Eek! Blood!

[compassrose26]

I posted this on the gecko forum as well with no lucky so far. If any of you could help that would be great! So as I have mentioned in other posts my leopard gecko's previous owner kept him in not-so-ideal conditions. Sand, no humid hide, etc. I fixed his enclosure immediately. He has some toes lost or covered in dead skin. Along with the toes he had a little ball of dead skin on the end of his tail. That's what it looks like anyways, I don't know how else to explain it. I soaked it just like the toes but didn't scrub or touch it because I didn't want him to get scared and drop his tail or anything. This morning, however, I noticed it was red with a little blood. I think he may have gotten irritated and bit at it? I soaked it a little and then put some topical antibiotic cream and a makeshift cut bandaid on it so he wouldn't bother it more. I'm not sure what to do! Any suggestions would be great! He's still active and walking around. Pics attached. He fell asleep on me you can kind of see the little white "ball" and the pics after are when I noticed the bleeding. Please keep in mind that I just got him and I'm doing all I can to fix his previously owners mistakes.

 

[wellington]

I would keep him on paper towels or newspaper for substrate until he is completely healed. Keep it clean and if anything starts looking abnormal at all I would take him to a reptile vet. Good luck.

 

[Jacqui]

I would have guessed it was from an improper shed and that tip of the tail is going to end up falling off.

 

[Randi]

You must remove the shed while it is moist. As the skin dries, it tightens. This in turn cuts off the circulation to that area, and they tend to fall off.

Don't cover the tail. This can promote bacteria in the wound as it will be moist. You need to dry it out. And covering the tail can cause the gecko to bite the tail to remove whatever is on it. More then likely the tail will be fine but that piece of retained shed will come off.

Fixing your humidity will help. Mist the tank once daily. Create a moist hide - tupperware containers that are cut so these guys can walk in work great. You fill the inside with papertowel. Put over a heating pad and you create humidity in the box.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

You must remove the shed while it is moist. As the skin dries, it tightens. This in turn cuts off the circulation to that area, and they tend to fall off.

Don't cover the tail. This can promote bacteria in the wound as it will be moist. You need to dry it out. And covering the tail can cause the gecko to bite the tail to remove whatever is on it. More then likely the tail will be fine but that piece of retained shed will come off.

Fixing your humidity will help. Mist the tank once daily. Create a moist hide - tupperware containers that are cut so these guys can walk in work great. You fill the inside with papertowel. Put over a heating pad and you create humidity in the box. View attachment 109822

Randi is correct. The improper shed, does indeed tighten and cut off the circulation of blood. Often this happens there at the tip of the tail and toes are also prime spots. Moisture is critical for a proper shed. In that they shed in pieces and not all at once like a snake, diligence is essential on your part. When normal shedding resumes, keep the lower area moist with access to dry areas to be on. Like rocks for instance.

 

[Randi]

To add on, yes, toes and tails are common. Heads and eyes can become retained shed areas and must be taken care of immediately. Eyes especially. Nasty things can happen with retained sheds on eyes.

Having something that's a little abrasive in the tank can help the gecko, too. They will often use things to rub on to facilitate the shedding process. They also tend to eat most of their shed skin, either to cover their tracks as much as possible and/or to get some nutrition from their skin. It's unknown and debatable.

I mist once to twice daily depending on their humidity. Their humidity sits at 35-40% in the tank with moist hides included. I also tend to mist the cooler side instead of the hot side unless humidity is low.
I've never had a shedding problem so I hope to have helped.

In my opinion, they need/enjoy desert like heat but also need/enjoy humidity. They live in cave and rock systems and are from areas that are semi-arid. Make sure there is also a decent temperature in the tank to ward of respiratory problems - if the environment is damp and too cool, there can be issues.

Enough ranting. Best of luck to your gecko!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

And a shed box!!! Like a humid hide.

 

[Randi]

Fixing your humidity will help. Mist the tank once daily. Create a moist hide - tupperware containers that are cut so these guys can walk in work great. You fill the inside with paper towel. *Mist the inside and then put over a heating pad and you create humidity in the box. View attachment 109822

I didn't specify to mist the inside so I have fixed it in the quote.