baby leopard geckos are having trouble shedding

[nihco]

Hi everyone

My baby leopard geckos are having trouble shedding. They have a humid hide available at all times, I’ve given them warm water baths, and I’ve applied Zoo Med’s Repti Shedding Aid.

However, they still have stuck shed on their heads, eyes, and toes. They are also not eating on their own, so I have to hand-feed them.

[Do you have any advice on how to help them complete the shed safely?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Welcome aboard, nihco!
Do you live in Italy?

Please share a photo and/or description of your baby leos' humid hides.
These leos should have 3 hides each.
a. What is it's warm end ground temperature =
b. What is it's middle area ground temperature =
c. What is it's cool end ground temperature =

Where in their enclosures are you keeping their humid hides?
They should have one hide at each location (warm, middle, & cool) within their enclosures
What are the dimensions of your baby leos' enclosures in centimeters?

It's vital that YOU remove stuck shed from their eyes, heads, & toes in a safe manner.

Prepare an adequate-sized plastic container with ventilation holes surrounding the top.
Then place more holes in the lids.
Dampen a medium size paper towel & place that inside a plastic container.
Gently spray inside the container.
Place each baby leo separately inside a container like that,
Close the ventilated container.
Place this container in the most humid part of it's enclosure.
After 6-12 hours remove the baby leo.
Then use a toothpick to gently lift loosened skin between the gecko's fingers.

Heat within this ventilated plastic container should rise NO higher than about 80* Fahrenheit.
80*F = 26.7 degrees celsius!

I use & strongly recommend Zoo Med brand supplements.
Are Zoo Med's supplements available where you live?
What do you use for leopard gecko vitamins & calcium with vitamin D3, so I can suggest dosages.
Good sheds also depend upon proper dosing of those ZM supplements.

 

[nihco]

Hi, thanks for your reply.
I live in Italy.

My baby leopard geckos are about 7 cm in length.
They are currently all housed together in a Zoo Med terrarium.

Setup:

• Total hides: 6 hides → 2 humid hides, 2 warm hides, 2 middle hides.
• Humid hide substrate: Sphagnum moss (always moist).
• Warm end ground temperature: 30 °C
• Middle area ground temperature: 28 °C
• Cool end ground temperature: 26 °C

At the moment, I have placed the babies together inside a plastic box with moist sphagnum moss and 3 small ventilation holes for air.

Supplements:
I am currently using Anti-Shad (please let me know if you recommend switching to Zoo Med supplements).

I also have photos of the terrarium, the hides, and the babies if that would help.

What do you suggest as the next steps to safely remove the stuck shed from their heads, eyes, and toes?


Thanks again for your help!

 

[nihco]

other photo

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Reply #1:

I'm having my 2nd cataract operation early next week. I will NOT have laptop or other online access from this coming Sunday through Wednesday!!!


The circle thermometer in your picture seems to be an ANALOG thermometer. Analog thermometers are often very inaccurate!

In 2023 I bought Zoo Med's Digital Combo Thermometer / Humidity Gauge. It's item # = TH-31.
Please get one of those RIGHT AWAY.

Their enclosure is EXTREMELY bare & way too tall to provide adequate heat!
Their enclosure needs cage furniture (logs, places to climb, secure, & much bigger places to hide), night & day.

I see an uncovered humid hide filled with moss & plugged into something.
What is it plugged into?
Are you depending upon that one alone (or multiple ones) to heat the vivarium?
Does their terrarium have a vented mesh-type lid covering the whole thing?
The box of moss needs to have some type of lid with holes.
With no lid covering the moss, the moss quickly dries out.

These geckos need an incandescent bulb for basking.
Only get the wattage you need to adequately heat the warm end during days, nothing higher.
That's called a warm end.
There should be a temperature gradient from the warm end to the cool end from left to right.
Maximum = 92ish Fahrenheit during the day. 92 F = 33.3 *Celsius days
Minimum = 70ish F (21.1ish C) nights

I strongly recommend changing to the following Zoo Med's multivitamins & supplements:
Zoo Med's Repti Calcium with D3 -- dust their bugs/worms 2x per week with that
Zoo Med's Repti Calcium withOUT D3 (plain calcium carbonate)
Zoo Med's Reptivite Multivitamins withOUT D3 -- use at 1 feeding per week

***** What are the centimeter dimensions of this terrarium: length x width x height?
You'll need an automatic timer to turn the bulb off at night -- 12 hours on/ 12 hours off.

***** Since you're handfeeding these baby leos, also order a 2 ounce package Pangea-brand Gecko Diet with Insects. Mix this powdered diet with water to feeding consistency. Feed this Pangea-brand Gecko Diet with Insects to provide nourishment for your leos!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

E M E R G E N C Y! ~~ Reply #2:

Can someone in Italy help you out?
This is a lot to manage when English is not your native language!

***** 1. I strongly recommend changing to Zoo Med's multivitamins & supplements.
There is more information on your thread.

***** 2. Please buy a short (not TALL) vivarium & Zoo Med's 'Digital' Combo Thermometer/Humidity Gauge (#TH-31) for these baby leos right away!

***** 3. Poor shedding can also result from incorrect supplementation!

Your leos' terrarium is way too tall for them.
You've mentioned they won't eat on their own.
There's no way to suitably warm up that HUGE air space unless you fill about half the height with substrate!
Their bodies & tails are shrinking.
They suffer from failure-to-thrive.

As mentioned I'm very concerned about your small leos.

 

[GeckoFanboy]

You definitely need work on your tank layout and husbandry issues. Tank looks really bare. And it's way too big.

For starters, your gecko looks way too thin and underfed. Aside from proper moisture, if they're not healthy, they won't shed properly. Do NOT feed your bugs the bug food that is sold in pet stores. Most of it is garbage. Gut load the bugs with an assortment of apple, carrot, blackberries, kale, collard green, papaya, sweet potato, and green beans, then dust the bugs with Zoo Med's ReptiCalcium (w/D3) and Reptivite, and feed it to the gecko the next day. Don't forget the dusting or your gecko will end up with MBD. You need to fatten the poor thing up. He's looking anorexic.

Your gecko is probably not eating right because of his tank temps. You have a cold-blooded animal. His health and life depends on you keeping his temps perfect. Cold will hurt him. Get his temps fixed ASAP. Buy a point and click thermometer, and check the temps on the floor of the tank. You should have an Under Tank Heater pad (UTH), and you'll need a thermostat as well to maintain the tank floor temp. Your tank floor should be 33.3° C under the warm and moist hides. Your gecko needs this floor temp to help him digest food properly lying on his belly on the floor.

Also, are you handling them too much? They stress and won't eat when over-handled. Leave them alone for now, other than to do daily tank maintenance, moisten the moist hide once a day, and offer them food. If they are juveniles, you can offer them food every day. Meal worms are measly food, IMHO. I never feed them to my gecko anymore. Try crickets and dubia roaches, they can hold more fruit and veggies in their gut, and will be way more nutritious for your gecko.

Let my tank layout inspire you...warm hide (left), moist hide (middle)...both these hides have the UTH under the tank warming them up. Cool hide (right, UTH shouldn't come anywhere near this hide). If your home is cool, and the ambient tank temp is cool (the air), you will need something to warm it up. You can do this with a dome light, a dimmer (to adjust the temp), and a timer. I have one sitting on my lid here (right side).

Good luck and always come back to ask questions when in doubt.
This forum has saved alot of geckos lives.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Thanks so much for your feedback to this thread, GeckoFanBoy!
Along with regular dusting with Zoo Med's ReptiCalcium with D3, do you additionally dust with Zoo Med's Reptivite Multivitamins with or without D3?

 

[GeckoFanboy]

Thanks so much for your feedback to this thread, GeckoFanBoy!
Along with regular dusting with Zoo Med's ReptiCalcium with D3, do you additionally dust with Zoo Med's Reptivite Multivitamins with or without D3?

I always mix the powders together - 3 parts calcium powder and 1 part Reptivite, as I don't want to overdose vitamins. It ends up being about 1 teaspoon of powder in the baggie...so three 1/4 teaspoons of calcium and one 1/4 teaspoon of Reptivite. And I actually use the Reptivite with the D3. My logic is if I was dumping more calcium (with D3) into the bag, it's no different then adding the Reptivite with the D3. I'll use that dust baggie mix around 3 feedings and then throw it out because it's got bug parts and fecal matter from the bugs in it. I like my powders clean for my Scooby! So far, so good.

I did have issues with Repashy's calcium powder years ago, and of course I was using store bought bug food back then too (Repashy and Fluker's), and not feeding my bugs enough fruits and veggies. Scooby ended up with leg temors, and it wasn't til I cut these out AND got him his UV light that it cleared up. He's a healthy boy now!