Help Please: Shed stuck in eyes, can't flush it out

[Oscar Zulu]

Hi, all. New to the site. A coworker referred me here. Not sure what her username is, sorry.

I've got two female leos that are about five years old. The runt of the two shed a few weeks ago, but looked like the skin stayed in her eyes. I tried slowly syringing warm water in to clean it out ... gently removed some with a wet Qtip, but couldn't get it out. Someone told me to try regular Visine, which isn't helping much either. Now, the eyes stick shut and only open after running warm water over the eyes for quite a while. Now, the other leo has it in one eye. It looks totally gray until I flush it out, but cannot clear it up.

Any ideas? I've looked high and low in the forum for similar posts and am only finding the basic "stuck on the toes," or "stuck on the nose." I'm getting worried because they aren't eating b/c they can't see. Help!

[Clementine_3]

Are they housed together? I'm sort of thinking it's more than stuck shed and a vet visit may be in order. Usually a flush with water will take care of shed in the eye rather nicely. If it hasn't rinsed out and is no better (perhaps worse) and spread to the other Leo it really sounds like an infection that should be looked at by a good herp vet.
Check here for a vet near you if you don't already have one.

[Oscar Zulu]

Are they housed together? I'm sort of thinking it's more than stuck shed and a vet visit may be in order. Usually a flush with water will take care of shed in the eye rather nicely. If it hasn't rinsed out and is no better (perhaps worse) and spread to the other Leo it really sounds like an infection that should be looked at by a good herp vet.
Check here for a vet near you if you don't already have one.

Thanks for the response, Clementine. They are housed together. I've nav'd to the link you provided and found a vet (actually, within five minutes of the house) that sees exotics. I've got an appointment tomorrow and will let you know what comes of it.

$90 for the visit!

[Oscar Zulu]

Just back from the vet. He used irrigating solution and cleaned out the eyes with an instrument and ended up pulling a plug of puss out of one. The corneas are opaque and eye globes sunken, probably from dehydration and not eating. He gave me some antibiotic eye drops (gentamicin sulfate) to give 3x/day. He said the only way to know for sure exactly what the infection is and provide targeted treatment was a culture ... $180. Or, go with the general antibiotic he offered and follow up in a week.

Recommendations: Reptisun 5.0 UV light (critical to calcium metabolism); a few drops of liquid baby vitamins in drinking water each day.

[Clementine_3]

Do you supplement with D3 at all (calcium w/D3)? Typically that is enough, along with vitamins and pure calcium.
I am in no way disagreeing with your vet or the advice you were given but am a tad concerned about the light, especially given that there is already an eye issue going on. Leo's aren't exposed to a lot of light, late evening and early morning at best. Make sure there are areas of the tank that they can get 100% out of the light if they want to. Yes, they do have eyelids but they are not 'made' for constant exposure to UV rays. Too much could actually cause their eyes to worsen and could potentially 'sun' burn them (I have heard of this, never seen it but it makes sense it could happen).
Also, don't get a coil light, there have been issues with those that have supposedly been fixed but you never know!
I'm glad you took them in, hopefully the drops will fix them right up

[Oscar Zulu]

Yeah ... I use Rep-Cal Phos-free Calcium w/Vit D. I was also a bit skeptical of the light recommendation. I've been using the drops as directed and see really no improvement. However, the other gecko seems to look better. Hard to say, really. I'm afraid I'm going to have to dole out the money for a culture, but it may be too late ... at least for one eye.

She's not eating at all, either. I think I'm going to try tina_t's slurry rec from this thread ... ick!

...

You can also make a "slurry" that is easier to feed from a syringe, rather than having to force feed her bugs. You can make this using

Repti-aid insectivore powder, (1/2 tsp)
peach or apricot baby food (1/4 tsp)
splash of pedialyte (1 1/2 tsp)
well squished up 2 week crickets 5-10

mix this all together well and draw it up into a syringe, drip a drop on the end of her nose and let her lick it off, or let her lick the syringe end. This method is way less stressful for her than forcefeeding her whole insects, and will put weight on her faster and more healthfully than waxworms alone.

...

[Clementine_3]

It may take a bit of time to see improvement, especially if there is a lot of 'gunk'.
You may want to add this stuff to the slurry as well, I've used it in the past and swear by it. Really works wonders for stimulating the appetite. Put a few drops in when you are feeding and/or in the water bowl. She's under a lot of stress right now too so won't feel much like eating, keep offering though.

[Oscar Zulu]

You think? Has anyone any experience with clearing up eye infections? The vet want's to see us and another $90 back a week later.