my husband and i own three leopards and a beardie already so i hesitated on this one. i wish i hadn't. a month ago i saw a little orange leopard gecko at a chain pet store that was going through a rough shed. it was extremely dried out and she didn't look too happy. i passed her up with the thought in mind that i already had 3 at home and someone else deserved her as a companion. two days ago we went back, after not having been there for about two weeks ( the last time we checked on her and she still had the skin on her head and toes) and she was still there. her tail was thinner and she looked awful. the skin still hadn't come off her head. it's over one eye and the other side has a little slit that she sees out of. shes also missing toes now from this shed. i had to bring her home. we set her up in the cage our juvies grew out of and gave her a moist hide. i gave her a bath before i put her in there and i've been misting her. i got her to eat a cricket and two wax worms tonight using tongs and squishing their heads off so she didn't have to chase them. i think she's been starving from her poor eyesight with the skin there. she seems calm if you approach her on the side she can see out of. is there anything else i can do to help her get the skin off her head? i was gentle and got a bit off her feet but i'm scared to get near her eyes. it's one big piece and i'm afraid if i roll it back, even if it's wet, it may damage her possibly already damaged eyes. thanks in advance.
rescue baby.
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Ozy
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I would take her to the vet ASAP to get that shed off her eyes. You are 100% right in NOT taking the shed off her eyes yourself! It needs to be done in a sterile environment. If someone here tells you to just take the skin off from around her eyes yourself, they are WRONG. Her eyes are most likely damaged enough already, without a non-professional poking around on them with unsterilized utensils.
EDIT - Just so there is no confusion I remove shed off my leo's legs or feet if it is needed. She has a humid hide which is kept moist at all times with eco-earth. For some reason the last 2 sheds, she has still had like a little "skin glove" on her right leg that went up to her elbow. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting shed off of their back and legs and such on your own. But I would NEVER EVER EVER try to take shed off of my leo's eyes myself. One little squirm and you could poke your leo's eye out! Not to mention it is VERY unsanitary. Luckily this has never happened to Ozy. She rarely has shed left on her. This edit wasn't directed at you by the way. It's for ignorant people that say, "Oh go ahead and soak her and use a q-tip and tweezers and take the skin off her eyes." THAT'S HOW YOUR LEO GETS AN EYE INFECTION!
EDIT - Just so there is no confusion I remove shed off my leo's legs or feet if it is needed. She has a humid hide which is kept moist at all times with eco-earth. For some reason the last 2 sheds, she has still had like a little "skin glove" on her right leg that went up to her elbow. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting shed off of their back and legs and such on your own. But I would NEVER EVER EVER try to take shed off of my leo's eyes myself. One little squirm and you could poke your leo's eye out! Not to mention it is VERY unsanitary. Luckily this has never happened to Ozy. She rarely has shed left on her. This edit wasn't directed at you by the way. It's for ignorant people that say, "Oh go ahead and soak her and use a q-tip and tweezers and take the skin off her eyes." THAT'S HOW YOUR LEO GETS AN EYE INFECTION!
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sausage
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If its something like the whole head cap its easy to remove just like the legs ect but I agree with Sara, never attempt to remove smaller bits like the eye lids its defo to risky. if there is skin in the eyes it better to take vet.
it's a full head cap i think. it starts right in front of her ears and covers her from there to the tip of her nose, including the eyes.it's not just small pieces over her eyes. it just seems really stuck to her head. she got the bit off her chin herself last night in the moist hide. i've never had experience with a bad shed since mine always have access to moist moss when i see them start shedding. is it still a bad idea to attempt it since its a cap? even with like a wet qtip?
Ozy
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Just don't go anywhere NEAR her eyes and if it looks like it is hanging up on or around her eyes then just stop and take her to the vet. Don't even try to GENTLY take it off her eyes. So you can try it, but like I said, if it gets stuck around her eyes, stop messing with it and take her to the vet.
i got it off of one eye pretty easily but the other one, the eye that i think might be damaged under there, the skin came off a little but it's pretty stuck so i put her back in the moist hide. our vet only treats rabbits dogs and cats and i've been looking for a herp vet around here and can't find one. petco said if i bring her in they can have one of their vets look at her since its within the 15 day thing but i don't know if i trust them. :/
DrCarrotTail
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I would try soaking her in warm water 2x a day for 10 minutes. Sometimes repeated soaks can loosen the retained shed so the gecko can get it off herself. I would also get her to the vet ASAP. There could be issues other than poor care that caused her not to thrive in the pet store. If possible I would bring a fecal sample with you to the vet when you go.
i soaked her again and it peeled easily off the rest of her face with a qtip. been soaking her toes as you can see but i'm being very careful seeing as some are missing. i'm going to do it over the course of a few days to keep her stress low as possible. her eyes are both okay and open wide! she also ate 2 mealies a cricket and 2 waxworms and pooped solid healthy poop today. thanks so much for the advice. 
Ozy
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Aww! YAY! I bet she's feeling much better already!
here she is today. i gotta work on her little feet tonight but other than that her eyes look great. she's not so nervous now that she can actually see what's happening to her. i wish i had taken before pictures so you could have seen how dry the skin had been and how it was capped over, but i like her better like this.
she's not so nervous now that she can actually see what's happening to her. i wish i had taken before pictures so you could have seen how dry the skin had been and how it was capped over, but i like her better like this.
Ozy
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Poor little thing! SO glad you decided to get her! I HATE how people just let leopard geckos (and other reptiles) suffer. It makes me SO mad.
sausage
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well done , the toes are starting to go black from lack of circulation so the sooner the toe skin comes off the better but good job she looks good.
some times a little stress while you tweezer her feet off is better then loosing the toes as thats really painful.
dose she have a mouth problem too? its just that the first pic of the head she seems to have an uneven upper jaw line.
, the toes are starting to go black from lack of circulation so the sooner the toe skin comes off the better but good job she looks good.some times a little stress while you tweezer her feet off is better then loosing the toes as thats really painful.
dose she have a mouth problem too? its just that the first pic of the head she seems to have an uneven upper jaw line.
are you sure? i mean i've read about it but she doesn't act like her mouth hurts her and she eats normal. she did still have a piece of skin attached to one side of her mouth but i'm not sure what side it was on when i took that picture. and it doesn't seem swollen it just looks normal to me when i look at her now. but i'm not a mouth rot expert ofcourse. LOL. just going off of what i read.
Ozy
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Yea her upper jaw DOES look uneven in all of the pics. I would say good idea on taking her to the vet just to make sure she has a clean bill of health.
Its hard to be sure from a picture but it appears (to me) that on the side of its mouth between its nose and its eye there is a spot that looks like the start of mouth rot. The jaws should have a nice tight fit all the way around and it looks like its lifted up in that area. The front of the snout looks odd to me (slight under bight) but I am by no means a vet. All I can say is that if it is mouth rot, the sooner its addressed the better.
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