Shedding

[Jolenels]

My gecko is about a year and a half now and she tends to shed twice a month. When she is shedding she is always rubbing against the limp fake plants or the entrance to her hut. We used to have a moist and a dry hut but she never used the moist one, instead she lays in her water dish occasionally. So now it's just the dry hut. Is there anything I can put in her tank to rub against that will help the process but will not be dangerous for her? We are in the process of gathering things to upgrade her habitat to a larger one so space won't be a big issue once we have the new one up and running. TIA

 

[Josh2]

I'd just continue to make the moist hide available. You could also try misting her enclosure a bit to loosen up that shed skin...

 

[scm133]

I have a wood Habba Hut in each tub, along with a moist hide. I always find pieces of shed stuck to the HUT.

 

[Jolenels]

yea, she tends to leave bits of it stuck around the hut entrance to snack on later lol. My dog is terrified of her when she sheds, and he sits on the couch...tucked down so just his eyes peep over the edge...and growls at the terrarium. And since it takes her two days or more to completely shed it makes for an annoying couple days haha. I was just wondering if there was something to speed it along

 

[Geckomaster743]

Allowing the cage to get some what humid ( You can mist it a little, but not too much ) will help make the shed skin become softer and easier to rip off. If you use a sun dome/sun lamp to give your gecko heat usually the skin dries out and becomes crust and hard making it harder to rip off as a whole piece. After 3 days if she hasn't gotten all the shed off give her a bath ( A small container but make sure she can stand in it, You don't want to drown her + Leopard Geckos don't swim ) So maybe less then an inch of water. Then you can use tweezers or your hands ( Make sure to use soap after, The shed is dirty ) to peel off the shed. Make sure to not peel off to hard because you don't want to hurt the leopard gecko. By the way if you don't take off shed it can result in the loss of body parts, I had a leopard gecko who had shed on a finger and I didnt know because it over time blended in with his skin, though I noticed months later and peeled off and a lot of his finger had become narcotic and died. He's alive though but he has 4 fingers on a hand. I always make sure to give good shed baths now and it really helps. ( My gecko is doing a lot better though! )

 

[Jolenels]

We used to use a dome lamp and an UTH, we were told we had too. But her lamp went kaput last week and she has just been using the UTH and she seems fine, so I haven't rushed out to get one yet. I will want one when she is in a bigger tank because there will be so much more room, but she's just in a 10g. Her sheds usually end after two days. I'm worried to have to help her shed as I figure she will freak and thrash, so I'm lucky that so far she has been able to do it all herself. Her toes and under her tail always seem to be last to go. She will drag her feet and bite at her own tail to get it all off. It just looks like such a long and tedious procedure lol. She gives herself gecko baths in her water dish...I keep is shallow for that purpose

 

[scm133]

She will do a lot better in a bigger enclosure. IMO...a 10 gallon is way too small. You just can't get the temp gradient, which is important for them. The dome light and UTH was probably too much for a 10 gallon.

 

[Jolenels]

Thats why, as I mentioned, we are putting together a bigger tank . We were told a 10g was all she would ever need so we set it up when she wassmall but once she was grown we decided she needed way more room.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Thats why, as I mentioned, we are putting together a bigger tank . We were told a 10g was all she would ever need so we set it up when she was small but once she was grown we decided she needed way more room.

I agree with Gulf, 10 Gallons are more of a minimum, I have 4 geckos and one 20 Gallon tank, The rest are 10's. If a gecko is juvenile, or still really young 10 gallons is plenty but an adult can easily run out of space.