New fat tail Shedding troubles

IngaDA · #1 12-02-2009, 12:07 AM

My new fat tail hasn't eaten in a week due to shedding, which is taking him a long time. just found out the chlorine in my tap water is not good for him so i switched over to bottled water. I've been keeping the temp constant and trying to do the same with the humidity. He still has tons of energy but no interest in hunting. I Just started holding him with a wet towel over top of him, he seems to enjoy it. anything else i can do to help him shed faster?

donkeykong · #2 12-02-2009, 02:22 PM

So has he started to shed skin already, or does he just look very pale and so you are assuming he is about to shed? I am just trying to figure out where you are getting the week long time frame from.

CapCitySteve · #3 12-02-2009, 02:29 PM

Yes I agree the picture you've shown doesn't appear to me that he is preshed or in the middle of shedding. As long as the gecko has a humid place to go in the enclosure shedding should only take a day maximum. Also how long have you owned him for? Often times a move can stress a gecko into not eating and you ocassionally have to "jump start" their GI tract. You can do this in several ways. by gently force feeding them, or the method I PREFER is to see if they'll lick a bit of yogurt off your finger or from a spoon, if not dab a bit on their nose and they'll lick it off. The second method is less stressful and they should start eating within a day or two of this.

IngaDA · #4 12-02-2009, 02:29 PM

its been a week and a half since he ate, last thursday his skin began coming loose, its kinda just wrinkled up in spots, mostly around his back legs, and body

IngaDA · #5 12-02-2009, 02:32 PM

he was eating every second day after i bought him, and than just up and stopped the picture does not show the skin as well as i has hoped, tried getting a better one but he won't sit still unless he's covered.

donkeykong · #6 12-02-2009, 02:56 PM

You are there and like you said sometimes pictures just dont tell the whole story. If you are doing the wet towel thing and he has a humid hide I would focus on the eating problem and just let the shed happen. My guy went over a week with out eating when we first got him. He wouldn't even acknowledge the crickets crawling on him. So i got a a cricket and held it in my fingers about an inch from his face. I took him nearly 2 minutes to strike, but once he did it was like he suddenly remembered what they were there for and started hunting down the rest of them. In hind site I would have used feeding tweezers, it didn't hurt but made me jump pretty good since he tried to take my finger with the cricket.

IngaDA · #7 12-02-2009, 03:04 PM

Put a couple new pic's up, he sat still! lol i'll try your trick with the food. and hopfully it will work. he for sure has lost weight. and i'm getting a little worried.

Lizardman · #8 12-02-2009, 03:53 PM

Do you have a moistbox/moisthide for him? If not try that.
My AFT's really like their moistboxes.

Good luck

Regards
Niclas

CapCitySteve · #9 12-03-2009, 09:24 AM

Ok I see what your talking about from the pics. Like the others above had mentioned really make sure there are plenty of humid places in the enclosure for him. They do really like to hang out in the humidity and this will help the shed. A warm bath soak will help also. And try the feeding tricks as well. After the bath you can gently rub the unshed skin and it should start to come off fairly easily once moistened.

CapCitySteve · #10 12-03-2009, 09:26 AM

Make sure your gutloading the food items as well. Chicken feed, some cat or dog food, fish food flakes, etc. I use a little vionate in the mix as well and make sure you have a supplement dish for him for the time being.