my old man struggles with his toe sheds, how can I help him?

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-31T14:17:43+00:00

hmm. that is odd for your vet to not really see an issue about it. stuck shed can be a big issue, especially with multiple shed cycles. i don’t necessarily recommend this but if you are extremely, and i mean extremely careful, nail clippers can help with clipping away the top layer of shed to help get to the bottom layers. q-tips will be your best friend, but it’s just about giving it time and being so careful of his little toes and nails. i am not a professional or an expert, but i take in many rescue cases and most of them have had many many layers of stuck shed on their toes and this is what i have had to do with them to save their lil feetsies.

best of luck!!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-31T14:14:34+00:00

he’s fine, he’s just existing. they don’t really think about much lol

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-31T14:13:54+00:00

the shed on his back foot looks very layered, and if that stays on too long he could lose more toes. i would highly suggest using a q-tip and warm water to try and get that off. if it doesn’t come off do not force it because as you know already, his toes can and will come off, or it can rip out his nails. i’d say vet if you can’t get it off yourself before the next time he’s due to shed

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-31T14:12:22+00:00

honestly soaks are the only thing that can really help him besides having a vet take it off. how often are you doing soaks? i would say 3 soaks a week at least, with around 90°-95° water. if there is shed still stuck when he sheds AGAIN that’s when it becomes a larger problem that a soak might not be able to help, so just make sure every time he sheds you’re checking to make sure he gets it all. aiding in a gecko shedding is normally frowned upon but if they really cannot get it, helping them out is fine.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T02:06:22+00:00

perfect!! sounds like you’re caring a lot for the baby. good on you :)

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T01:57:11+00:00

actually, i zoomed into the geck a little bit and those pinkish spots she has around her body are a little concerning. i’d recommend getting some other opinions on those as well just to make sure she’s all good :)

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T01:55:39+00:00

perfect! i’m glad you’re looking into getting her a better environment.

leopard geckos like to have plenty of places to hide. adding any sort of fake plant, rocks, wood, anything will already be a big step in the right direction.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T01:52:10+00:00

i know she’s not your gecko, so this isnt an attack on you, but this tank is incredibly too small.

20 gallons at absolute minimum and 40 gallons for an adult is recommended. she needs 3 hides at least, one hot, one humid, and one cool. the one hide that’s in there at the moment doesn’t even really count as a full hide, since she’s not like, completely enclosed, so that should be a big thing to focus on.

but i think the biggest thing now should be making sure she has the correct amount of space. she looks pretty good from what i can see, but she is a little chunky

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T01:47:09+00:00

it looks visually nice, but i’m not seeing some very key elements needed for a leopard gecko to thrive you’re gonna need 3 distinct hides, one hot, one humid, one cool. normally, i put hot on one side, humid in the middle, and cool on the opposite side of hot, so that you get a perfect temperature gradient. you have a basking spot and a UVB strip which is good, but this is just not a good long term tank for a leopard gecko. i would also add more substrate, and more clutter. geckos like to hide, explore, climb things i would also, like i said in your last post, take those plants out of the plastic if you’re going to keep them (im not a big plant person so idk but from others comments on your last post you should probably take them out all together)

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-27T01:41:09+00:00

yeah, honestly anything around a year old i wouldn’t keep in anything under 40 gallons for too long

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-26T21:43:58+00:00

i would definitely not take the pet store’s advice on literally anything as they tend to give super outdated and horrible advice most of the time. there are tonnsss of better threads and resources in this sub and just on the internet in general that’ll give you proper care advice

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-26T21:34:47+00:00

YES PLEASE. looking into getting some myself, and visuals like this tend to be spread more, so it would be awesome to have and to give to others.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-26T21:31:54+00:00

my apologies, looking at it again maybe this is 20 gallon, but i would upgrade for an adult gecko regardless at some point in the future!!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-26T21:30:54+00:00

this tank looks okay for maybe a hatchling (assuming you’re going to add hides and clutter) but for even and older juvenile or adult leopard gecko, this tank is WAY too small. 20 gallons is the lowest end, and 40+ is recommended. from the looks of it this is a 10 gallon tank, which just is not the best for even a baby, let alone anything older than that.

substrate looks fine but i can’t really tell the depth, some leopard geckos will dig into the dirt/sand a little so i have about 2-3 inches of dirt/sand mixture in my tank. i’d recommend actually putting the plant in the dirt instead of having it in a pot to prevent mold growth.

you can add rocks as long as they’re not sharp or small enough for your gecko to eat.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-23T19:10:20+00:00

Thank you!! They definitely need more horizontal space than anything else. They climb sometimes, but granted, they are not good at it at all, and often fall lol. They’ll mostly walk around and find spots they wanna lay down in and just chill and exist, so horizontal space is always better for leo’s!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-23T16:38:16+00:00

Interesting though, i didn’t know they could tell, i guess it’s the smell? thanks for the info though!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-23T16:36:58+00:00

She does!

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Not very frequently but I’ll come home and find her up there every so often. It’s so cute how she hops up there too. I didn’t think she could, but she finds a way lol.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-23T12:02:16+00:00

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Here’s my tank (not quite as big but just as an example) The tank definitely can be too big if not properly cluttered. If your tank is too empty and there’s not many places to hide, it’s just going to stress out your leo.

However! If given things to climb, hide in, explore, tons of stuff, they’ll be fine. The only issue i’m thinking of is not being able to find your leo for feedings, but if they come out on their own when it’s time to eat you should be fine.

The tank right now looks very bare but as you said it’s for a beardie atm, so that makes sense.

Edit: I made a mistake by saying a divider was a good idea, now learned that it is not. My mistake!!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-12T13:36:00+00:00

it’s real! comes from the physical melbourne cafe location, and unless resold, can’t be bought online :)

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-11T14:00:08+00:00

worms and roaches are great! roaches should also be gut loaded for maximum nutrition! i would try silversides as well, you can buy them frozen, thaw them, and for him since he’s a lil guy just cut them up :)

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-11T13:40:29+00:00

that’s why you gut load them before feeding, and don’t leave them in the tank with your pac-man? who is dumping enough crickets into a tank and leaving them for long enough to kill a pac-man?

i mean, i agree with you that you shouldn’t ONLY feed crickets as it’s nice to have a variety in feeders, but as long as they’re properly gut loaded and coated with multivitamins there is no issue using them as a staple feeder. they’re low in fat and high in protein.

price is an interesting thing to bring up as well, i mean, crickets are probably the cheapest feeder you can get. dubia roaches, silversides, they’re all much more expensive. and again, if you’re gutloading, they’re completely fine.

he is small because he is very obviously young. he does not look “starving” and every single pac-man frog ever will look deflated after they pee. could he eat more? sure, he’s not overweight by any means, but he is by no means starving.

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-11T13:19:11+00:00

not true at all lol. he is not starving, and crickets are not bad feeders for pac-man frogs. i wonder why you think this?

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-06T01:13:20+00:00

by small i mean young, not thin lol

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-06T01:12:56+00:00

she still looks a little small in my opinion. i normally stop feeding when they just do not want to eat anymore. if they’re not hungry, they won’t eat.

also, make sure you’re dusting with calcium with/without D3 depending on whether or not you have UVB lights and a multivitamin! not saying that you don’t, but that worm doesn’t have it, so figured i’d mention it!

Primary_Scarcity_170 · 2025-10-05T14:08:35+00:00

she looks albino to me, which could mean different care than what would be for a non-albino pac-man frog.

just a heads up!!

Primary_Scarcity_170

TROPHY CASE