Crested gecko - shed stuck on toes *A little update*

[Chickerdoodle13]

I've had my crested for about two years now. I've notice for the past week she has been on the bottom of the cage and today I realized she seems to have some shed stuck to her front toes and can't stick to the cage very well. Her back toes had a bit of shed hanging off, but most of it has come off.

I was a little concerned because she hasn't been eating much lately. I though it was because she was cold (just moved home from college and parents keep house temp at around 60 degrees) I went out and bought a new tall cage with a day time and night time heat lamp. I figured it would take about a week for her to get used to the new surroundings, but she's always been pretty calm about things as far as geckos go. I keep the top of the cage at about 75-80 and the lower part is much cooler at about room temp. I also spray her cage at night before bed. She did eat a little the other day and ate a bit when I was holding her to check out her feet.

Is there anything I should do to help get that shed off? I'm guessing she shed the rest when I wasn't around. Will it just fall off eventually?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

I've never had a crested, but when my little Leo girl Kalani came home, there was leftover skin on almost all of her toes (and some were missing). So I was told to put her in a container with warm, wet sphagnum moss for 5 minutes them peel it off, or someone on BYC suggest getting the reptile selling/shipping containers with air holes and putting her in it overnight. I did it with a large container with an air hole and lots of moist moss.

However, I DON'T know if you can do this for cresteds.

I hope someone more knowledgeable about them comes along.

 

[Stacykins]

I'd suggest starting treatment with Metronidazole as soon as you can get the stuff. Going off food is a big sign of Entameoba invadens and isn't something to take lightly. And unfortunately, it is very lethal if not treated, and a pretty common pathogen of cresties. All it takes is a stressful situation, and it can get the best of the gecko very quickly, since their immune system is not functioning at 100%. You can mix the metro into the crested gecko diet to make homemade e fix (since I stopped keeping cresties, it seems that metronindazole isn't sold premixed in CGD as it used to be, shame). If you buy it from Pangea, the metro comes with proper crestie dosing instructions.

In addition, at start of treatment and during, you have to totally disinfect everything to prevent reinfection.

Stuck shed can be the result of low humidity, and also stress (like from moving, infection, being too warm or too chilled, etc.). I'd suggest since it is so darned dry, upping the misting to twice a day. Don't saturate, the cage has to dry between sprayings to stop mold from building up. Also, you can make a 'humid hut' for your crestie. I used to use a plastic ice cream pail with a hole cut in the top or side (so they can go in and out), and filled it lightly damp coconut coir. They'd often hang out in it. And to treat the immediate stuck shed, you can do a 'gecko sauna'. Moisten a paper towel with warm water, put that in the bottom of a container like a tupperware (lid has to have air holes), and pop in the crestie. This creates a very humid environment that they have to stand in. Keep the crestie with you for fifteen minutes or so, then check on the stuck shed on the toes. Try and use a q-tip to gently work off the now moistened stuck on skin. You can always pop the gecko back into the tupperware for another sauna go. Just don't leave them unattended, and don't let them get too chilled, too.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
Thanks for the info!

I did a bit of research on Entameoba invadens and I don't think she has that, but I will continue to research and will look into Metronidazole. Is that something I can give even if she has no signs or symptoms? If so, how much would I mix in? And for how long? She's actually quite hefty still and poops regularly. She's done three this week alone since I changed her cage last monday and it looks normal. The bottom of the cage needs to be cleaned and I will probably do that tomorrow. I didn't want to disturb her too much while she was getting used to her cage. It has been very dry though, so I will mist the cage a second time per day. I have a difficult time getting the humidity up and my water dish and food bowls have been drying up like crazy.

I will try the sauna tomorrow while I am cleaning her cage. She did eat some food two nights ago. Usually, I can tell from the lick marks on the dish. I want to say she went through a similar thing last winter, but I can't really remember. Sometimes she eats like a pig and then other times she won't eat anything for a while. When the temp was cold I noticed she was very sluggish and now her body feels nice and warm (Not overly warm, but summer time warm). I'm hoping that she will start eating again in the next couple of days, especially after I am able to get the shed off her feet.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I just cleaned her cage and have her sitting in a container with a warm, wet paper towel. I figure if I can fix her up tonight she can at least enjoy some climbing!

I will probably put in an order for the medicine tomorrow morning.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Another quick update:

I couldn't get much off her the first time, so I re wet some paper towels and was able to pull some of the skin off about four of five toes with tweezers. She was starting to lose steam and get a bit too stressed (she does NOT like me messing with her toes) so I put her back in her cage. Tomorrow I will try some more paper towels. I'm having the most trouble with the front toes. The back ones look pretty good now.

While I had her out, she did another big huge poop, so she must be eating something, even if its just a little and I am not noticing it.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Yesterday was pretty warm so I left the lights in her tank off most of the day. The other day I was FINALLY able to get all the shed off her toes after a bath. However, she was still hiding in her little house at the bottom of the cage and wouldn't eat. I did get her to eat some food off the end of a toothpick two nights ago. Last night was a little crazy at my house because we had a chimney fire, but I had grabbed her tank on the way out and we loaded all the animals in the car because the house filled up with smoke.

I did notice she was out of her cave though when I brought her outside. When we brought her back in, I turned on the cage light to warm things up a bit and she went back to the cave. So I tried turning the light back off and last night she was all over her cage and ate a bunch of food.

Now I'm wondering if the heat lamp is just too much for her. I use a daytime bulb and an infared night time bulb and the temp at the top stays around 75ish, give or take a little. At the bottom, the cage is a little warmer than room temp. I have an adjustable lamp stand so I just move it higher or lower to change the temp a bit. The temp in our house is about 60.

I think I'll leave the light off for a bit and see what happens. I'm just thrilled she ate so much and is climbing again!

 

[PotterWatch]

I noticed last night that one of my leos has some stuck skin on his toes. He doesn't shed very often anymore as he is pretty much full grown, it's usually our female that has shedding issues. I'll try putting him in a container with damp moss tonight and see if I can help him out a little. The hide we put moss in for our female, he doesn't use much so he doesn't get the benefit of that moisture I guess.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
Yeah, try that and it should work. I used Q-tips to rub off the extra skin after soaking her. If you really need something extra, try putting a paper towel in a little container and a little water at the bottom for the leo to stand in. Then keep him with you for fifteen minutes in the container and try to remove the shed. I used a throw away plastic tupperware without any holes in the lid to keep in the moisture and it did the trick. As long as you only keep the lizard in it for 15 minutes, they have plenty of air with a closed lid.

 

[PotterWatch]

It should be interesting. Our leos are not happy being held. Hopefully it won't stress him out too much.