One eye closed, swollen after shed

[clockwurk]

I picked up a Leo as a rescue about 2 weeks ago. I have her eating regularly and getting much healthier through out. I've also been giving her warm baths everyday for a week. But today, she she for the first time but it seems to have effected her eyes. One eye is closed and both eyes look a bit swollen. Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Can you tell if there is skin still on the eye? On the eyelid? Regular saline rinse (for contacts) works wonders. You might want to soak a little more to see if that helps?

 

[clockwurk]

It looks pretty normal to me, other than its a little swollen. I did get her a warm bath today and took your advice about the saline rinse. And she opened her eye after. Does that mean she just needs more of this?

 

[prettyinpink]

I wouldn't give her too much, just one rinse should be fine. Does she have any shed stuck in there that you can see?

 

[5HiddenLizards]

It looks pretty normal to me, other than its a little swollen. I did get her a warm bath today and took your advice about the saline rinse. And she opened her eye after. Does that mean she just needs more of this?

I'm not sure. Do you think something got in her eye & irritated it? What substrate is she on?

 

[Dog Shrink]

Also is it possible she prematurely pulled off the shed before it was completely ready? I know with Eros the end of his face from the eyes forward and the end of his tail are always the last thing to ghost up on him. Can you tell if the new skin has a sticky like feel to it or doesn't seem to match the rest of the freshly shed area around it?

Eros had a shed once where this had happened but with his tail. It was slightly swollen looking, the skin was just off with texture if ya know what I mean... it just wasn't right and it felt slightly sticky. From what I found and was told by other more experienced keepers was that the new skin underneath just wasn't quite ready to be exposed yet, kinda like sensitive baby skin.

Thinking it was stuck shed since it looked off I soaked him and rubbed with a q-tip to see if I could get anything off, well I did but it wasn't shed... he bled a little from this which is when I realised it wasn't stuck shed and started to inquire to his breeder and some of my friends here hence finding out about the premature shed of that area.

Any way you might be able to post a pic?

 

[clockwurk]

As far as looks, the eye looks normal. It doesn't look like there are any signs of shedding or need of shedding. I'll post a pic when I get home, but she looks pretty normal.

As far as substrate, she was in a small container with sand, but she's been on paper towers since I got here ( about 2 weeks ).

 

[prettyinpink]

She probably pulled it off before it was ready. If it doesn't look like it's infected or anything...it could just be fine and stay that way.

 

[Dog Shrink]

When Eros pulled his shed off prematurely with in 48 hours it all looked back to normal and matched the rest of his tail, you couldn't even tell there was a problem. Give it a day or 2 and see if there's any improvement, THEN if no you can worry

 

[clockwurk]

I havent been able to get a decent picture. But there is something I noticed. When she is at her humid hide, she has her eyes open. But when shes not, they are closed. It almost seems like her eye is too dry and thats why she has them closed. Any ideas?

 

[Dog Shrink]

Is she just like that when she goes into just the humid hide or will she open them in any other hide? Do you use any lighting on your tank?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

She may still be re-hydrating after living on sand. I've taken in some like that and would mist just a little in the corner on the warm side every couple days. If there was no infection, she should be fine within a week and all back to normal. Also, the room she is in may be a bit bright on her eyes.

 

[clockwurk]

I don't think its the light. I have her in a fairly dim place. Plus she's never had issues with light before. This all started after her first shed after I brought her home from the store :/

I'm going to try some Chamomile, and if that doest work, I'll be getting terramycin in a couple of days just in case of an infection :/

 

[Dog Shrink]

OK why Chamomile? I have never heard of that being used as an antibiotic type application. The terramycin tho I do have experience with and it works well. The worst I've ever had to do with one of my buns that was born and developed nest box eye to alleviate the really stubborn infection was drops of Pen-G but I wouldn't suggest doing that without advice from a more experienced gecko keeper or a vet before trying Pen-G. Idk how leos react to penicillin based meds.

 

[clockwurk]

Chamomile was suggested by another Leo keeper :/

I took a picture of her today and I noticed something. She has a red hole above her nose... I don't know if this is related to the eyes being closed but this is a pic after I wet her eyes with saline solution which she seems to relief from.

ANyone know what this red hole can be?

 

[Himitsu]

My Baby gecko Oreo recently had a similar problem.

All the skin on it's body came off fine, but when it got to the head... ouch... instead of rolling off from nose to back of the head, it rolled from back of the head... and stuck on it's lower eyelids! Effectively "tying" them shut ><; I helped gently remove it and the shed had black-ish lines where it's eye lids ended. After it's removal Oreo favored it's left eye, licking it insesently... I changed the paper towels and water in it's moist hide and it spent 2 almost three days in it without food, just licking it's eye and nose. (the nose still had unready shed that didn't look ready at all.)

I checked on Oreo who seemed fine but still a bit shaken from the ordeal, but the shed on it's nose was gone. In fear of too much time in the moist hide I Took them out, offered food which Oreo took right out of my fingers, let Oreo back into it's warm hide where it went right to sleep, changing the moist hide again and returning it to the enclosure in case Oreo needed it again, Oreo didn't. Now Oreo is just peachie and isn't favoring it's eye at all, eating like a pig again and generally entertaining me to no end.

Hope my recent experience helps in some way, I hope that red spot isn't anything serious, maybe just some unready new skin got rubbed off? Something Similar to what Dog Shrink said.

Either way, best of luck, you have a beautiful gecko.

 

[Dog Shrink]

What and how do you feed? Is there any chance it could be a bite from a feeder? How are you treating it? Do you have any tank furniture that might be excessively rough that your leo mght have been excessively rubbing on to resolve the shed issue? Coulda just rubbed herself a little raw, but I'd keep it clean and maybe a little coating of antibiotic ointment a couple times a day, but swab the area first with some of the saline or flush it to make sure you're not trapping any bacteria in the booboo.

 

[clockwurk]

The tank is a simple setup. Paper towels with a small cave and dishes for food and water. UTH heater.

I've tried everything, even the terramycin. I'm convinced she is blind... This is really heart wrenching. I rescued her from a petstore because she was so emaciated, so skinny with multiple bad sheds. She would have certainly died there... But I still feel like $hit cause I cant seem to help her.

Below is a pic I took the first day I took her home :/

 

[Pokersnake]

Poor thing. I would take Dog Shrink's advice; she knows what she's talking about and has done her research.

The wound does kind of look like a worm bite, but there's really no way to be sure. Saline to sterilize it and then terramycin if you are sure it's getting infected. One of my males got a bite on his nose and I only used saline. It looked like a scar until his next shed and now there's no trace of the injury.

If that wound is not from a bite... then there could some underlying health condition that came home with your gecko from the pet store. And with a sore so close to the eye, it might explain the eye issues.

I noticed in the picture that his pupil is dilated (open) really wide. Do his eyes react to light or do they not change? If they don't change, then the little one might actually be blind, or have some neurological issue. If you are as worried as you sound, I would go to the vet if only for a fecal exam to make sure there's no parasites or crypto hanging with your lizard.

 

[clockwurk]

The red dot is actually getting better with the terramycin. But I'm more concerned about her eye. I have used saline rinse, chamomile tea and terramycin and there's no change :/

I am convinced that she is blind... although I am sure her eye dilates because I see it when I put her closer a light source when I inspect here.

I did a fecal test when I first got her as well, no parasites. This all started when she shed for the first time after I bought her. I knew she shed badly. I gave her warm baths everyday. But it didn't seem to help :/