I've got a request for help with a leopard gecko, but I'm at a loss here. Does anyone have an idea? I've seen this leopard in person, but they live about a 90 minute drive from here, so it's not convenient to just drive over and look at her. The only reason I saw her is that I delivered some frogs to her neighbour who mentioned the leo to me and asked if I'd have any ideas. They live in the country, the closest vets deal with farm animals, dogs and cats, but there is one who's willing to do something if she can give him an idea of what it could be and what to check for. He'll do some tests or try (like fecals).
I asked her to write it all down, and I'd check around for her: > Thursday I noticed that Kam was shedding, and she's been shedding > constantly since then. It's not normal. > When she was still shedding Friday morning, I soaked her in warm water > and helped remove the skin. It wasn't soft like it should be, but almost > crinkly. She'd never shown signs of problems shedding, but she did shed > a bit more than the other two (who are perfectly okay, nothing I can > see). I got all the skin off with her help, put her back, clean and > shiny. Friday evening she was getting white again - skin loosening. > Strange, but I didn't think much of it. Saturday she spent the day in > the hidebox. Evening, skin was still on. Sunday morning still shedding, > so I helped her again. Got her shiny clean. Sunday before bed she was > still okay, yesterday she was shedding again. I soaked her again, got it > all off, but she seemed a bit worn out. I put her in her own tank > alone, nobody to bug her. She was okay, until bedtime check - > shedding again! This morning I got some Ensure to feed to her, keep her > hydrated through all this, she'll need the extras for growing all that > skin, and I don't know if she's eating right now. I got some food > grade glycerin to add to the soaking water to soften the skin and make > it easier to shed. Right now she's soaking, I'll help her out when I'm > done here. I have NO idea what it could be. The other 2 roommates are > perfect skinned, no shed problems, so what's it with her????? Thinking > stress causes it, I moved her, but they never fought that I > could see. She is rather high strung, the only one that's not calming > down, maybe it's nerves, or maybe it's teenage hormones - pre-adolescent > thing, like acne? > I examined her and the others with a magnifying glass -- no > crawlies of any kind. I even checked the skin that came off, nothing > there. No mites, baby bugs, spiders, lice or fleas (do they get > lice?), and none on the other two either. I just finished getting some > loose skin off her, put her back downstairs to calm down in her own > tank. She's on papertowels, changed from peat in the hide box to moist > moss. I have no clue. Could it be allergies? What about internal > something or other? Do worms cause shedding problems? I know Vitamin A > has an effect on shedding, she gets beta carotene, not preformed Vit A. > I just can't figure out what it could be. > Right now she's stressed out. It's probably a combination the shedding, > getting handled so much lately, and she's not really calm anyways, > rather scared, first to run away and never trusted me yet in all the > months she's been here. She's about 10 months old, so could it be > something about puberty? Is baby oil with Aloe and Vit E okay? > > Thanks for any help or ideas. I really appreciate it. > > Sandra Just my input here - Like I said, I've seen the leopards in person, and they are getting the proper care. It apparently just started, no previous bad sheds, no warning or slow progression to this stage. I was there on Sunday and saw the gecko - not thin, tail is still a nice size though it could be a touch plumper, it's not worrisome. She's not losing weight apparently, or not yet. She does look a bit dehydrated, but that could be from the dried skin stuck to her - it's almost like a double layer of tissue paper with a bit of glue - makes it crinkly stiff, barely translucent and breaks off. Any shed skin I've seen is flimsy, and when dry it's still not as 'thick' as what's been coming off her. It almost appears to be a double layer of skin, which is surprising since she's been shedding so much the last few days. There's nothing I could say is wrong with their set up, or suggest be changed. It's big enough for 3 females (55 gallon tank), proper temperature, lots of hides, various home raised bugs not wild caught. The owner is very finicky about their care. Since the owner isn't online, she has to go to the town library to use their computer, or do it all by phone, which makes communication slow. If anyone has an idea of what might be causing this, I'll pass the info on to her. Thanks for any help. :) Hilde _______________________________________________ Global Gecko Association http://www.gekkota.com Classifieds http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi gecko mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko
