Well, Verdi (that's the gex in question) and I spent an hour or so "bonding" while I slooowly pulled the skin off of her toes. Ya'll were right; the warm washcloth did seem to calm her down (well, actually it was a shop towel--we are packing to move so I couldn't find any washcloths!) She did tend to start skirming when it cooled off! I used a wet sponge to thoroughly soak each toe and tweezers to pull it off--she tolerated my messing with her toes much better than my dog does! (That's part of why I waited until night, but also I wanted to see everyone's replies.) Amazing how excited you get each time you get all the skin off a toe.
I'm definitely trying to figure out the cause. I need to find my other hygrometer--it's around here somewhere, but, as I said, we're packing.... Maybe my henkeli will share for a week or so. I've had her for about 3 years, and the male for about 2. She's always had a little more difficulty shedding (I should say, she drags it out more) than the male, but this is the first time it's really been a problem. I've only found one egg so far from this year (they don't ever bury them, do they?). It was a little small, and I don't think it was fertile. Now, that "only one" part vaguely worries me. Could she be eggbound? Couldn't I see the other egg if she were? (this is a grandis). Might she have eaten the other one, if it weren't fertile and she is low on calcium? I added a bromeliad recently to help with humidity and water (I already have a snake plant in there.) It turns out to be a type that collects a pool of water in the middle, and the horizontal leaves are great for collecting water droplets. Should I be worried about the pool of water growing bacteria, or should I just dump it out daily & refill it? They do seem to use it for drinking. Thanks! >You have received some good suggestions as to what to do about the >actual shedding, however, the root cause of this needs addressing. Many >folks jump to the conclusion that it is humidity - a way to check this >is if you have multiple P.m. grandis specimens and one is always having >trouble you can be suspicious something else is going on there. >Parasites are a common root cause. They weaken the gecko enough so the >shedding process is too taxing for them. To properly rectify this >problem or problems you need to do two things: > >1)Get a hygrometer from Radio Shack or the Bean Farm >http://www.beanfarm.com and use it to adjust your ambient humidity to >range in the 50-70% range, if not constantly achieved a couple times a >day usually will do the trick. > >2)Get a fecal done by a non-domestic veterinarian. Fecal samples are >easy to get from a gecko that loves fruit babyfood so much! :) > >This way you will have all your bases covered. At minimum do #1 now and >if the shedding problem continues definitely do #2. > >Good luck, and please let us know how your gecko does. > >Julie Bergman >http://www.geckoranch.com >GGA lifetime member > > >########################################################################### > THE GLOBAL GECKO ASSOCIATION LISTSERV > WebSite: www.gekkota.com Archive: [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ > The GGA takes no responsibility for the contents of these postings. >########################################################################### > >
