Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month ago my leo developed a white, cloudy film in his eye...I went to the vet and she claimed that it must be a corneal laceration caused by sand in his cage. I've had him on sand for 7 years and never had this problem...She prescribed neo-poly-bac solution to rub in his eyes 2x daily for 2 weeks. It did nothing noticable, and when I contacted her she said it might be a permanent condition. I unfortunately had to have my parents take care of/feed him for a couple months while I was at school, and I've now found that not only is the eye worse, but it's now the same condition in the other eye. He's lost weight and I think he's unable to find food due to blindness. Pics are below:

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4141997978_94557d8789_b.jpg[IMG/]

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4141996998_75ff928053_b.jpg[IMG]

Please let me know if there's anything I can do, I have read about people that have cleared this condition, hopefully it's nothing permanent

oops couldn't embed but here's the links to the images:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2515/4141996998_75ff928053_b.jpg

and here:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4141997978_94557d8789_b.jpg

Any help appreciated!

Hi, I would try and find another vet, eye problems like this in any lizard can be so many different things.
Respiratory infection, or other systemic infection, also can be a vitamin A deficientcy among other things. I speak from having many other species of lizards when I say if this has been going on all this time and now has affected the other eye and his weight is suffering I would certainly not wait any longer before I got him to a vet.

I would try and assist him in eating until I got an appointment. Hold a cricket to his mouth and rub gently so he knows it's there, see if he takes it. let us know how he does.

Maybe someone else can jump in here that has see this in leo's before and dealt with it. I have only had my leo's for a short time, but have dealt with eye issues in other lizards.
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PHEve / Eve

HI. Ive kept leos for 15 years (yeah, its the majority of my life, but still) I have had two of my animals have this or a very similar problem. Cloudy, filmy white eyes. I have an amazing reptile vet and he had me use a prescribed eye wash (just saline, nothing special) and irrigate the eyes, which actually sort of washed away a literal film from the eye. I also used a cotton swab soaked with eye wash to wipe at the very corners of the eye to remove some excess film. If this works, then it is possible that this was caused by skin being left in the eyes after shedding, or by sand. I have always been a sand advocate until this happened to my second leo, at which time i switched to reptile carpet. It just wasnt worth the risk to me anymore. Also, if your animal has lost weight, is lethargic, or is not eating, try soaking it in warm beef broth (sounds ridiculous, Im aware, but trust me) once a day, make sure the tank is plenty warm, and if the animal doesnt eat after a week of this try force feeding using a syringe and a mashed up mixture of either mealworms and water, or what I used that my vet suggested was wet kitten food (yes, feline) with some water. Just take the syringe to the edge of the leos lip and king of wedge it in. I did this (eye wash, beef bath, force feeding) religiously for three weeks and my leo recovered AMAZINGLY. Please give these a try and I wish you the best of luck!