Clouded Leopard Gecko Eye

Question

Max's Eye   QUESTION: Hi, Tracie, Our female leopard gecko, Max, is about 3 yrs old. Her left eye is clouded and the eyeball appears a little swollen.

Here's a little history, she's always been kept in a tank with reptile carpet, under tank heater, overhead heat lamp, damp hide box and another female gecko who is older and quite healthy.

About a month ago she started looking a little thin, but was still eating. She eats a diet of crickets and mealworms and an occasional pinkie. She's been laying a lot of eggs lately (about one every 3 weeks), but the eggs are thin and shrivel quickly. We had been keeping calcium in her feed dish in the tank and we would sometimes see her licking it. About a month ago I forgot to put the calcium back in her tank after cleaning it. Then our frog died and I didn't have any crickets for a few weeks, so she just had mealworms. The other female tends to eat all the food, so we will often split them up and observe to make sure she gets plenty. She has always been a good eater, but has never gotten as plump as the other female (who is a few years older).

A few weeks ago, we went on vacation and someone else was feeding them but they said they never saw her, only the other female. Their hide box got dried out - the weather was pretty hot when we were gone. When we returned she was looking quite thin and lethargic. I cleaned out another tank, lined it with paper towels, moistened a small hide box (filled with shredded coconut), put some calcium in her bowl and put in a few small crickets and mealworms - which she doesn't seem interested in. I bought her a pinkie yesterday that she just ignored for hours, so I fed it to the other lizard.

Since we returned from vacation, I thought she was keeping her eyes just half open, but my daughter says that's just her black eyelids and that her eyes are all the way closed.  Last night I put her in a shallow warm bath for 30 minutes. She opened her eyes while in the bath and I could see that her left eye was clouded. Today I bought saline and dripped it on the eye.  It looked like the eyeball was swollen when she tried to close it, but now this evening when I bathed her and dropped saline on her eye it doesn't appear to be swollen.  I haven't seen her eat since we returned from vacation last Thursday. I know she hasn't eaten since yesterday morning when I put her in her own tank. I put a little calcium paste (calcium and water that I mixed up) on her nose this morning and she licked it off. She shed while we were gone (there was still a little skin on her toes). She has not pooped since I moved her to the other tank either.

I contacted the local herp vet today, but I cannot afford to take her to the vet. We are under severe financial hardship right now (I'm a real estate agent and times are very hard). I just had one deal going and it fell apart yesterday, so we don't have our July house payment and down to a few hundred dollars for groceries and gas until I can get another deal going. Usually we are more well off, so I am just crushed by not having the financial means to do what needs to be done, which is get her to the vet immediately. I realize contacting you is not a substitute for getting vet care, but I truly do not have any other options at this point. I am concerned about her suffering.

I found a recipe for emanciated leos on the internet and I'm going to go get the ingredients and see if we can get her to eat some of that.

I suspect that she's either suffering from a calcium deficiency made worse by her laying and using up her reserves, that her eye was injured by the other lizard, that something foreign was or is in her eye (although I don't see anything), or I suppose it could be an infection of some sort.

Anyway, any insight that you can provide would be immensely appreciated.  Thank you in advance for your time.

I've attached a photo of her clouded eye.  I also have a photo of her good eye if you need it for comparison, but could only attach one photo here. Please let me know if you need additional information.

ANSWER: Hello Sharon,

I am sorry about little Max.  Have you put her in her own tank right now so she can relax more just in the case the other gecko has picked on her a little bit?  Sometimes, they just don't house together successfully if they are of different sizes.  

It is a possibility that she got an eye injury from the other gecko, or perhaps had retained shed on it & scratched it trying to get it off since it was very dry in the hide?

Can you afford to get some antibiotic eye ointment?  Here is a link where you can order it off of the internet:
http://www.beanfarm.com/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=4455960.32510&product=Health_Car

A good nutritional slurry would be chicken or turkey babyfood, with squash babyfood, bee pollen, & brewer's yeast for immune system boost, as well as a pinch of calcium.  Try to get 2 ml's into her daily with a plastic dropper or syringe.

Continue using saline eye drops, that can help keep any irritation down for her.  The eye ointment is pretty good for eye infections, too.  

Other than that, there is not much more you can do, but wait to see if the treatment will kick in soon.
Oh I know the economy is absolutely HORRIBLE!  I am sorry you are in that situation, & I hope you will be ok.  

Let me know how she is doing!

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Tracie,

Thanks again for the quick response the other night.  I was using the saline drops on the left eye, but then she quit opening it all together and the drops just rolled off her eyelids.

Then a few days later her right eye started to look cloudy, so I tried using the saline on that.  The next day, she quit opening that eye.  I don't think the saline had anything to do with it.

So within two days of your message, she was no longer opening either eye.  The Farm Co-op carries Terramycine but they were out and I didn't think it would help since I couldn't get her eyes open.

I started giving her warm baths 2x a day and that seemed to help relax her.  I mixed up a recipe of an emaciated leopard gecko formula and then added the chicken baby food (the recipe called for canned pet food, but I couldn't find the brand recommended, so I substituted the chicken baby food for the protein.  It also included vanilla Ensure, no flavor Pedialyte, squash baby food, 1/2 tsp calcium, 1/2 tsp Reptile vits, and a handful of mealworms).  I've been able to get her to eat no less than 2 ml at least once a day and sometimes 2x a day, and sometimes more.  I added a little extra calcium to the latest batch.  I froze the whole concoction in a styrofoam egg carton with just a tablespoon in each compartment, then I thaw out just what I need.  It takes about 20-30 minutes to feed her since we just have to hold the syringe in front of her mouth and squirt a little out when she starts licking - but it's a long process to get something in her.  I don't want to try to pry her mouth open or stick the end of the syringe in there because I don't want to take the risk of injuring her mouth.

She's having regular bowel movements daily again and I saw her drinking water on her own. So that's fantastic news.  I've been monitoring her weight with a little food scale and she's slowly gaining little tiny bits - but at least she's going in the right direction.

Here's my concern though, she's not opening her eyes at all - my biggest fear is that she is now blind.  Her eyes appear sunken under her eyelids and don't bulge out like the other two lizards do, and like her's used to before she got sick.

It just breaks my heart to think we won't see her beautiful eyes anymore, but she is alive and I think getting better except for that.

I am hoping that she'll start to eat solid food again soon, but I'm not sure how she'll catch it.  We can certainly hold mealworms in front of her and hopefully she'll feel and smell them.  Holding crickets is a little more difficult, but willing to do whatever...

Have you seen any lizards who have lost their eyes or gone blind and do you have any other suggestions for me?

I told my 9 yr old son that I thought she might be blind but that I was doing everything I could to keep her alive - I found him later crying in the kitchen - we're all very attached to her...

Thank you again for your time.  Sharon

Answer
Hello Sharon,

It is sounding like something internal, to me.  
I am happy to hear however, that you have gotten her to gain some weight right now with your nutritious slurry, great job with that!  I realize that it is time consuming to feed them in that manner but that is how you can keep her alive until we figure out exactly what is going on & if it can be fixed.
I have seen some geckos that get horrible eye infections yes.  We are seeing more & more of it & I am not sure why.
Is she in her own tank now, correct so she will be less stressed & not be bothered by your other one since she is not doing as well?  

So now, she wont even open her eyes at all?  
You had mentioned that her eggs had been shriveled up when she was laying them?  She might have had a type of vitamin deficiency since they were not normal looking.  You are giving plenty of calcium now, correct?
Exactly what is your humdity level in the tank, overall?  If it is too high, excessive humidity can promote bacterial growth.

Honestly, I really feel that she needs an antibiotic as it sounds like a major eye infection.  
Also, it is a possibility of a Vitamin A deficiency, but you have to be careful not to over do it.  Try getting some Herptivite which has beta carotene which cannot be overdosed it is safe.  Here is a link you can get it from:
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=29

Here is a link for Gentamycin Ophthalmic antibiotic eye ointment that may be better than the Terramycin, as it is for bacterial infection.  

http://www.petcarerx.com/pcrx/ProductPages/Product.aspx?pid=10962&k=Gentamycin%2

Here is another one for Gentamycin eye drops which are cheaper than the cream above!  

http://www.rxpop.com/medicationdetails.asp?medicationid=5044

Ideally, we need to get her eye (s) cultured to determine what type of bacteria is present, but I understand the expenses.  The Gentamycin is very good, so, maybe you should try that first, the drops.    

**If you prefer, you can email me at home, since this is going to take quite a bit of emails, etc.  My home email is:
Drache613@cfl.rr.com



Tracie