Dragondrool
New member
Crestie choking on his shed!
UPDATE: I was worried and went up to look at him. I picked him up to wash the dirt off and he started squealing and then opened his mouth and started shaking rapidly. I rushed him to the sink and ran some warm water on his mouth and rubbed the dirt out. He shook his head more and started coughing. A giant lump of his shed was in his mouth/throat and I gently took it out. I sat with him near a heater with him in my shirt and I watched him for 30 minutes. He's okay now that I can see and has calmed down. I placed a damp paper towel on the bottom of his cage so if he sheds again tonight he won't eat the dirt as he tries to eat his skin.
I've been into reptiles for a long time so I know how to take care of them but I'm still a "newbie" in the sense that I haven't /owned/ a lot of reptiles. Information only goes so far until you actually get a pet. That's a different knowledge.
Anyways I just got a new crested gecko, his name is Talos. I got him from Reptile Rapture in hopes to give myself a better feeling towards that gecko species since my first one ended horribly (I was ignorant and bought a sick baby gecko from the petstore. I did all I could but I still felt responsible for its death). He's an adult and it very beautiful, he's got a frog butt which I don't mind. He's got a nice personality. I was really worried at first because he wasn't eating for a week but he drank water and moves around a lot. A few days ago I saw that he was eating and had a bowel movement, so he's doing okay.
He started his first shed (with me) a day ago. I was shocked but excited because I'd never seen a crestie shed or experienced it. I make sure that I give him an extra mist on the soil so that he can shed easier. But he's having a bad shed and his mouth is open. I've never seen that before, yesterday when I found him on the ground he had a big mouthful of dirt and his mouth was parted. I didn't touch him but I did monitor that for the night. Today he's still got dirt in his mouth and his shedding is slow. I'm not too worried about his shedding because he's practically done (my leopard gecko sheds pretty fast) but if that's a concerning sign please tell me (I always wash my reptile's toes to get the excess skin off).
But what puts me off is his open mouth of dirt. I'm not a reptile behaviorist so I don't know if he's doing that on purpose or accident, or if he's stressed. He's not fired up. He's never done this before, his mouth is always closed so I don't think it's a MDB, but I can still get it checked out if he doesn't stop. What I'm going to do is wash his mouth to get the dirt out, is that a good idea? Any advice?
UPDATE: I was worried and went up to look at him. I picked him up to wash the dirt off and he started squealing and then opened his mouth and started shaking rapidly. I rushed him to the sink and ran some warm water on his mouth and rubbed the dirt out. He shook his head more and started coughing. A giant lump of his shed was in his mouth/throat and I gently took it out. I sat with him near a heater with him in my shirt and I watched him for 30 minutes. He's okay now that I can see and has calmed down. I placed a damp paper towel on the bottom of his cage so if he sheds again tonight he won't eat the dirt as he tries to eat his skin.
I've been into reptiles for a long time so I know how to take care of them but I'm still a "newbie" in the sense that I haven't /owned/ a lot of reptiles. Information only goes so far until you actually get a pet. That's a different knowledge.
Anyways I just got a new crested gecko, his name is Talos. I got him from Reptile Rapture in hopes to give myself a better feeling towards that gecko species since my first one ended horribly (I was ignorant and bought a sick baby gecko from the petstore. I did all I could but I still felt responsible for its death). He's an adult and it very beautiful, he's got a frog butt which I don't mind. He's got a nice personality. I was really worried at first because he wasn't eating for a week but he drank water and moves around a lot. A few days ago I saw that he was eating and had a bowel movement, so he's doing okay.
He started his first shed (with me) a day ago. I was shocked but excited because I'd never seen a crestie shed or experienced it. I make sure that I give him an extra mist on the soil so that he can shed easier. But he's having a bad shed and his mouth is open. I've never seen that before, yesterday when I found him on the ground he had a big mouthful of dirt and his mouth was parted. I didn't touch him but I did monitor that for the night. Today he's still got dirt in his mouth and his shedding is slow. I'm not too worried about his shedding because he's practically done (my leopard gecko sheds pretty fast) but if that's a concerning sign please tell me (I always wash my reptile's toes to get the excess skin off).
But what puts me off is his open mouth of dirt. I'm not a reptile behaviorist so I don't know if he's doing that on purpose or accident, or if he's stressed. He's not fired up. He's never done this before, his mouth is always closed so I don't think it's a MDB, but I can still get it checked out if he doesn't stop. What I'm going to do is wash his mouth to get the dirt out, is that a good idea? Any advice?
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