skin on toes HELP please

[grimm]

When I first got my little one s/he had skin on his/her toes from his last sheds. I tried letting s/he (not sure of sex) soak in warm water for 30 of 45 mins and used a Q-tip and it came off of two feet. But i cant get it off the front driver side foot.(left foot) Then s/he went into shed so I left if alone. Well today s/he shed and it was a ruff one. I had to peal it off my self. (and yes I have a moist hide) well it came off easily all but this foot. the skin is kind of a yellowish orange color so i put him in a bowl with paper towels soaked with warm water. And put it on top of a warm heater so the water wouldn't cold. Let it sit with s/he in it for 3 and a half hours and the skin still wont come off all the way. It came off of one toe but it took the skin off the end of the toe. And now I'm scared i don't want to hurt s/he by doing this to the other three toes. Has any body else had this problem and what did you do? HELP please:worried2:

 

[Baoh]

I put a rescue in a glass with a very shallow/fine amount of water and covered the top with Saran Wrap that had holes poked in it (and secured in place with a rubber band), allowing the gecko to soak for several hours. Then I very carefully used tweezers to remove the stuck shed, trying to "roll" the skin from proximal to distal direction (imagine pulling a rubber glove off and the glove fingers go inside-out as your fingers withdraw from the glove). This must be done very carefully so that you do not strip away any of the healthy skin beneath. It (shed) also must not be left on for too long because it strangulates the digits as it builds up, risking necrotic digit loss. Depending upon the quality of your vision, a magnyfing glass/station may help. You'll need both hands free to hold the gecko and operate the tweezers. Strong light will help your accuracy, too.

 

[Baoh]

I should add that the water should only be a few mm deep and that it should be kept in a warm area for the soaking duration. I kept the glass in my reptile room, which is warmer than the remainder of my home.

 

[grimm]

I should add that the water should only be a few mm deep and that it should be kept in a warm area for the soaking duration. I kept the glass in my reptile room, which is warmer than the remainder of my home.

I put the rubber made bowl whit top and lots of holes over the UTH in my tank that is around 32c so the water wouldn't get cold I'll try to put up some pics

 

[Baoh]

Lower it by a degree or two.

 

[Baoh]

That is a lot of build-up. Make sure to carefully tease off the skin with the tweezers as soon as the old shed is malleable/pliable enough.

Best of luck.

 

[Baoh]

In order to avoid overstressing, I would keep the container half on and half off of the UTH.

 

[Alusdra]

When it's that built up, it's not going to come off easily. But it definitely needs to come off, or your gecko will lose toes (or possibly the whole foot!) If you have tweezers, try picking off little pieces by grabbing tiny, small bits of the shed (making sure you're NOT grabbing his toes themselves) and then pick it off with sharp movements. If you do this along one edge of the toe, eventually you can remove the rest by peeling it off the remaining sides with the Q-tip method (like if you cut along the top of the plastic that wrapping paper comes in, then you can peel the rest back).

It might be wise to try to take him to a reptile vet. They can anesthetize the gecko so he doesn't struggle while taking off the stuck shed, and you might need antibiotics or for some of the toes to come off surgically if they are already dying/dead.

 

[grimm]

Well I got it off. But s/he did lose another toe and tip. it seems to be doing ok. s/he eat 4 crickets last night. I still fell bad about the toes tho.
Tanks for all the good advice