Anole Eye Gunk

[Zoe]

Warning: Gross photos below.





I took in a knight anole today. Very skinny (but eating well now, and has just been wormed), scabbing and crustiness around the vent, and this eye issue. His orb seems to be covered with whitish goop. It moves around over the eye but doesn' come out when he's blinking. I think an eye is behind it. Blinking moves the goop over the orb but only for a moment.

Any ideas? In the photos it looks like the eye is recessed but it isn't; the goop actually protrudes a little bit.

[txherp]

Poor guy I rescued one earlier this year.

I can't tell you what the problem is exactly but I would advise to get some terremyacin ointment and start putting that on the eye daily. You can buy it from the Bean Farm or at the vet. I wonder if he can or will ever be able to see out of the eye.

[Zoe]

I know, poor anoles. They really get the short of end of the stick, huh?

Good news item #1: he pooped. I was worried because of his crusty vent. One of his hemipene bulges was smaller than the other so I wonder if he prolapsed at some point. But then, some men are like that too, hehe.

Good news #2: the goo mass over his eyes seems to be shifty slightly. Unfortunately, I can't really remove it myself. He keeps it closed when I have him out (even if the other is open) and the eye kind of recesses into the socket when he closes it, so digging it out forcefully would be difficult. Since it seems to be moving on its own, I'll leave it be for a few more days and see how it is.

I had half a tube of an eye ointment from earlier this year when I took another lizard to the vet for a minor eye infection, so I've been using that and plan to keep doing it twice a day for 14 days.

I don't imagine he'll ever see out of the eye, it looks cloudy from what I saw. But worth a shot, anyway! He does have lovely colours so if he fills out and his eye clears up he would make a cool pet. Not sure what I'll do with him if/when that happens, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

[Zoe]

Well, no change to his eye. My initial observation that the white stuff was gunk was incorrect; it is either his eye or part of his eye now, as it does indeed NOT move. I have ordered a different eye antibiotic but am not expecting any change and will give up on the eye if that doesn't work.

On the plus side, he has gained a lot of weight and is now in decent body condition thanks to panacur and good old fashioned nummers. He prefers to be fed and watered by hand even though he really doesn't like me very much.

Some of his vent crusties have fallen off which is a relief - hopefully nothing nasty is brewing under there. I am continuing with polysporin application until it looks to be thoroughly healed.

All in all, I'm happy with his progress. He'll always be special needs, though, and I have no idea what I'll do with him when he's ready to move on as I really haven't got room for a tank that is big enough. We'll see.

[dr del]

Has it been seen by a vet?

[Zoe]

Hi,

No, I haven't taken him to the vet. For various reasons I no longer bother with vets for my exotic pets. I always fork out a fortune for an "I don't know" diagnosis and the animal either dies or anyway or lives because of something else I did or because it pulled through on its own.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Zoe, this particular guy might benefit from systemic antibiotics, not just eye ointment. Getting him proper antibiotics MIGHT save his eye. That does mean a vet visit--at least here in the US, you can't buy most injectable antibiotics without a vet prescription.

[Gypsy_King]

I've had this on one of the Leos I rescued it's stuck shed, it's from lack of vitamin A in the diet, feed your feeder insects some carrots 24 hrs. before feeding them to him. Use some saline solution to flush the eye. That's what I did to fix the leo's eye haven't had a problem since.