Leapord Gecko(help)

[kevin85193]

I just noticed on some of my geckos feet(toenail or so) that theres a bright white tip or something along those lines on it. Just wondering why or what that is.

also, there about 2yrs old and I was wondering how many crickets etc do you feed them at once?

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[herp_chick]

I'm not an expert on feeding, but the white tips are retained shed, which needs to be moistened REALLY good, and GENTLY rolled off the toes. If it is left on, the toes WILL rot off, and the infection could kill the geckos.
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[Amiechan]

Gotta agree with herp chick on this one...The old skin will constrict and cut off the circulation leading to toe loss.
It may take some work to get the skin off, but it is worth it!

As for feeding.. I dont use crickets so i couldnt answer you on that one.. sorry!
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[Nyte]

They called it right on the toe issue, retained shed. Seems more common in older geckos, at least in my experience. soak em for a bit, and try to gently roll the shed off, you may need to do this a few times over several days if they are stuck real good. Make sure they have a nice moist hide area to retreat to, especially when you notice them in shed.

As for the food question, I don't feed my leos crickets either, I just leave meal worms in a dish with them pretty much all the time. They eat when they want, and they seem to put on and hold good weight better, in my opinion. If your against the worms, I would say about 1-2 dozen per adult, every other day or so. Start there,and you will learn to gauge how many they will eat, and how many they won't eat. Also, if your gonna use crix, I would suggest feeding them at night, after teh lights go out and they are showing activity, lets you have a better idea how many they are gonna wanna eat.

Good luck
Brian
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	Crickets Crix

[kevin85193]

Alright, sounds great, thanks! I have nothing against meal worms at all. Just crickets are more convient to get. I'm pretty sure the petco I go to doesn't have meal worms or actually they possibly do. I'll go to a local reptile shop and get some www.njreptiles.com !! Should I get a whole bunch at once, or just get a few?(They sell 100 for $1.49 and so on!)
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[Nyte]

I get a bunch at a time, keep em in the fridge and they keep a long long time. I keep a good many in with the leos, if it goes more than a couple days and they don't seem interested in hte ones in there any more, change em out, don't throw the old ones away, the new ones will be more active for a few days comin out of the fridge. You can also order em bulk fairly cheap, or try reptile shows as well.

Brian
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[GizmO]

The shed issue on the toes is correct.

As far as feeding the general rule (no matter if feeding crix or mealies) is leave the gecko in with the food for at least 10 minutes and let them eat as many as they want in that time period. I feed mine in a seperate enclosure than the tank to make sure they don't accidently get the sand and impact them and I have a tote the size of a shoe box that I can see through and I just leave mine with the food until they have eatten what they want and lose interest in the rest. Then just put them back in the tank and dump the extra in the tote into what ever you keep them in. Hope that helps.
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	Crickets Crix

[kevin85193]

Alright, I'll try the things you guys and gals suggested. Wish I could do it this weekend, but good old senior prom [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] I really want to get a new snake too, lol!! The local store I go to where I actually buy my reptiles is only open on weekends! Also, anyone going to the NY Expo in whiteplains july 20th? This is going to be the first one I've gone too.
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[eddie]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>Wish I could do it this weekend, but good old senior prom </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, it will take only about 5 minutes to moisten the toes and peel the skin off with tweezers, so i hope you can find time to do that before this weekend, prom or not, afterall, the prom may be important to you but your leos toes are very important to it!

At least that's the way I read your post, if I am mistaken on that, then let me know. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[Constrictor_BO]

Retained shed on the toes should not be left for long. Like Edie said, it only takes baout 5 minutes to soak the gecko to remove the retained shed. Although it might be a pain in the rump your gecko will be a lot happier knowing it wont lose any of it's toes.
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[kevin85193]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>At least that's the way I read your post, if I am mistaken on that, then let me know. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Whoops, I meant getting a new snake this weekend. I'm going to actually soak them now!
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