Leo Shedding Worries

[zandi202]

Recently my boyfriend and I first purchased a bearded dragon and then about a month later, purchased a leopard gecko. The leopard gecko has shaded twice, but is having much trouble with shedding its feet. We are currently going to try giving it a bath, but the back foot really worries me.

One of the toes is a dark brown/black color. I want to make sure that we/re not over-worrying or is we haven't done enough. The beardie is fine and has no health problems.

 

[PastelBeardie]

Stuck shed can constrict around toes and block the circulation, leading to toe loss. That shed needs to come off NOW or your leo will lose its toe, and might just lose it because of the state it's in already. You need to soak it and get that shed off, and if you don't think you can do it safely, a trip to the vet is in order.

Does your leo have a humid hide? A humid hide should prevent that problem from happening again in the future. That shed needs to come off ASAP.

 

[zandi202]

S/he does have a humid hide and they never used it until last night. Saw online a lot of people saying soak for 15-20min and use a que tip to help role it up. Give them a rest then soak and repeat until it's off. I didn't notice it until my boyfriend had his little one out. Bad parenting on our part. Thanks

 

[zandi202]

Update
So we did as suggested with baths and now that s/he started using the hide, the toe looks so mich better. There's a little shed, but we plan to work that off today.

 

[MissFirefly]

For some reason even with a humid hide some leopard geckos have issues shedding (especially their toes). You want to keep a close eye on this guy and do the baths/saunas as needed to make sure he doesn't lose any toes.

 

[zandi202]

Yup. We've been working with her toes and the one in the pic is 100% back to normal.

 

[Lindz0518]

I always will soak their toes when there is stuck shed and you can use a qtip to help get the stuck shed off.

 

[zandi202]

Yup, we've been doing that along with using that shedding spray and that combination of all three seems to have been helping.

 

[Ophiophilist]

It's not well known for some reason but vitamin a deficiency can cause shed problems in leos. One of my girls had bad sheds for years despite having a humid hide. It wasn't until I had her at the vet that I learned about the vitamin a issue. I put her on Repashy calcium plus and her sheds have improved tremendously. I swear by the stuff because apparently leos can't process a certain source of vitamin a that's usually used in herp vitamins, but the Repashy product has two sources of it.

 

[zandi202]

That's good to know. A friend of mine has leos and taught me this sauna technique that really has helped. Will look into the Repashy. I've heard great things about it.

 

[PastelBeardie]

My leos get Repashy Calcium Plus on their food, too. It's really good stuff.