Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't normally ask questions on Internet forums for friends, but I received a disturbing phone call last night. An acquaintance has a 5 year old leopard gecko that has been suffering from abcesses for the last several months. The first abcess occurred in and around the animal's cloaca. A local veterinarian (who does not specialize in exotics) treated the abcess to the best of his ability, and the gecko seemed to recover. It had stopped eating, but began feeding when the problem appeared to be fixed. However, after a few short weeks, the gecko has abcessed again, this time around one of its legs. As it was described to me, the area is swollen with a cheesy-like discharge. Right now, the gecko is still feeding, though not as much as usual.

I haven't seen the animal, and I know nothing about the cage set up, temperature of the cage, etc. The only thing I know is that the gecko eats crickets, and I assume, nothing else.

I don't know anything about geckos. I am strictly a snake keeper, and have been over 15 years. But I'm in a small town with no vets that work with exotics. That's why I was called. The owner thought I might know what to do, or at least I could find out.

Are abcesses common on leopards? Does this scream of a common problem that needs to be addressed? If anyone needs any more information, email me at rnhpreston@charter.net. This gecko belongs to my acquaintance's son, and he's quite attached to it. She really wants to successfully treat the animal. I know I haven't given the best info here, but I'm only relaying what was told to me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

RP

I am not a vet or an expert, but one of our geckos had surgery for an abcess twice now. According to our reptile vet, even after being drained, the abcess will reoccur since draining it does not really remove the infection/problem. Our leo is now on anti-biotics to combat the problem, but the vet says it is likely to reoccur. Our leo has a problem with it's cloaca, and in addition to anti-biotics we need to clean this area gently to help fight the problem.

As for husbandry, our gecko is kept at correct temps, on reptile carpet, and eats well. The vet checked all of our housing and caging. So even with correct husbandry they can happen. Your friend needs to find a good reptile vet to take the gecko too to get it some relief and treatment, but even with this the problem may reoccur (at least how I understand the vet's explanation)
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2.0 Leos (Spot - Normal but oh, so sexy; Jessie - hypotang)
3.2.4 Fattails (Henri, Suwannee, Valencio, Dixie, Isis, Zipper, Pheonix, Hissy, and Snickerdoodle)
0.0.1 redfoot tortoise (Sherman)
0.0.1 sulcatta tortoise (Tinacious aka Tiny)
1.1 Dogs (Zubin and Brenda)
0.1 cat (Mimi)

We have one other leo and 8 fat-tails, none of which have ever had a problem with an abcess. As such I would say it is not a common gecko problem but can be a recurring problem for some leos.
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2.0 Leos (Spot - Normal but oh, so sexy; Jessie - hypotang)
3.2.4 Fattails (Henri, Suwannee, Valencio, Dixie, Isis, Zipper, Pheonix, Hissy, and Snickerdoodle)
0.0.1 redfoot tortoise (Sherman)
0.0.1 sulcatta tortoise (Tinacious aka Tiny)
1.1 Dogs (Zubin and Brenda)
0.1 cat (Mimi)

Thanks. She didn't say anything about antibiotics. I'll pass this along to her and see if we can get the problem fixed.

RP