Aloha, Elizabeth
I really appreciate the help the GGA list has given me! We actually
tried getting the skin off before we posted to the GGA list, but it
didn't do much good without the "pre-soak" in the humidity chamber for
several hours first. There is nothing like experience to know what you
can do without causing more harm than good. That is always my worry
when trying something I haven't done before is that it may be worse than
doing nothing. :(
She is definitely interested in eating; always a good sign! And she is
much better at getting around without that gunky skin inhibiting her
movements. I will need to see what pet/supply stores there are in this
area. I don't think there are many, but I can always do mail order if
there isn't something local. There isn't a large selection of anything
here. ;)
We have named her!! Her name is Li?i, which is the Hawaiian name for
"small", and is pronounced lee-ee. The "?" is an ?okina which indicates
a glottal stop or short break/pause between the two i's. ;)
So I have also updated the web page on her and it is now located at:
http://hale-pohaku.net/gecko_lii.html
She is really getting around very well without the excess skin, although
I think she still has a little trouble with that right leg. The toes on
the right foot still tend to clump together a little, although I suspect
that she may grow to adjust to it and learn to live with it. We see
quite a few maimed geckos around and many of them do quite well, all
things considered. She certainly is doing much, much better with it. She
doesn't "lurch" anymore, but actually uses it nearly like a normal leg. ;)
We sure don't want her to lose any toes or her tail if we can prevent
it, so like it or not, Li?i is going to get steam bath! Or two. If we
could keep her still, we could probably do it quicker, but there is not
much to hold onto and she is a fast little devil! ;)
She sure has lots of friends, thank goodness!! ;)
Mahalo nui loa,
Sherron, Dennis & Li?i
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Sherron ~
You are totally welcome for the assistance I was able to give thanks
to this Global Gecko Association listserv!
I really appreciate your detailed photos. As they say, "A picture is
worth a thousand words."
If judging by photos is a reliable sign, her belly definitely seems to
be full of the bugs you've been catching. If she proves to be a
long-term captive you may want to dust her bugs with a calcium
supplement. That will be easier once she is eating bigger stuff ;-}
I recommend Rep-Cal Phosphorus-Free Ultrafine Powder with D3. Can
you get that on the island?
Your survivor needs a name! You've given her a new life!!! How is
her gait since you've removed the excess skin except for her tail? In
your recent photos her right leg seems to bend like normal.
The thing about retained skin, which may have ultimately been
affecting her breathing (?) is that the digit (toe) can become
necrotic and then slough off. That is why I'm worried about the
retained skin on her tail as I said in an earlier post tonight. You
have resolved the crucial things first while still saving the
"patient". So in a few days you can try again with her tail.
Cheers!
Elizabeth
Subj:*Re: [gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having
trouble shedding ... Ok! But what about the tail?*
Date:6/5/08 11:07:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Sherron)
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Aloha, Elizabeth
Oh, she is VERY active!!! She doesn't hold still for more than a few
seconds and she is so tiny, we are afraid to try to hold her down!
But we have now managed to get everything off except the skin on her
tail. We had hoped that she might be able to chew it off since that
is all that is left, but she doesn't seem to be doing so. Will the
skin wear off by itself just from her moving around or do we need to
make sure it is off, too? We are just so afraid of the tail breaking
off.
We did notice that she has a toe on her right foot that seems
blackened and crumpled. And the lines on the bottoms of her hands
don't seem very well developed.
Right foot Right hand
We had to repeat the steam bath/clean-up routines multiple times and
she didn't like it, but she was really a good girl. She is very alert
& curious and always comes out to look at us when we go over to look
in her cage. ;)
We thank you all so much for your help. I am afraid she would not
have made it without your assistance. I have never actually held a
live gecko before, although I have had them jump or fall on me quite
a bit. It is really nice having her around. ;)
I am trying to put some photos of her up on the web and I will post
the address when I get them up. We have taken lots!! ;)
Mahalo nui loa,
Sherron
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected] <mailto:[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] <mailto:[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] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (Sherron)
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-to: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <mailto:[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
*Elizabeth**
~~~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)
--
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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
