Do you have a small scissors for sewing (or even perhaps a straight pin) that could perhaps begin a split/tear in her skin at the neck?? I don't know how active she is, but you might be able to hold her firmly against some solid padded surface like a table.? Hope that something works for you both.
Elizabeth -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 11:52 am Subject: Re: [gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having trouble shedding ... And Aloha Sherron ~ ? Thanks for these details.? Please try the humidity chamber near a lamp for a few hours.? Use a wet washcloth that has been wrung out and place it in the vented, plastic container.? Watch the water droplets form.? After only a few hours I imagine her skin might be loose enough to start a split. Another idea!? Have something like?a twig, small branch,?or a section of choya wood --- something rough that she could snuggle up against to assist in the shed. I hope the skin shed helps her right leg work more efficiently! ? Keep us posted! ? Wish I lived near the beach in a place warm enough where geckos roamed freely ;-] ? Elizabeth Aloha, Elizabeth She is about 3/4" from nose to vent -- she is the smallest day gecko hatchling we have ever seen, although some of our mourning gecko hatchlings are even tinier. This sounds like it might work!? If it would just soften enough to pull off her or get a split started, I think we could get the neck skin off.? We have been misting her little cage and putting a heating pad next to it, but that only helps a little and wasn't keeping the humidity up high enough.? She has never seemed to be able to fully control her right leg, and her right foot is smaller than her left and the toes kind of clumped together. She often tends to move the joint and leg together as a unit, so there may be something wrong with the joint, too. Although in watching her with the skin problem, some of that may just be the skin being so tight it restricts her movement. Usually when we find the hatchlings, most of that first skin has already been shed, but she was fully covered with it and it has only recently started splitting. We do think it hinders her use of her limbs -- her arms are only about the size of thin pencil lead, and the skin seems to fully coat those. She has been doing okay up until the last couple of days, though, when the skin (I hope that it isn't something else, too) started really becoming a problem. She now gets around by lurching her body back and forth because her little arms & legs are still encased in the skin, although it has come off some of the back.? And she is green underneath, not gray! We haven't ever actually kept any of the geckos before, as they run all around our house, lanai and garden (Phelsuma laticauda, house - Hemidactylus frenatus, & Mourning - Lepidodactylus lugubris). But we had to make an exception in her case, since she couldn't fend for herself. Usually we just take the hatchlings outside so they have a better chance of survival -- we have lots of big geckos running around inside and they don't last long if we don't get to them first. :( Mahalo, Sherron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Sherron ~ Try the humidity chamber trick. ?I can't view your photos at home because my laptop is really memory-challenged, so I don't know how big this gecko is! ?However, my mourning geckos are 1" 3/8" at hatching. ?Try placing your gecko in a vented plastic container with a damp washcloth inside. ?Place this near a light. ?Almost immediately you will notice beads of water accumulate on the sides/top of the container. ?After a few hours or so perhaps you can remove the rings of old skin around her neck gently with a tweezers or small scissors. What is the problem with her right leg? ?Might you have a new pet here? Elizabeth ? Subj:[gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having trouble shedding "egg skin" Date:6/1/08 4:16:39 PM Pacific Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sherron) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: [email protected] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] We found a tiny hatchling on May 13 that was a little underdeveloped and was still in that grayish skin they have when they first come out of the shell. She was dehydrated and has a problem with her right leg, but is spunky. We haven't been able to release her outside like we do the rest of the hatchings we find, as her bad leg has kept her from being very mobile, but she has been doing pretty well eating tiny bugs & aphids I collect for her. She has also shown a real interest in the fruit flies around her papaya, but I don't think she has managed to catch any yet. But she started having trouble yesterday and was real cold & clammy, so we put a heating pad near her cage to help warm her up. It seems to have started her molting her "egg skin", but she has a bunch of it around her neck that she can't get off. Is there anything we can do to help her? She is so tiny we don't see how we could try to cut it off! The rest of the skin except for around her neck should slough off okay, but the stuff around her neck is several layers and is a ring, so it may be another matter. :( Any help would be greatly appreciated as she is really a spunky little girl. Mahalo, Sherron -----Original Message----- From: Gecko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 11:21 am Subject: Re: [gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having trouble shedding ... Aloha, Elizabeth She is about 3/4" from nose to vent -- she is the smallest day gecko hatchling we have ever seen, although some of our mourning gecko hatchlings are even tinier. This sounds like it might work!? If it would just soften enough to pull off her or get a split started, I think we could get the neck skin off.? We have been misting her little cage and putting a heating pad next to it, but that only helps a little and wasn't keeping the humidity up high enough.? She has never seemed to be able to fully control her right leg, and her right foot is smaller than her left and the toes kind of clumped together. She often tends to move the joint and leg together as a unit, so there may be something wrong with the joint, too. Although in watching her with the skin problem, some of that may just be the skin being so tight it restricts her movement. Usually when we find the hatchlings, most of that first skin has already been shed, but she was fully covered with it and it has only recently started splitting. We do think it hinders her use of her limbs -- her arms are only about the size of thin pencil lead, and the skin seems to fully coat those. She has been doing okay up until the last couple of days, though, when the skin (I hope that it isn't something else, too) started really becoming a problem. She now gets around by lurching her body back and forth because her little arms & legs are still encased in the skin, although it has come off some of the back.? And she is green underneath, not gray! We haven't ever actually kept any of the geckos before, as they run all around our house, lanai and garden (Phelsuma laticauda, house - Hemidactylus frenatus, & Mourning - Lepidodactylus lugubris). But we had to make an exception in her case, since she couldn't fend for herself. Usually we just take the hatchlings outside so they have a better chance of survival -- we have lots of big geckos running around inside and they don't last long if we don't get to them first. :( Mahalo, Sherron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello Sherron ~ Try the humidity chamber trick. ?I can't view your photos at home because my laptop is really memory-challenged, so I don't know how big this gecko is! ?However, my mourning geckos are 1" 3/8" at hatching. ?Try placing your gecko in a vented plastic container with a damp washcloth inside. ?Place this near a light. ?Almost immediately you will notice beads of water accumulate on the sides/top of the container. ?After a few hours or so perhaps you can remove the rings of old skin around her neck gently with a tweezers or small scissors. What is the problem with her right leg? ?Might you have a new pet here? Elizabeth ? Subj:[gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having trouble shedding "egg skin" Date:6/1/08 4:16:39 PM Pacific Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sherron) Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-to: [email protected] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] We found a tiny hatchling on May 13 that was a little underdeveloped and was still in that grayish skin they have when they first come out of the shell. She was dehydrated and has a problem with her right leg, but is spunky. We haven't been able to release her outside like we do the rest of the hatchings we find, as her bad leg has kept her from being very mobile, but she has been doing pretty well eating tiny bugs & aphids I collect for her. She has also shown a real interest in the fruit flies around her papaya, but I don't think she has managed to catch any yet. But she started having trouble yesterday and was real cold & clammy, so we put a heating pad near her cage to help warm her up. It seems to have started her molting her "egg skin", but she has a bunch of it around her neck that she can't get off. Is there anything we can do to help her? She is so tiny we don't see how we could try to cut it off! The rest of the skin except for around her neck should slough off okay, but the stuff around her neck is several layers and is a ring, so it may be another matter. :( Any help would be greatly appreciated as she is really a spunky little girl. Mahalo, Sherron ~~~geckos make my heart sing (and dance)~~~ ?????????l ??????????????????????l ???????????????????????l ????????????? ??^^ ?/..\ ?????????????^^ ?/..\ ?^^ ??????????^^ ?/..\ ?^^ ???????l ?l ??^^ ?????????????llll ?????????????????????\\\ ? ???????l ?l ???????????????????llll ?????????????????????/// ???????l ?l ???????????????????llll ?????????????????????\\\ ???????l ?l ?~~ ?????????????llll ?????????????????????/// ??~~ ?( ???????????????~~ ???) ??~~ ????????~~ ??( ???~~ ???????????) ??????????????????( ???????????????????????????) ????????( ???????????????????????) ??????????????????????( ???????????) ??????????????????( ???????????????????????????) ?????lappert(a) ??????????????robert(a) ???????????????????hubert(a) ??????17.50 yo ???????????????????r.i.p. ???????????????????????????r.i.p. ????? ???????????????????????(All Lepidodactylus lugubris!) ??????? ************** Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002) -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gecko aka Sherron, Kailua Kona, Hawaii (on the Big Island of Hawaii) Homepage: http://hale-pohaku.com/sherron - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] See our rats: http://hale-pohaku.com/dennis/ratgallery.html Stay informed, get connected and more with AOL on your phone.
