, and if I need to step in to help them shed, I very carefully help them pull it off. Usually it is their feet that have issues, and I will hold it down and wait until they pull it off themselves. If they don't, I slowly pull back and prompt them to try to pull it off. For the tops of their heads I wet my finger and rub gentle circles on the part of the skin that has not yet pulled up yet. Most of the time they get it all off themselves, but if I need to step in this is how I do it. Geckos are very capable of getting all their shed off all by themselves.

 

[amygotgrace]

Well he finally went into the warm/moist hide last night and came out this morning all shedded! Yeay! I'm so happy! Now, hopefully he will eat his crickets today. We put a couple in this morning. Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm sure I will be spending much of my time here!

Day 3. He has not eaten crickets or mealworms yesterday or today yet. Last night the temp of the floor on the warm side registered 106! So I removed the heat lamp and this morning it was 92, which I think is just about perfect, right? But the cool side says 70...is that alright? I really wish he'd eat.

 

[Akari_32]

I really think you'd do best to remove the heat lamp completely and leave the guy alone. He needs time to adjust to his new environment. It's not in a healthy animals nature to starve itself to death, and he'll eat when he's ready. He just ate his shed, and he's eaten a few bugs, so he'll fine for some time while he settles. If you determine later that you need a heat lamp, get one that's a lower wattage. I have a 50 watt over my 10 gallon, and I do not keep it directly on top of the tank, I keep it clipped to the rim. Whatever you've got is way too hot. 92 is ok, a little high, but it could be worse.

 

[amygotgrace]

Ok well I did take the lamp off last night. Is the cool side ok at 70?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Yup. Cool side at 70 is awesome. I like my warm side around 80-85 air temperature with a 90 degree warm spot on the floor. I also find that lights dry out the enclosure and cause shedding issues. Unless your house is under 65 degrees most of the time I would recommend getting rid of it. Like Akari said, a lamp directly over a 10 gallon heats the tank up too much and will probably do so on any tank that's not at least 18 inches tall unless its a low wattage like a 25 or 40.