# Day Gecko Shed Help



## Thoth (Jun 14, 2006)

I recently got a pair of Gold dust day geckos. Wake up this morning to find one has shed but has pieces of the shed still stuck to it and on its toes.

If this was one of my other geckos, I would just hold it and gently rub with a moist q tip until it came off but since these guys have such delicate skin, I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions.


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## OldHag (Jun 15, 2006)

Id get an empty butter tub and put some moist paper towel in it. Put the gecko in (keeping it warm of course)  Let it soak on the paper towels for a while. The skin should come off by itself then, or with minimal help.

I have a leopard gecko that has problem toes.. Have to help her shed her toe skin all the time and this method seems to work well.


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## Alissa (Jun 15, 2006)

I agree with Oldhag. I had a gecko who had a little bit of trouble shedding but giving it a humid hide really helped out a lot.


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## softturtle (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm guessing that the enclosure you have either has a screen top or screen sides.  Providing your geckos with a more humid enviroment might be the best course of action.  I have never kept gold dust days but have kept others and most of their tanks were almost fully sealed except for a few vents.  If you cover up half of your screen top (if you have one) with plastic wrap and mist the enclosure daily or every other day.  Remember though, there is a fine line between humid air and stagnant air.  So you might have to tune your ventilation accordingly.


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## Ganoderma (Jun 22, 2006)

i wouldnt confine it to a tub.  take tehat tub cut a hole in it and put it in its enclosure.  tehse animals know they have a bunch of skin on their feet, and i am sure they try and remove it!  raised humidty should help so mist more have that box in there.  gold dusts are fairly hardy but in general phelsuma prefer to have good ventilation and high humidity.  something not so easy to do but defiantly worth.  otehr species can and will die without both.  lukcily gold dusts are less demanding.


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## Thoth (Jun 22, 2006)

I mist daily (occasionally twice a day). It is an exoterra enclosure, I haven't closed off the screen to top though (one because UV from the lamp can't penetrate the plastic and the heat lamp might melt it) 

I guess there is value in putting in a humid hide. Though I saw the same gecko shedding again. Is this in response to try to get off the remaining skin or is there something else wrong with it?


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## Ganoderma (Jun 25, 2006)

top ventilated enclosures dry out quick.  i used flourescents inside teh enclosure, and had a gaurded incandescent for heat.  the rest of the top was sealed in.  i did howver have 26"x 10" ventilation on both sides of the enclosure to ensure decent airflow.  this is where live plants prove handy, keeping up humidity and allowing air flow.  something misting alone is not very effective at.  

place some plastic over the top to try and limit the amount of evaporaation.  i dont know what exo-terra makes their cages out of?  fancy aquarium?  glass?  if possible add vents to the sides.

this is a cage i bred a few phelsuma in for years.  this cage was self sustained aside from teh addition of water for over a year.  it housed a pair of P.m. grandis at teh time with good breeding groups of mealworms, sowbugs, earthworms, millipedes, soem crickets (never grew to a very big colony), and a couple other smaller decomposers i dont know the names of.  the cage was a great success right untill i packed ti away and moved to taiwan.

the lights and vents.  there are 4 18" flouros and 1 incandescent for basking.  this cage produced temps from 95 in teh basking spot right down to the low 60's, worked great for thermoregulation.







the lights.  ignore teh CPF, it was housing something different at teh time.


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