Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This little guy just hatched on the third. He appears to be missing eyelids and acts as if he's blind. His back right leg is also webbed! There's a flap of skin connecting the ankle to the hip. My geckos are from unrelated stock and I've never heard of anything like this before? Has anyone had any experience with this and if so... any tips for keeping the little guy alive. I'm afraid once he has his first shed, he won't be able to feed because I'm almost positive he's blind.
any info appreciated,
Jason

Leos without eyelids are showing up with increased frequency. Not really sure why that is. I am real sorry about your little guy. You have a bit of a decision to make about it...some have chosen to euthanize hatchlings with severe deformities. If you are going to keep him, it will be a lot of work keeping him eating / healthy and you certainly don't want to breed him. Good luck with this little guy.

I have heard of it happening before, and it really is a shame He's a lovely little guy, I wish you the best of luck if he survives, otherwise.. Good luck with the rest of the neonates.
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2.4.1.2 Leos
1.1 Beardie
1.0 Burm
0.1 Common Boa
1.0 Bp (Turns out, it's a 2nd burmese)

Im sorry about your lil guy My very first hatchling i ever hatched had the same problem with the eyelids. unrelated parents as well. he also had a hard time working his back legs. Sadly the little guy only lasted 3 days. I wish you luck in whatever you choose to do with your baby. It really sucks when things like this happen.
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~Melissa~
1.3.2 Leopard geckos
1.1 Bearded dragons
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.1 Western hognose
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Savannah Monitor
1.1 Ferrets
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 dwarf hamster

1.0 Psycho cat

Melissas Menagerie

I believe that this is the price of mass breeding and inbreeding of these animals (or any for that matter). Unfortunately, i am afraid that the neonates you have hatched may carry on these genes. I would inform any buyers of these animals (if you are going to sell) to not use them for breeders. I would also consider not breeding the parents any more, just to halt the gene that is causeing this. Since this keeps occuring, it is my belief that the sooner it is stopped the better. That is my belief tho, you can do what you will.
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"raised by a cup of coffee"

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 columbian boa- Brooklyn
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
0.1 partial stripe ghost corn- Raven
1.0 Sunglow motley corn-Ernie
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.1 russian tortoise- Manja
0.1 collared lizard-O-ren
0.1.1 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.0.2 Red american toadlets with 0.0.7 legs total (er, i have one w/3....)
0.0.1 gray tree frog toadlet
0.0.6 land snails
0.0.2 millipedes of unknown species from TN
0.0.1 spotted slug
5.3 bettas
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
2.3 ratties Rizzo, Bounce, Bree, Blitzkreig, and Zelda

I have a tiny female leo with the same problem... I don't know what to do about the eyes, but I have found a way to feed her which you might try. I have been feeding her human baby food that consists only of strained meat with broth, which seems to be high protein enough to sustain her thus far, fed by hand with an eyedropper. Just dab a tiny bit on the tip of the nose (avoiding nostrils!), and when the animal licks it off, give it another drop. I have on occasion mixed small amounts of calcium powder with the baby food, but I need to find out more, so I'm going to post a new question about gecko nutrition which might tell us more. My hope is that I will be able to train her to lick the food out of a dish, but for now the hand-feeding, though time consuming, is promising.

Hope your little guy is ok!

Michele

Just like that. Except both back legs were 'webbed' and it deformed the cloaka also. Mine was an albino from unrelated parents.

I believe mine was due to problems during incubation. I went away for a week and a few of my eggs were flooded when I got home. Most of the eggs went bad. The one that dd hatch was deformed like this. It hatched about a month after the incident.

Sadly I never got the little one to eat. Even forcefeeding didn't work very well. He was so tiny...and he spat most of it back up. The eyes would dry out because the little guy had no lids to really blink with. Paper towel would get stuck to it. I decided the little one was better off being put down.

Good luck with your little one. I have heard of some babies like this surviving. As a precaution, never breed it, or try and find a home where the person won't breed. I know it's a bit obvious and common knowledge...but just in case.

I was given one similar a couple of weeks ago at a reptile show. It was "free to a good home". I should have passed I know, but I wanted to give it a chance. Anyway, the one I have [Ray] doesn't seem to be totally blind, although he certainly can't see much. He can catch small crickets on his own! To make it easier for him, I hobble the crix and feed them to him one at a time. He's up to 2 small crix a day now, and seems to be doing fine. He doesn't really "hunt" the crix, but will grab them when they walk up to him. I'm hoping that I can get him to start taking mealies soon, but no luck so far.

I've been refering to him as a "he" but I really don't know the sex at this point. It doesn't really matter, I have no plans to breed the little guy.

Good luck,
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Dan

I unfortunately had 7 hatchlings this year hatch out with eyes like yours.

Why? I dont know. Again, parents weren't related, and the same couple produced beautiful viable babies. Its rather unfortunate, and bothers me quite a bit seeing as I don't know why.

In my case, supplementation/over supplementation wasn't an issue... nothing was really. I'm blaming it on incubator temp. fluctuations-- but I'm still not 100% sure.

The only/best thing I can do is not breed them again, and have them as pets.

I put down all 7.

Michael

This is the first year I have experieneced this. i have had the same thing happen this year to a few baby geckos with the eyelid deformities and walking funny.. In some individuals the eyes were almost non existent or sometimes even different sizes.
The care was the same, the supplementation was the same and the temps were the same.. most seemed to come from one particular pair..a rainwater albino and a het. for albino female. This pair is 3 years old and has produced some killer looking tangeine albinos in the past.. I plan on breeding this pair again next year just as i have in the past and see what becomes of it.

Since so many ppl are having this problem occur in this particular year and there doesn't seem to be any common denominator(other than being leopard geckos), i would venture a guess to say , that maybe its some sort of natural culling mechanism within the gecko itself. then again it could be some sort of environmental factor. look at the frogs and amphibians, when they were first discovered deformed. If anyone is working on a PhD, this could be a potentially decent project much like the amphibians.

In case anyone was wondering, some died on their own and some were put down.

the amphibians get deformed because of pesticides & fertilizers leeching into their habitat. (research done in the lab i work at targets these problems.) if a similar factor is contributing to the problem in leopard geckoes, if it would have serious implications for leopard gecko husbandry.
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marla
currently: 0.1.0 axolotls, 0.0.9 catfish, 0.1 ferrets, 2.8 leopard geckoes, 0.0.20 oriental fire-bellied toads, and 0.2.0 sugar gliders

I hatched four babies this year (first time), one (from two unrelated albinos) was similar to what you have here. Its eyes were very tiny & beady, almost nonexistent. I saw no webbing, but its lower jaw was underdevolped and very strange looking. It would not eat or drink on its own and eventually died a few weeks after hatching. I had thought of putting it out of its misery, but wanted to give it a chance. It was a bummer hatching a mutant my first year breeding. The other 3 are healthy and happy.

if you really care for the welfare of the baby, i would take it to a herp vet for their advice. at the least, they can show you the proper method to euthanize such hatchlings (decapitation or breaking of the neck is not appropriate for euthanizing reptiles, as the brain & pain receptors continue to operate much longer than in endotherms). in the meantime, keep its environment humid, to protect its eyes, and house it alone.
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marla
currently: 0.1.0 axolotls, 0.0.9 catfish, 0.1 ferrets, 2.8 leopard geckoes, 0.0.20 oriental fire-bellied toads, and 0.2.0 sugar gliders