[gecko]Question on hatchling Gold Dust Day Gecko having trouble
shedding ...
Melody Hartley
gecko@lists.gekkota.com
Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:16:21 -0800
Aloha Sharron,
You are so patient and dedicated!! This little one is so lucky to have
you, since I'm sure she would have been someone's lunch otherwise. If
she goes on eating fruit flies, you know you can raise flightess fruit
flies, and that might be easier. I do that because I keep a few dart
frogs, but I use them for hatchling geckos too. You'd have to get a
starter culture from someone, or get one shipped to you if allowed, and
keep them strictly separate from the flying ones because "flightless" is
a recessive gene. I can give you more info if you're interested.
Do you have the little bugs in the soil called springtails? Or any other
tiny bugs you could catch, maybe aphids? I'd hate for you go blind
clipping fruit fly wings, LOL!
As to the last bits of shedding, she might lose the extra skin on the
next shed. I've only gotten the tail skin off by peeling front to back,
like turning a cone inside out.
The town in Oregon that I live in is named "Aloha" although pronounced
differently -- emphasis on the "lo" part and a soft "h" -- ah-LO-ah.
It's also nice to see some activity on this list ;-)
Melody
Gecko wrote:
> Aloha, Melody
>
> Thanks for these ideas. I never thought of a paintbrush, but that would
> be softer and probably hold the moisture better. ;)
>
> Her toes kept sticking to the washcloth, so we did lay a paper towel on
> top of it and she liked that better.
>
> Now that she is back in her regular house, she is on banana leaf with
> red ti, honeysuckle, and helekonia. We used to have her on paper towels,
> but she really seems to like the banana leaf and we have tons of them.
> And the red ti is her favorite for hanging out on. And all the day
> geckos like the helekonia -- that and the bananas are their favorite
> hangouts ... along with our lanai and house. ;)
>
> Mahalo,
> Sherron
>
>
>
> Melody Hartley wrote:
>
>> Slightly different method -- I use a paper towel rather than a
>> washcloth in the humid box, and float the whole box in a sink full of
>> warm water for the heat. A small soft paintbrush can also be helpful
>> for wetting the old skin and working it loose.
>>
>> elizabethfreer@aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ElizabethFreer@aol.com 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: gecko.hale@gmail.com (Sherron)
>>>>> Sender: gecko-admin@lists.gekkota.com
>>>>> Reply-to: gecko@lists.gekkota.com <mailto:gecko@lists.gekkota.com>
>>>>> To: gecko@lists.gekkota.com
>>>>>
>>>> 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 <gecko.hale@gmail.com>
>>> To: gecko@lists.gekkota.com
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ElizabethFreer@aol.com 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: gecko.hale@gmail.com (Sherron)
>>>>> Sender: gecko-admin@lists.gekkota.com
>>>>> Reply-to: gecko@lists.gekkota.com <mailto:gecko@lists.gekkota.com>
>>>>> To: gecko@lists.gekkota.com
>>>>>
>>>> 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:gecko@hale-pohaku.com
>>> See our rats: http://hale-pohaku.com/dennis/ratgallery.html
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>>
>>
>>
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