8-Year Old Leopard Gecko Needs Help...

Question
Hi Thea,
I've taken over ownership of my niece's 8-year old Gecko, Buddy.  He's very healthy, eats well and his bodily functions are normal.  His left eye-lid is often closed.  He usually licks it several times and then it opens and he happily hunts down his crickets.  His eye area is normal; no swelling or seepage.  What can I do to resolve this for him?
Thank you so very much!

Answer
Hi Leanne,

From your good description, I wouldn't recommend anything more at this point then gently flushing the eye with saline (for contact lens wearers) preferably or tepid water if saline is not available.
If you have Buddy on a loose substrate like sand it could simply be a bit of debris in the eye or around the lid that is causing a minor irritation.

Leopard geckos have moveable eye-lids in addition to a spectacle over each eye that  comes off during the shedding skin cycle. Prior to the actual shedding, the old skin begins to separate and loosen from the new skin beneath. When this occurs in the delicate folded area of the eyes it can be a little itchy and irritating. Some species, like chameleons actually bulge out and rotate their eyes to stretch that old skin which is very alarming to first time owners!

I would also suggest providing Buddy with a humid hide spot if you don't already have one. This is simply an enclosed container with a small entry hole (like a margarine container) with a layer of damp moss or even damp paper towel in the bottom. This mimics the more humid crevices that leopards often use in the wild and  access to this humidity helps to prevent problems with shedding such as retained skin around the eyes and toes.