New To Forum With Rescue Leo

[Flameethrower]

I'm not new to reptiles as i'm a ball python breeder but new to geckos.

A Girl contacted me if i could take her leopard gecko she tired rescuing 6 months ago and failed. So she gave me his entire setup plus 20$ to nurse back to health.

I took him out of 10 gallon tank and setup in 28 qt sterilite tub. Hes in shed but seems some is stuck so hopefully he can get it off. IF he cant what can i do to help get it off. Hes got a lil tub with moist paper towels to get into for extra humidity. If shed gets to where i need to assist can I put him in a shallow water to let him soak it up.

His food dish is meal worms on top of calcium. Also small water dish 2 hides on each side. 80 cool side 92 warm end. I have super worms and wanted to know how often can i feed them to help him gain weight but slowly.

Hes got toes missing and his tail has regrown back. On the feeding note i bought a can of super worms to help get him to gain weight but how often do i feed them so he dont get addicted to em.

whats a ideal humidity inside the tub right now hes bout 60% but i got it lil higher to help the shedding. Ill add more holes as i heard 30-40% is ideal for them with the moist hide.

Below are his pictures and setup hes in now.

Hope he does great on his recovery. I give the other girl props to try and give him care but she followed pet store advice and well look where it got.
her.

 

[Khrysty]

Poor guy. He'll need help with that shed. Let him soak in warm water for a while, and then take a q-tip, wet it, and gently roll the skin off his face. You may need to use your fingers for his feet, too.

 

[Flameethrower]

hes on a johnson a 419 tstat set at 91 hot side and 81 cool side. room is heated to 81 with oil radiator space heater. Flexwatt is the heating tape i use.

i just got the gecko today so im gonna let him settle in for a day and find his humid hide. After a day or so ill put him in some warm water that shallow to help his toes and what not.

 

[Flameethrower]

forgot to add hes skittish to humans so taking the sheds my self off will be a task.

 

[Daidra]

It is great that you took him in as he looks like he really needed it and his setup looks great and as for the stuck shed you should put him a small dish with warm water up to his belly and also poor some on his head so that it will loosen and then you will have to use a Q-tip and rub it off his head/face as he will not be able to get that off on his own,as for food you should get some crickets and feed them to him and make sure to dust them with calcium,calcium d3,herptivite(vitamins and minerals)and you should get a fecal sample and take it to the vets so that they can check for parasites as he looks very skinny.Good Luck and I hope he gets better.

 

[Haligren]

Congrats on taking in a rescue! I hope he does well.

But as far as feeding supers go; I feed supers as a staple to both my girls and have for a while now. They're less chitinous than mealies and while are a bit fatty, are easier to gutload and maintain. Atleast in my opinion. Neither of my leos are overweight but they both have big fat tails. Supers last for a long time if cared for properly (a lot longer than mealies) and only pupate when they're isolated. So I wouldn't worry if your leo starts to prefer them...But that's just me. They're also more filling than mealies so don't be surprised if your leo will only eat one or two at a time. (Although my Mandarin must have started out eating eight at a time, but then she was a growing girl. :3)

 

[Flameethrower]

thanks right now hes been settling in and doing great on that so far. should i wait till tomorrow to soak him for the 20 mins or do it now to free his eyes of the shed. stuck sheds irritate me with my snakes and this one is making me wanna pull my hair.

 

[Khrysty]

I wouldn't wait, honestly. That shed's gotta be irritating the heck out of the poor guy

 

[Flameethrower]

alright ill get some warm water in a 6qt tub for him
and see if i can get the head one offf

EDIT: Hes in 84oF water thats right at his belly right now ill keep him in till midnight its 11:41 now

 

[Flameethrower]

i was able to roll the skin up to the eyes but the eyecaps seem to be still stuck. should i just put him back to the cage and let it come off not that the skit in soften and will fall off naturally

 

[Flameethrower]

soaked him again today in warm water for 10 mins and his head skin moved a little more. eyes still wont budge.

girl i got him form said he started shedding either sun mon or tuesday so me softening it might help him better. i put him in his moist hide where hes laying on the coconut fiber. Hope this helps him out.

 

[Alusdra]

Try folding a piece of paper towel and draping it over his head like a spa treatment cloth to see if you can get the face shed loosened up. It's very unlikely it's going to come off on its own, but be gentle- around the eyes if bits get stuck the shed stays in the lids and can cause infections. He could be skittish because he can't see and he's in pain/irritated from the skin. Hopefully he'll calm down once you get that taken care of.

 

[Flameethrower]

yea im spraying his head with water bottle to keep it moist the best i can and keep doing the qtip. ill continue to do this daily till its off.

Edit i put a wet piece of paper towel on his head over eyes but he keeps it on for 2 mins then it comes off.

 

[Flameethrower]

Alright the shed on the guys eyes would never of came off by soaking. I took my time slowly pulling and the skin (with STERILE Tweezers) that was packed in keeping his eyes closed SHUT. I got the skin out of both eyes and he opened them but they look soft and wet. I'm hoping hell clean them up and get back to normal. The skin was almost like he was pinching it with his eye lids and didn't want let go at all.


This i bet will calm him down a bit. Anything i can do to his eyes like saline solution to flush them. Ill have a picture up of his eyes if he keeps them open Seems to be sensitive now to something.

 

[Flameethrower]

majority is coming off.

Day 1

Day 3 In my Care

 

[Flameethrower]

the lil guy is going into shed again. Hes been in the moist hide all morning.

 

[Flameethrower]

Tonight he ate 7 Mealies and 2 Wax worms since i got him. Hope this is his turn around point.

His eyes i beleive are GONE and their wet and milky and he barely opens them at all.

 

[Alusdra]

This guy really needs to see a vet- those eyes are probably infected and/or he has a systemic illness. Poor kiddo...

 

[Bling_my_leo]

Gosh, that poor little fella.
Good think he has you to get him well.

 

[Flameethrower]

Thanks guys hes right now Shedding again. looks to be 50% done now. and hes having such a easy time getting it off.