Rehomed gecko tips

[awholeasszoo]

Hello, this afternoon I brought home a male Leo who I am adopting from someone who is no longer able to meet his needs. He is 13 years old. He seems pretty sceptical of me right now and I really don't want to stress him out, especially while he's quarantining right now and in a new unfamiliar place with strange people. However I've noticed he has some stuck shed on his toes and some on his nose and left eyelid, with possibly a teeny bit of gunk in the corner of his eye. The previous owner says he last shed about a week ago so that's how long he has had that skin stuck for. Ideally I'd help him get it off asap, but I also don't want to stress him anymore than 100% necessary. Are there any less invasive options than using a moist cotton bud to help tease the skin free? I will reply with images if he comes out of hiding enough to get a clear image.

 

[acpart]

Congrats on your new gecko. From your description, I don't think it's the end of the world if that shed stays on for a few more days. I just moved one of my leopard geckos from her habitual cage to another identical cage and she was kind of freaked out last night so this isn't unusual. Wait until your gecko has calmed down a bit and is clearly eating and pooping. Even for my geckos that don't mind being handled, having shed pulled off the toes isn't fun for them. Using a q-tip will do nothing; it requires fingernails. When you're ready, pick up the gecko and wrap it in your shirt tail, covering its head. Pull out one toe at a time and use your fingernails to pull it off. Your gecko may poop on you (happens to me all the time) and open its mouth to bite but you'll both survive. When you're done with the toes, use tweezers or your fingernails to pull off the face shed.

Aliza

 

[awholeasszoo]

Thank you, I will give that a go once he is more settled. For the moment he seems to be hiding away a lot. I am going to be changing a few things in his enclosure as the stuff he came with isn’t the most ideal, especially his moist hide which fully dries out in less than a day ideally he’ll work the shed off himself but I’ll definitely start helping in a few days if he makes no progress