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What seems to be a rough shed on a baby crested's arm

Posted By:

Seth

So Friday I pulled out a very small crested gecko I own, only as long as my index finger. It seems fine, prefectly healthy so I move on and inspect my other reptiles. Then, tonight (Tuesday) I check on it and it appears it has had a rough shed. Another one of my geckos had this happen on his tail and he would up loosing half of it. If this really is a rough shed, and it's on the baby's arm I am certain it won't survive. Any suggestions? Or is it a rough shed at all? Am I just totally out of it?


Points:	150
Topics:	Skin , Limbs
Tags:	Ciliatus, Gecko, Rhacodactylus, Shedding
Species:	Lizards > Geckos > Correlophus ciliatus
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Author Comment

3/30/2010 11:41:45 PM

Seth

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp191/Sethshark/002-2.jpg Didn't take the image I selected, so there's the baby mentioned. A detail that slipped my mind (all this has me very flustered) is that as best as I can tell he's already had a rough shed on his other arm, making it shriveled and black.

Assisted Answer

3/31/2010 1:29:00 AM

Saille

Please get that little crestie to a vet ASAP. What is the set up/humidity/diet of this little guy? Try www.herpvetconnection.com to get an exotics/reptile vet near you. Scroll to the bottom of the page and find your state, that arm looks really far gone! :(

Author Comment

3/31/2010 1:44:39 AM

Seth

Thank you for that site, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find a vet near here. It's in a five gallon tank at the time being. It's no bigger than my index finger and I've heard that in enclosures too large babies could have a hard time finding food. I mist it twice a day, once in the morning and again at night. As I mentioned another one of my geckos lost a bit of his tail to a rough shed so I was trying to prevent it among all my geckos. He eats only CDF mixed with occasional peach baby food.

Assisted Answer

3/31/2010 2:06:21 AM

Kitishane

Another resource I would reccommend you look into is www.pangeareptile.com/forums/index.php. You'll find some very knowledgable Rhacodactylus keepers there, and they may be able to help you figure this out.

Assisted Answer

3/31/2010 3:19:05 AM

Saille

Hey there, CGD should be mixed with water and not babyfood. Babyfood can throw off the nutritional content of the diet and creat issues such as MBD over time! I would recommend only mixing with water from here on out. Kitishane posted a good resource for Cresties, post your pics there and hopefully someone can give you more insight as to what may be happening with these weird constricting sheds on your baby's arms! I would defintiely call the vet too though, as that left arm looks like its going to completely come off. Best of luck with that poor baby, I hope it can be saved!

Member Comment

3/31/2010 7:13:51 AM

abi21491

I keep my baby crested enclosures very humid to prevent shed problems. I keep mine in small plastic salad containers (I eat a lot of salad, and they are the perfect size!). Get the humidity up for the little guy. His arm looks like it might be too late, but maybe you can save it.

Accepted Answer

3/31/2010 7:57:41 AM

Krestie Kate

His left arm also looks puffy. He needs to be given saunas as often as possible to get that off before he looses the arm. Get it wet and start peeling it back with a q-tip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSuirE906p0

Assisted Answer

3/31/2010 4:38:11 PM

Sparkle

I had that same exact thing happen to one of mine; the limb puffed up and looked just like that. The video above is GREAT and I followed her instructions and was able to gently pick the ring of stuck shed off after her "bath". Her arm is just fine now. The other arm looks really bad though; I'd work as quickly as possible to save the left arm. I can see a 3-legged gecko being able to get around okay, but if it ends up losing both arms you may need to hand-feed it for the rest of its life.

Member Comment

3/31/2010 5:20:30 PM

Aimee

I also think he needs to see a vet ASAP! the arm that is already shriveled is also swollen and puffy. many of his toes look atrophied, as well. aside from loss of limb, infection appears to be a very real concern too!!

Member Comment

3/31/2010 10:11:04 PM

Krestie Kate

I also see some necrosis on the back left toes. Your gecko needs some real help.

Member Comment

4/1/2010 9:01:20 PM

Krestie Kate

Any updates?

Member Comment

4/5/2010 3:55:02 AM

Kitishane

I'd also like an update, if there is one available. I haven't been able to get this little one out of my mind since I read this.

Member Comment

4/6/2010 2:36:51 AM

Nitram

hope he took him to the vet

Member Comment

4/9/2010 1:54:08 AM

Kitishane

I see that Seth has been online today, but has not yet given us an update. I can only hope that this is because he's trying to write an informative post, and not avoiding giving us bad news about the gecko.

Member Comment

4/9/2010 8:33:03 AM

Krestie Kate

I've been assumeing the worst for a few days now.

Member Comment

4/10/2010 12:23:38 PM

Aimee

it's hard when you make bad or ignorant choices about animals, to come back and talk about it. perhaps he is worried about getting a lecture or recriminations...I lost a snake about a year ago. I can't tell you how embarrassed I was/still am. I"ve seen this with a lot of others, too...you're afraid to get the 'why didn't you do your homework" etc etc...maybe that's what keeping him from posting. it is always hard to lose an animal or to cause suffering that was unintended, and I don't think there are any lessons harder learned, you know? even if the little crestie didn't make it, I hope he still comes back and makes use of the resources here

Member Comment

4/11/2010 5:07:23 PM

Saille

Well said, Aimee.

Member Comment

1/20/2011 9:49:42 AM

abi21491

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