Shedding Leo

Question
QUESTION: Hi,Last night I watched the most remarkable thing,I watched my leo shed.
Now my question is I dident see him pull the old shed off his tail.but theres
no traces of old skin that I can see. Does it shed at another time or did I just
miss it? And with the old skin getting caught up around his toes,will I be able
to see it,or do I have to look very closely. I tried looking as best as I could and
dident see any,but I dont know what to exactly look for. Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: Hi Taylor,
I told ya it was really something to see!!! I am so glad you got to witness it!!
If there is any shed that is left, you will most likely see it as the white dry shed in a day or so.
His tail may not have shed with this shed..but, do watch for any color changes (the white of the dead skin) on the toes and tail.
When you take him out of his tank, give him a nice misting of warm water, particularly his feet and tail.
Its pretty easy to see stuck shed.  If it didn't all come off this time, since the little ones shed pretty often(a few weeks), it should come off with the next shed.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thats good news,yea when I go to try to mist him he screams and it pisses
him off. lol So I just do the moisture of the peat moss. I have another
question,My leo likes to take out some of the moss out of his hide sometimes
and when hes hunting for crickets he sometimes mistakes the moss as a
cricket,strikes it,but then relies its not a crickets and quickly drops it,and
tonight he got some moss with a cricket but spit the moss out,now if he
ingest some moss,is that going to compact him like sand will? Thanks so
much for your help.

ANSWER: Hi Taylor,
I prefer the terrarium moss in the humid hide because it does pack down. Its not a loose substrate like the peat moss, and not "dirty". With the peat moss, its different than the sand in that its more digestible and is less likely to cause a problem than sand, which will build up in their system, plus it sticks to their tongue and everywhere else on them. I generally only mist a plant or the side of the tank that mine is near, when out and don't often mist them unless I see a shed problem, which...thankfully I've not, yet.
If you would feel safer using the terrarium moss, then switch it.
With the misting, yep..sounds like he does get a bit PO'd at that.
Try a finer mist, warm water and go slower with it. Believe it or not, it may actually be the sound of the spray that he hears as a hiss and freaks him out and he hisses back. You can also set him into a pan of warm water that will just cover his toes.  His tail will lay in the water. Even if he is in there for a few seconds, at least the feet are getting wet.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I would of never thought of the noise the spray bottle made could of freaked
him out. Thats a very good conclusion. Finally last night he would let me
touch him and I was able to pick him up. Now with the moss,this is what I
have...http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753947

I picked it up at the local pets mart. If thats not good for him,if you can
please redirect me to a better type of moss. Also Im looking at starting to
breed my crickets,since my leo is going trough 15 a night. Do you have any
sugestions,tips,articles on to how to start breeding the crickets. Thanks so
much for your help.

Answer
Hi Taylor,
That moss looks pretty much like the stuff I use.  Here is the one I use Zoo Med Green Terrarium Moss  http://tinyurl.com/cxzjak
Once it is soaked, it softens and flattens...then you just mist or wet as needed.
The one you are using looks like it does the same thing.
I've never bred crickets but.... they say it is easy.  Here are some links that seems to give good details, with pictures that really help.

http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/crickets.htm

Personally, you are better off ordering in bulk than raising your own.
You may also want to consider ordering your crickets in bulk, on line.  Much cheaper!!!  Here is a link to many links..lol
Some of the links no longer work. The best is to order from somewhere that is near you, which does save on shipping and time it takes the crickets to get to you.
http://www.ciar.org/feedercharts/insect.html  Be sure to order a size or two smaller than what your leo is eating as the crickets WILL grow.  Its safer to have to feed more than to feed ones that are too large..