Bad stuck shed

[MistyMeadow3]

Today i bought an adult male crested gecko. what i didn't see till after i bought him was that he has balls of stuck shed hanging on the ends of his toes. EWWW. its mostly soft and i can pick some off but one has hardened around his toenail. Please help me!

 

[Hilde]

Today i bought an adult male crested gecko.

I've moved this from the Leopard Geckos - Health & Diseases sub-forum, to make sure you get crested gecko specific info.

 

[TacoMageCat]

Okay, don't panic but, this can be REALLY bad. If shedding gets stuck and your gecko can't get it off, this can cause lack of bloodflow {Relate to wrapping a string tightly around your finger and it turning purple} which in turn could make the toe DIE and FALL OFF. You must carefully help your gecko get that bit of molt off. If you cannot get it off, try asking someone else that is experienced and full of gecko knowledge for help. I hope I helped!

 

[MistyMeadow3]

Okay, but HOW do i help him molt it off? i saw some things about soaking his feet in a bit of lukewarm water to loosen it...

 

[TacoMageCat]

Well, try this.

Well, I'm not quite sure besides sticking the foot in your gecko's face to see if it tries to pull the molt off, or you can just Google it to see. If your don't find anything very helpful, try the lukewarm water on its toe and then attempt to carefully get the molt off. I hope that this works.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Put him in a luke warm soak, water CANNOT BE OVER 80*F, and let him soak for about 15 minutes. Then gently try to pull or scrape it off with your fingernail.

 

[MistyMeadow3]

i will try. see, its not just something he's gonna pull off. its a rock hard nugget of probably months worth of bad sheds. the people i bought him from kept him at 72 and didn't seem to supplement and i was stupid and didn't check his toes.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Crested gecko ideal temperatures are between 68-78*. 72-75 is usually the normal room temperature ranges and humidity needs to be around 90% at each misting and dry out to around 50-60%.

 

[rokagecko]

Soak him in warm water for a while then use a wet q-tip and rub his feet and try and get it off. If not buy some shed ease or all natural coconut oil and use that to loosen the shed

 

[Yoshi'smom]

As other's have said, it's important to help him remove the shed on his toes as soon as possible. If the shed remains, it can damage your geckos toes/nails.
I would get an extra old Tupperware container, punch some holes in it, line it with paper towels and spray it down with room temperature water. Put your gecko in and close the lid. This creates a humidity chamber that will help to loosen the stuck shed. After about 10 minuets or so, you can take out your gecko and help to remove the shed.
As Jess said, ideal temperatures for this species is about 72-75F so no additional heating is necessary if you're reaching those temperatures. It's the humidity that is especially important as it's what helps your gecko shed properly and so you won't have this issue again.
You'll want to mist your enclosure once in the morning, lightly and once again at night but a little heavier. This should help the humidity for your gecko.

 

[Aimless]

wait a minute, is it ONLY on his toenail? the little claw at the end of his toe? if so, correct husbandry and it will take care of itself. personally, if it's not on his actual toe, I wouldn't use aggressive and/or stressful methods to remove it.

 

[MistyMeadow3]

Some are just the claw, some are also the toe. i was able to remove a good deal yesterday by soaking him and picking at it, i'll do it again tomorrow. thank you all!