help! shed problem and consequence

[Laterr]

the last few times that my leopard gecko has shed, he's had a problem getting ALL of it off. Toes and around his head.
1) he does not eat his shed for some reason. leaves a big mess so i know when to help out a little
2) i always have his humid hide in there prepared for him (don't know the level of the humidity but it's moss in a tupperware container that i mist every other day)
3) if he's not getting it off, i give him a soak.

ok, so i soaked him a few days ago and it loosened it up but he still wasn't getting it off so i soaked him again today while rubbing at his head with a q-tip.
it was sliding off and i wasn't thinking anything was going wrong as it completely fell his head no problem.
THEN I picked him up to return him to his cage when i noticed his right eye looked SWOLLEN and his left eye looked really hazy. like a cloud was over it.
His left eye actually looks OK now, not normal but definitely better.

I really don't know what to do and i've been trying to find herp vets in my area but all the ones listed are pretty far, closed or don't have a phone number so I can't call to check if they're in right now (it being sunday and all).
He's moving around fine right now in his tank without much problem but i still fear for his eye.

any advice just in case i can't find a vet today would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Clementine_3]

Can you post a picture of him? A good head/eye shot would be great!
How is he set up? What is the substrate, how are you heating it, what are the temps, how do you measure them, is the humid hide on the warm or cold side, what does he eat and how often. Please give a good run-down of things, it could be husbandry related.
He may have stuck shed in his eye, you can try to GENTLY drop some water in it (watch his ears!) and GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY rub with a wet Q-Tip. Is there any discharge? How bad is the swelling?
Again, pics would really help.

[Laterr]

Can you post a picture of him? A good head/eye shot would be great!
How is he set up? What is the substrate, how are you heating it, what are the temps, how do you measure them, is the humid hide on the warm or cold side, what does he eat and how often. Please give a good run-down of things, it could be husbandry related.
He may have stuck shed in his eye, you can try to GENTLY drop some water in it (watch his ears!) and GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY rub with a wet Q-Tip. Is there any discharge? How bad is the swelling?
Again, pics would really help.

notice the redness under his eye. it looks like a little internal bleeding (or irritation) and he was licking the inside of his mouth on that side earlier
i don't have a better camera or lighting, just cell phone pictures. With his left eye it looks like a little shed skin in there (no pictures because you couldn't see from the quality anyway) but imagine a little eye booger on one of us.
his right eye is my main concern. Let me try to answer your questions.
-20 gallon long glass tank with the carpet stuff as substrate.
-3 hides. Right side, middle, left.
-undertank heater (connected to a dimmer) on the left side
and the humid hide is on the warm end
temps are measuring around 95 on the warm end, 80-83 on the cool end. I'm using a temp gun (RBI205L)
-he actually hasn't eaten in a couple weeks. i keep offering worms and crickets to him but he's not interested (and i don't have a dish to keep the worms in for his convenience). He WAS eating about 6 mealworms every other day but he just lost interest in all food recently. Right now he weighs 113.3 and I added a 10.0 uvb light yesterday to see if it would spark his appetite.

I found 2 herp vets that will be in tomorrow (Monday) so I'll visit one before I try the drops and q-tip idea. There's no discharge from his nose or mouth but like i said, the left eye looks like it has a booger.

[Clementine_3]

The UV may actually make it worse, they aren't used to bright sun and his eye is already bothering him. I'd not use it.
His tank seems perfect, my best guess is some sort of infection, a trip to the vet is in order. You can find vets on
http://www.herpvetconnection.com too.
Good luck and be sure to update us.

[Laterr]

alright, the vet said it just looks like some shed that got in his eye. There's gunk in his eye that'll come out on its own in time and i'm to rinse his eyes with eye wash and apply eye drops that he gave me 2-3 times a day. He applied anti-inflammatory drops that should help with the swelling.

and i haven't had the light on since this incident. I'm trying to give him quiet time.
And the vet was surprised he was having trouble shedding since i have the humid hide in there since most owners he sees don't have it and the geckos are already missing toes but he suggested i try moist paper towels instead of moss so i guess i'll give that a shot.
Thank you so much and i'll update this once he's better

[Clementine_3]

A good update indeed! He should be much improved shortly.
I use paper towels for my humid hides, I find they stay damp pretty well and they are super easy to change out. I have found that three 'select a size' sheets accordianed on top of each other and then folded in half is the best, or two regular size folded in quarters. I have never been a fan of moss, I think it just gets stinky and yucky way before you notice it has.
Glad you took him in, sounds like he needed a quick exam and fix-'em-up

[Gypsy_King]

On a side note another reason Leo's have problems shedding is because of a vitamin A deficiency. Most commercial vitamin supplements do not have Vitamin A So what you can do is feed your feeder insects with carrots 24 hours prior to feeding to your Leo. Or find a product called Jump start it has Vitamin A in it. Had the same problem with a Tremper albino not too long ago and my local mom and pop Reptile store told me to get him more Vitamin A. and, he's sheded fine every since.