iHerp Answers: My baby Leopard Gecko is going into shed

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My baby Leopard Gecko is going into shed

Posted By:

Leiren

Is there anything I should do to help her?Like should I keep it humid or anything in her cage until she goes through her whole shed and what not?This is the first time she's shed since I've had her,so I was curious.Thanks!


Points:	150
Topics:	Skin
Tags:	Shedding
Species:	Lizards > Geckos > Eublepharis macularius
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Accepted Answer

11/21/2008 8:10:38 AM

JohnJohn

My leopards usually have no problem with shedding. You might not even see much of the process if it goes fast and if you're not home at the time. Leopard geckos often eat their sheds. One thing that you could do is put a hide box with some damp moss or paper towels in the warm end of the enclosure. I find that this is not usually necessary for the shedding, per se, but my lizards seem to love it whenever they have that. I usually only give them that in the warm summer months, but that's just my habit.

If your lizard is healthy it should have no problem shedding. If they do have problems shedding, I think it sometimes can be related to proper hydration (not humidity, but internal hydration). Geckos don't drink a lot of water, almost never actually drink from a bowl. They get hydration from their food items and from licking droplets of water. But don't mist too much. The only time I thought I had hydration issues I put some of my geckos in a small tub with a little luke warm water (lizard bath time) for about 30 minutes. They usually drink some of this by licking, if even only accidental. I don't do this often but I've done it a few times and it perked them up a lot.

Good luck.

Assisted Answer

11/21/2008 9:36:35 AM

ImBooBy

Yeah, prepare a humid hide. For younger geckos, I use those white mealworm containers with a hole in it with damp papertowel. For larger geckos, I use a larger container with damp moss. It doubles as a laying box. This will make it a cleaner shed and you wont have to worry about misting or missing toes. If they dont shed cleanly and get some stuck on the toes then soak them in warm water for 15 mins. This will loosen the shed and you can pick it off with a q-tip or your fingers. Im pretty sure your geckos would wanna keep all their toes.

Author Comment

11/21/2008 9:54:57 AM

Leiren

JohnJon - the water in the tub thing,are you saying I should do that reguarly or just during sheddding?

Also my leopard gecko was ghost white last night,and I went to check her out a minute ago and now shes..not?lolz

Assisted Answer

11/21/2008 12:51:33 PM

JohnJohn

Hi,

It's a normal part of the process to turn from a ghostly white back to a normal color. This is good. He's either just about to shed, or already shed....probably just about to shed. In all honesty, you should expect no difficulties. Although it's good to keep your eyes out for shed problems, usually it goes without any problem at all, at least with leos! You will get very used to it after a few times. Just relax.

It's also normal, during the shedding process to sometimes see some pieces of skin hanging off. It will be white and translucent. If you see that, don't worry, that's part of the process. If you do see pieces of skin that hang there for a long time (like more than a day) then you can consider some light soaking like the other comment also mentioned. For this, you just take a shallow bowl or tupperware and put about half an inch or less of luke warm water. Put the leo inside and let him enjoy a bath for 15 or 20 minutes. I do this regularly with my collared lizards to help keep them hydrated. But I very rarely do it with my leos. I usually have no problems with hydration or shedding and most likely you won't either.

Good luck!

Assisted Answer

11/21/2008 10:19:32 PM

ssscales

I would always keep a humid hide for the leos along with other hides. The humid hide was basically a Tupperware tub filled about 1/4 the way with bed-a-beast or any coco-fiber. Just mist with warm water once every 1-3 days depending on your area, enclosure set up and when they are in shed and you'll have perfect sheds every time. You can use paper towels, but coco-fibers seem to hold the moisture longer.

Hope that helps.
Good Luck

Assisted Answer

11/22/2008 2:00:33 AM

Joseph Jenkins

ya, leopards are native to semi-arid regions, i believe, so you shouldn't have to do anything, the only problems we run into at the shop is that, rarely, their shed on the toes won't fully come off, and that's nothing a warm soak and a little rubbin can't fix

Author Comment

11/22/2008 7:38:17 PM

Leiren

What ive been doing is just putting a wet paper towel in his hiding cave and kinda lining it and then putting another wet one on the bottom?Can I not do that or?It's just something ive recently done,so it hasnt been longterm or anything.It just seemed easier,but if thats not enough or too much then i'll just do some of the other sugguestions I supose.

Assisted Answer

11/22/2008 9:24:23 PM

ssscales

That works fine, I would also keep it in the hide that is closest to the hot spot. The reason I suggested and use coco fibers such as Bed-a-beast, is that it won't dry up as often as paper towels. We live in FL and the humidity is high to begin with, so I only mist my humid hides every 3 days on average and all our Leos always had perfect sheds. If you live in a dry area or if needed, you may want to mist it every 1-2 days, but with the bed-a-beast it remains moist for a good while. I would buy it in bricks and one brick when wet expands. One brick may last you 1-2yrs+ depending how many leos you have and hide boxes you use. We would buy a brick for $3-$4 and add water to expand it, then let it dry for a few days outside. Then place the loose coco-fiber ready to use in a 15qt sterilite tub. One brick would fill a 15qt tub to give you an idea of quantity.

Author Comment

11/23/2008 6:11:46 PM

Leiren

Thanks everyone!

Member Comment

10/4/2010 2:20:19 PM

dalvers63

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Member Comment

10/4/2010 2:20:20 PM

dalvers63

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