Suddenly pale Leopard Gecko, not shed

[Cosmini37]

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Almost two months ago I brought home a 2 year old, male leo. He's an albino tremper morph. He's been doing really well, and we've been super happy with him. The problem is about a week ago I noticed his colours becoming (very) dull (I've booked an appointment with a vet to do parasite tests just to be safe, but that will only be next week). Apart from his colour dulling there are no problems it seems, he passes healthy stools regularly, he's very alert and great at hunting his food (as well a very interested in it), he moves with ease and is happy to explore in and out of his tank. He likes to bask under his Deep Heat Projector (Arcadia) in the evenings and is now comfortable enough to fall asleep when we're in the room. I can't imagine it's shedding because the one time he previously shed he was completely done within a day and there was not a speck of skin left on him after - I've changed nothing about his husbandry since and his dull skin seems to be an ongoing issue (more than a week now!)

He gets fed every 3 days, and for the most part he gets Locusts or Dubias, or the occasional mealworm. Mostly I dust his food with EarthProA (Arcadia), and every two weeks "Revitalise D3" (Arcadia). When we got him he was a little skinny (54g) and since then he's become a healthy 63g and has levelled out there it seems. He also has a little cap of CalciumMg (Arcadia) in his enclosure at all times. I use EarthMixArid (Arcadia) as substrate and he is in a 32g tank. His basking zone is around 31-32C (which is slate), his warm hide is around 28C, and his cold hide is at 22-24C. He has a Deep Heat Projector (on 24/7) and an Arcadia Shadedweller 6/7% UV lamp that is on around 8 hours a day on a timer.

We really aren't sure what it could be or if we're doing something wrong! Any comments or suggestions are appreciated as we're very worried that it could be something serious. (And again, we will be taking him to the vet next week!)

Thanks so much, and if anyone needs any pictures let me know!

[acpart]

Welcome! A vet visit never hurts. One thing to discuss with the vet is whether he's getting too much calcium (I stopped leaving calcium in the enclosure in 2009) and too much heat (I'm assuming you're using the emitter and the bulbs instead of an under tank heater, and that may be fine given the substrate but I worry sometimes about ending up with super low humidity and dehydrating the gecko). None of this explains why his color is duller, though I've produced hatchlings that were pretty vibrant when young and then got duller when they matured.

Aliza

[Cosmini37]

Welcome! A vet visit never hurts. One thing to discuss with the vet is whether he's getting too much calcium (I stopped leaving calcium in the enclosure in 2009) and too much heat (I'm assuming you're using the emitter and the bulbs instead of an under tank heater, and that may be fine given the substrate but I worry sometimes about ending up with super low humidity and dehydrating the gecko). None of this explains why his color is duller, though I've produced hatchlings that were pretty vibrant when young and then got duller when they matured.

Aliza

Thanks for your response!

We woke up this morning and found some shed in his enclosure and his colours are bright again, seems like it was shedding after all! Didn't know it could take this long? Do you have any experience with sheds nearly taking a week? Or what could cause this? Particularly confusing as he seems to have shed perfectly, no evidence of it on his body whatsoever!

I've also taken your advice and removed the calcium dish from his tank for the time being! Thanks for the tip!

[acpart]

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Sometimes the shed starts slow and they look frosted for a few days. I don't know why.

Aliza