Eye problems and sexing question

I'm trying to get some more people's input on my newly acquired leopard gecko's eye issue. While it is in its tub the right eye is always closed. The only time it opens is when I've been soaking it to remove some shed. So far a member from another forum has been very helpful in giving me some ideas on what it could be and what I can do to improve it. I thought I'd post some pictures in a new thread to see if others see something we don't. I've looked at both eyes to compare with my 30x jewelers loupe, both eyes seem to be clear and the right eye of concern doesn't seem to have anything in it (like a piece of shed). I also took a quick picture to see if anyone could sex it, I didn't see any pores, but I'm not very familiar with sexing leos until they are adults.

Let me know what you see, thanks.




Eye of concern
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...IMG_9337_2.jpg
Eye that's always open
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...IMG_9340_2.jpg
Both eyes
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_9351.jpg
Eye of concern
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_9357.jpg
Eye that's always open
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_9355.jpg
Sex?
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/...8/IMG_9322.jpg

Maybe she has some shed somewhere irritating her eye? I honestly am not sure....just guessing......sorry :(

And I say she, because it definitely looks female :)

I can't help much with the eye issue other than it does look alittle swollen maybe. As far as sex goes I would say it is a female.

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Originally Posted by heathers*bps

Maybe she has some shed somewhere irritating her eye? I honestly am not sure....just guessing......sorry :(

And I say she, because it definitely looks female :)

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Thanks, hopefully that's all it is. I wouldn't be surprised if it was shed considering the insane amount of it she had around her feet. Any suggestions as to how to help her out?

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Originally Posted by AZmorphedballs

I can't help much with the eye issue other than it does look alittle swollen maybe. As far as sex goes I would say it is a female.

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Thanks, that's the 3rd person that said it's a female. Good stuff!

Does her eye seem to be stuck closed and when you soak her it softens whatever is causing it to be stuck so that she can open it? Have you tried flushing her eye out with plain saline solution or just water? Is there any sign of redness or inflammation inside her mouth? Sometimes mouth rot or a respiratory infection can cause swelling and inflammation of the eyes, even if it is minor. Vitamin A deficiency can also cause eye issues--maybe she has some vitamin deficiency if she wasn't getting proper supplementation and gutloaded insects prior to your getting her.

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Originally Posted by mlededee

Does her eye seem to be stuck closed and when you soak her it softens whatever is causing it to be stuck so that she can open it? Have you tried flushing her eye out with plain saline solution or just water? Is there any sign of redness or inflammation inside her mouth? Sometimes mouth rot or a respiratory infection can cause swelling and inflammation of the eyes, even if it is minor. Vitamin A deficiency can also cause eye issues--maybe she has some vitamin deficiency if she wasn't getting proper supplementation and gutloaded insects prior to your getting her.

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The eye doesn't seem to be stuck shut, she just doesn't seem to open it unless I put her in for a soak. Her eye opens easily when she is in the "gecko feet" deep water. I thought I had some saline around my house, but all I have is saline for nostrils. I'm sure sure if it's the same stuff.

I'm not sure how to go about looking inside of her mouth to check for inflammation. Any suggestions? She was a Petco gecko, very young one, but I don't believe they do much to their mealworms before feeding them straight from saw dust substrate.

I have still yet to see her eat, but every gecko I've ever had hasn't eaten within the first week of arrival it seems.

I rescued a LG yeas ago that has about 5 stuck sheds in both eyes.

The guy wouldn't eat for weeks cause he couldn't see. Took me a week to soften the skin and flushing the eye and pulling the skin out little by little. After a weeks time the skin came out, his eyes recovered slowly but was very sensitive to light.

It sounds like something is logged in the eye, either skin or something from the substrate. The actual eye looks normal but surrounding skin is lil inflamed.

As stated earlier, go get a bottle of saline solution and after a warm soak, flush the eye out slowly.

Are you using one of the coil type screw in if bulbs?
These have been known to cause eye damage to many different herps.
If using this type of light, stop asap.

http://www.petco.com/product/105894/...t=OnSiteSearch

Leopard geckos dont require UV lighting so the OP isnt using that im pretty sure of it.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

I rescued a LG yeas ago that has about 5 stuck sheds in both eyes.

The guy wouldn't eat for weeks cause he couldn't see. Took me a week to soften the skin and flushing the eye and pulling the skin out little by little. After a weeks time the skin came out, his eyes recovered slowly but was very sensitive to light.

It sounds like something is logged in the eye, either skin or something from the substrate. The actual eye looks normal but surrounding skin is lil inflamed.

As stated earlier, go get a bottle of saline solution and after a warm soak, flush the eye out slowly.

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Good to know, I will be running to the store in a few minutes to get some. Do you just squirt some in her eye? How do you attempt to take out the shed? She is only 6 grams.

Thanks, Rich!

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Originally Posted by Maixx

Are you using one of the coil type screw in if bulbs?
These have been known to cause eye damage to many different herps.
If using this type of light, stop asap.

http://www.petco.com/product/105894/...t=OnSiteSearch

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Thanks for the link, having a bearded dragon I had to do a lot of research on correct lighting. It's pretty messed up knowing that there are products like this that you have to watch out for. I'm only using heat tape for the hot spot. It's currently in a 6qt q-tub.

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Originally Posted by eel588

I'm not sure how to go about looking inside of her mouth to check for inflammation. Any suggestions?

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Use a small rubber spatula, the edge of a credit card or even just your fingernail if she is cooperative to get her to open her mouth. You want to see if there is any redness at all--it should all be a uniform pink color.

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Originally Posted by eel588

She was a Petco gecko, very young one, but I don't believe they do much to their mealworms before feeding them straight from saw dust substrate.

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Get a fecal done. All pet store geckos should have one.

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Originally Posted by eel588

I have still yet to see her eat, but every gecko I've ever had hasn't eaten within the first week of arrival it seems.

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I would leave a dish of gutloaded and calcium dusted mealworms in her enclosure at all times. Count the mealworms, that way you know if she ate any. You can offer crickets and other insects as she settles in.

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Originally Posted by eel588

Good to know, I will be running to the store in a few minutes to get some. Do you just squirt some in her eye? How do you attempt to take out the shed? She is only 6 grams.

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Make sure to get pure saline with no additives. Just flush her eye with it generously after soaking. I would start with that before trying to remove anything--she could have something stuck under the eyelid that is causing irritation and hopefully you can loosen or flush it out.

I had a leo with some stuck shed on his eye one time and I had a difficult time getting it out because I didn't want to damage his eye or poke at it too much. It took repeated flushing to loosen it enough and it didn't really let go enough that I could get it out until he was starting to go into shed again. I think that finally pushed it loose enough that I could just swab it out with a q-tip. HOWEVER--I could clearly see the stuck shed in my gecko's eye (like a cloudy membrane) whereas I do not see that in your gecko's eye, so like I said before, I would just start with flushing it out to see if that helps.

Thanks for the great advice. I flushed out her eye really well after a warm soak with pure saline. She is now opening her eye. I called up the local herp vet here in Tucson and they said a fecal would only be $32. The problem is that she hasn't eaten anything. She only pooped once for me when she first got here. I threw it away not thinking about it. Hopefully I can entice her to eat something shortly.

I gut load all my animals. I've been offering the smallest dubia nymphs I have, but I also bought some small mealies that I've also offered because that's what she's used to. I gut loaded them as well before offering. I'm sure refrigerated mealworms that have been dormant in saw dust probably aren't the most nutritious things in the world, gut loading is a must. Calcium is being offered as well at all times.

I continue to put olive oil on her feet that were messed up. It seems to be helping a lot. I think she's on the right track, besides the eating issue. I'll try dangling some in front of her tonight. I've been offering them in a small glass candle dish, maybe she doesn't know they are there.

What should get her to eat is waxworms. Not too many but enough to get a fecal sample

If I can't get her to eat some mealies tonight I'll go and get some.

When i was working with that rescue I had, He wouldnt eat when mealies were left in over night. I had to entice him by rubbing the mealie around his mouth to get him to open up and eat.


Not panic so much as LG are very hardy and can handle no food for a while

Yeah she will be okay not eating right away. She has a lot going on right now with a new home, her feet and her eye so that's a fair amount of stress that she's dealing with.

One thing you could try if you haven't already is just dropping a mealworm in front of her at night when she is out and about. If she sees it right there during a time of low stress (not right after a soak or anything) she might go for it.

Good news!

Last night I decided I was tired of waiting for her to find the insects in her glass candle holder. I put a mealie in front of her face and she went for it instantly. She ate four of them last night. I offered some this morning and she ate all 8 gut loaded mealworms and 4 dubia roaches. To say the least, I'm ecstatic. Also, the regular flushes of pure saline in her eyes has helped tremendously. She now has her eyes opened regularly. She still needs additional treatments before she is completely healthy, but I'm confident that within a few weeks we will have a chubby healthy leo on our hands. Thanks for the help everyone.

Glad to hear shes doing better

Awesome! I thought she might eat if she saw a mealworm right in front of her, so I am glad to hear that she does have quite the appetite after all. :) Glad to hear her eye is doing better too.