Questions

Ok I attached some pictures of his progress. You can kind of see the pinkishness at the top of his tail (opposite end of the scab) and I don't know where it is coming from. The upper part of his body is white. He's had it before, and then it went away in a day, but it hasn't gone away yet. He also seems to be turning a bit lighter on his brown colors, but that may be because of his shedding stages, though he isn't due for like another 2-3 weeks. His poop was a little different too, it was of two little balls and not a glob. Also I have a picture of the scab. The white stuff within the scab is the zinc oxide. It looks like a scab now, should I just leave it? With the sleeping schedule, he might be thrown off because of me, and is up during the day more because he slept too far into the night, because of the lights (I turn the one in his cage off) but in my room.

Questions.
1) If the tail scab becomes a problem, will the gecko know to drop the tail? he seems to have stopped storing as much fat in the tail but rather in his body because he looks fatter.

2) What could the pinkishness be caused by? It's not handling I know that.

3) Do lost gecko toes grow back?

4) What do you think I should do now?

Oops here are the pictures. Man I make an oops in every post.




So besides these things I mentioned, he seems to be pretty normal.

Another question:

Because of this problem, can a gecko control when he sheds? Like it seems like rex is getting lighter, and even in his face but he just shed last week! Does a gecko know when he should shed? Because the vet said the problem should clear up when he sheds again.

1. no, geckos cannot drop their tails whenever they want, nor would they want to considering how much nutrient value their tail has. Remember, these lizards are from arid reason and store fat in their tails bc they dont know when theyre going to get their next meal, so losing their tail is a big problem although it does grow back. I doubt that the reason for his becoming fat has anything to do with stopping storing it in his tail as much as your feeding schedule. Let us know how often u feed him and what is fed.
2. the pinkishness will probably fade with time,i dont think it has anything to do with his tail problem.
3. No, gecko toes do not grow back. lost toes stay that way.
4. Now, keep an eye on it, it looks as though it is scabbing over. If u want to b safe u can try to put some antibacterial on it to stop any chances of an infection. Your vet is correct, and as the gecko sheds, the wound will become less and less noticable as it heals.

He's been eating fine. I fed him a bunch of crickets a few days ago, and I wait until they are gone, wait a few days, and then put a bunch more in there. Also, the other question, do geckos shed earlier if they know they need to? Like will he shed earlier b/c of the scab on his tail?

Originally Posted by gracemynote

He's been eating fine. I fed him a bunch of crickets a few days ago, and I wait until they are gone, wait a few days, and then put a bunch more in there. Also, the other question, do geckos shed earlier if they know they need to? Like will he shed earlier b/c of the scab on his tail?

I've always understood shedding to be related to growth (ie gecko outgrows old skin) but I imagine that's at least a possibility in older, more grown up geckos.

I should weigh in on your other questions.

1)No, unlikely. Geckos only drop their tails as a means of last resort when they are in immediate danger of losing their lives. And as others have said, it isn't something they like doing.

2)Not too sure about the pinkishness. I'd just give it time; I've never heard of anything like that causing problems.

3)No, toes don't grow back.

4)I'd wait. It seems that you've done everything you can for him (her?)...see how the next shed goes (whenever that may come) and take it from there.

once again, no. geckos have no more control over shedding than u do over growing your hair or nails. even older geckos dont have control over when they shed.

They will shed more often when losing or gaining weight.

wasn't finished.........edit button disapeared.

Also that coul be a burn or an area that got infected fron stuck sheds.
What are you using for heat? i would check your ground temps.

Now I am not an expert. I can't answer some of these questions as others can. I am not sure with this shedding thing, but it raises interesting questions. I know Snakes can readily shed more when they are injured, have a skin or scale problem, at least thats what I read. Is that what you were asking is if he can go into shed mode to heal his skin because he is injured? I am wanting to know now if his shedding will help or not?? Anybody ever had an injured Gecko with a scab shed, and how did that go?? I think it is a good thing to shed, but when the time comes and he gets down to peeling and eating the skin off of his tail is the skin even going to come off?? I mean its not skin its a scab! Will he try and peel it off and make it bleed, or will he leave another layer of skin?? Would that complicate things is what I am asking?? I don't know if hes gonna want to work on his tail, it might hurt. I am just definatley interested in HOW this happened? I am still confused? In other pictures it looks like a cut. Well, from your recent pictures there is a scab, and thats GOOD. I know how us women are. I could tell you gross horror stories about my Mother! All of us love to pick, at everything. Zits, scabs, sun tan peeling, anything! Some things you don't pick though. Would you "pick" the umbilical cord off a baby? Really bad wounds don't need messed with. If theres anything at least I know about its scab anatomy here. I know, gross! I get it from my Momma! I would leave it alone. Let the scab be and over time it SHOULD get smaller, and smaller, and then the scab will fall off, and there will be healed skin underneath! Do you have any clue how he got that Gracemynote?? And could one of you experienced guys answer my shedding question?? I think thats what you were trying to ask? I still would like to know though. I would monitor eating, make sure theres nothing in his tank that could be hurtful, and I wouldn't just leave crickets in there. I have tried many different techniques with my Gexie. If you leave them in there they will poop EVERYWHERE! You don't want his tail getting infected, or having the crickets crawling on him! Those crickets can be some major bullies if your Reptiles not interested. Gexie eats perfectly for us now because we remove all his hides before we feed him, so the crickets can't hide. We make sure the paper towels down so they can't climb under it, and then Gexie does the rest! He eats about 3 to 4 to 5 a night! If hes not interested in the last one, Jeff removes it so Gex doesn't have to be bothered, and the tank stays a lot cleaner! Then we put the hides back, duh. We have no problems this way. Just keep the Neo on there, and give him a few weeks to heal. When he does shed I would just watch him, I wouldn't help him. Only he knows what hurts. The only time I would help Gexie is like a day later if he didn't finish his job. Then I'd bath him. I mean they know what there doing, they don't need us complicating everything!