Stuck Shed Playbook

Stuck shed (dysecdysis) is the most common gecko husbandry problem after anorexia. It happens when humidity is too low for the shed cycle, or when dehydration thins the lymph fluid that lifts the old skin off the new one. Caught early on the body or tail it is annoying but not dangerous. Caught late on the toes or eyes it becomes a vet visit and a vet bill.

The Stuck Shed Playbook gives the keeper the warm humid soak protocol that resolves most stuck shed at home, names the four problem zones by urgency, and frames recurring stuck shed as a husbandry problem worth auditing rather than a recurring soak.

What the document does:

It defines what stuck shed looks like, splits the four problem zones (toes, eye caps, tail tip, body patches) by urgency, walks the warm humid soak protocol step by step, lists what not to do, sets the escalation criteria for vet-now, and provides the husbandry audit checklist to prevent the next stuck shed.

What is included:

• Definition and visual identification of stuck shed
• Four problem zones in order of urgency (toes most urgent, eye caps vet-after-one-soak, tail tip, body patches)
• Warm humid soak protocol with container, water temperature (80 to 85 F for leos, 75 to 80 F for cresties), depth (below the chin), and duration (10 to 15 minutes)
• Q-tip assist technique (gentle roll, never pull)
• What not to do (no pulling, no oils, no deep water, no hot water, never touch the eye)
• Five vet-now triggers including circulation-impacted toes and retained eye caps after one soak
• Husbandry audit covering humid hide setup (leos), misting cycle (cresties), digital hygrometer verification, hydration
• Recovery tracking through three consecutive clean sheds

Format and how it works:

Word version (.docx) for editing and a PDF version for printing. The playbook is written to be referenced when stuck shed appears and re-read between sheds to prevent recurrence.

Why this version is different:

Most stuck shed advice frames the warm soak as the cure. The Stuck Shed Playbook treats the soak as triage and names humidity correction as the actual fix. The four-zone urgency frame also clarifies why retained eye caps are a vet visit and why stuck shed on toes is the highest-risk pattern (constriction leads to circulation loss leads to toe loss).

Who this is for:

For gecko keepers managing an active stuck shed episode and for breeders who want every buyer to know the protocol before the first shed cycle in the new home. Pairs with the Shed Log (which makes recurring patterns legible) and the Daily Husbandry Log (which exposes the humidity gaps that drive stuck shed).

Get the playbook on its own, or open the bundle for the full kit at volume pricing.