Well I'm stumped, which really isn't hard to come to. My friend's Blazing Blizard Leo is having some nasty skin problems. Being the starving college students that we are... not to mention the fact that the nearest vet is a good hour or two away.

Anyway, when she got him he was just fine, fat healthy tail, beautiful pale skin... but slowly he's gone downhill. He started having problems shedding on his tail, a bit of stuck bits here and there... then he started getting nasty patches that cracked and bled just a bit. Now he is loosing weight, his appetite has gone down hill and he's got some little skin patches missing from his lip.

His cage is as textbook as we can make it, water dish, calcium dish, repticarpet that gets cleaned regularly, hide, Under Tank Heater, heat lamp, cool section with it's own hide... we feed him in a seperate container, dust with vitimins and calcium... It's starting to make us crazy! Is there something we missed? I've tried soaking him, and I've rubbed a little oil on his tail... but nothing helps.

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Do you have a humid hide?

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

This sounds serious, I know funds are tight but I would really stress a vet visit.

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"If you're not falling, you're not trying." - Sonni Trotter

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

Hello,

Could you clarify something for me? When you say "skin patches missing", do you mean he is having a bad shed or do you mean he is actually missing skin and has raw spots on him?

Would you mind posting a few pictures?

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Yea a few pics may help. Also like rich said is it patches of shed skin or patches of skin? I would really stress a vet visit, i know it's hard but, it maybe the little ones only hope! Good luck!

Sounds like parasites, with the weight loss. The skin condition though is odd. Sounds sorta like burns in a way, or just over dry skin, or flesh ulchers. Id say a vet till you show some more.

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We're working on getting a camera good enough to take a clear shot. As soon as we do I'll be able to give you guys a better idea of what's going on.

As for the patches on his lip, it's not the shed, it's the new skin. It almost looks like he clawed his nose. We thought before maybe he got some shed stuck and tried to claw it off... but it's just sort of weird.

And no, a humidity hide sounds like an excelent idea. I'll set one up this afternoon.

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There you have it. All these problems are caused because you didn't set a humid hide, *an absolute necessity* for them to moist and shed their skins!

I reccomend you read a.s.a.p. the leopard gecko caresheet here and make furher modifications on your set up.

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)