Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I just got my brother a new leopard gecko for his birthday, and it has an eye issue. His upper eyelid looks like a capital W and he acts like he is blind. So, at first I thought when I saw him it was just an anomoly. However, now that he is home, it seems like something is wrong. Any ideas??? Other than that he looks healthy, chubby tail, and nice color, everything else seems fine. Thanks.

Do you have a photo? Is it able to find food?

Well it gets food alright, ate 1 mealworm overnight. (I'm nymphs brother by the way) Well, shes definatly not blind, because I put my hand in there and she looked up at it. But now she was keeping her right eye closed, and sometimes she closes both. I'm really confused. Could this be an eye infection? Also, are albinos more sensitive to light?

I can't get a good photo. (ARRRGH!) My cameras make me so mad, the one with the zoom is always blurry, and over exposed. The one without the zoom is always overexposed, and can't get close enough...Someone tell me how you get good pics?
P.S. I've kept him seperated from Isis (other gecko)

When I ended up with a rescue that had this problem, I searched all over the web for answers, and mostly what I found was LOTS of similar stories. It seems to have something to do with a bad shed, and it can, but doesn't always, lead to infections. Saline rinses and keeping the gecko hydrated seem to help. Making sure it goes into the humid hide or gets a good soak when it's shedding also helps. Mine seemed totally blind for the first month, but is just now showing signs of improvement.
Yours doesn't sound too bad, so I'm thinking a few warm soaks might be enough, and it will heal on it's own eventually.

What do you mean by warm soaks? And would it be a good idea to put pedialite in his water? Also, what type of saline?

Oh, just thought it might be a good idea to mention that hes still kind of a baby. I'm guessing 2-3 (maybe 4) months.

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Can you post a picture? What I would do is soak him/her for about 15-20 minutes-it wouldn't hurt to put some pedialyte in the water (like half and half-if the pedialyte is cold from the fridge add it to hot water to cool it off). You want the water to be not freezing cold but not hot to your touch - I would say on the cooler side to your touch but not cold. I have a big tupperware bowl with wholes punched in the lid, so maybe you can make something like that. Put a paper towel (folded in half then half again) in the bottom. Put enough water to maybe cover his legs. Also, if you place the bowl on a heating pad it will add more humidity. The idea is to get it humid. After 15-20 minutes, take a towel and gently grab your gecko with the towel around the front legs/chest area also keeping the rear legs kinda tight in your hand, just so he doesn't wiggle away (don't pull the tail). He should be wrapped enough in the towel so just his head is sticking out, but don't strangle him. Be gentle because if he's a baby he's quite fragile and skittish, move slow (but be ready to move fast if you have to). You might want to have someone on hand with another towel to catch him if he gets away. Take a warm water moistened Q-tip or cotton ball and try to gently roll the skin off of the eye. Watch out he's gonna move all over the place-keep a fairly tight grip, if you go slow he might realize your trying to help and be still for a while. See if any skin comes off the eye, if so, repeat the process in like 12 hours. If it seems like its helping do the soak once or twice a day. However if your gecko is really, small you may just want to take him to the vet to be on the safe side. If he's okay with being handled he should do fine.

If anyone sees something wrong with this please correct me. But that is what I would try to do.

His eyes seem to be doing better, and I discovered some normal looking poo in the corner of his cage today. He hasn't touched his meal worms at all, but I'm pretty sure he's eating crickets.