Anyone have an idea what this is?

[JakeB]

Hello, my leo has a problem and I'm in need of some advice. I took him to a reptile store and they told me that it was not a prolapse, but a cut of some sort and to apply neosporin and wait for it to heal, which i've been doing. I am trying to avoid a vet visit because of a lack of funds. I've had him for about a month, this has been going on for a little over a week. I have 2 females in a separate tank, which when I introduced him to he immediately started vibrating his tail, bit and latched on to one. I didn't expect this reaction so quickly and I separated them immediately because I wasn't sure at first if he was being aggressive or just wanting to mate, plus I did not want him to try mating with with his problem. He wasn't too happy with me... His age was unknown by the lady I bought him from but she believed he is around 7. He is very fat, about 10 inches, and healthy looking and acting.

 

[ElapidSVT]

sure looks like a prolapsed hemipene to me. if it's been that way for a week, you may need the assistance of a vet to get it back into position. there are a couple things i've heard that work at home.
1. preparation H
2. soak in sugar water (not sure about the concentration, searching the forums or google should yield some information)

good luck!

 

[Jayme]

What's the deal with his red belly and tail underside? Could he have been burned?

 

[im faster]

I bet im right here..
You keep your geckos on sand.(thats why the skin is dyed)
And you breed them ON the sand..
The sand is caught in the hemipene, keeping it from retracting.

LOOSE THE SAND!!!!

 

[JakeB]

Hes never been kept on sand, I have carpet. Paper towels right now actually. And he hasn't bred before. I don't see how he would of gotten burned. Until today he hasn't had an under tank heater, just a heat lamp. He now has both though.

 

[im faster]

There HAS to be somethin redish brownish colored in the tank that gets wet

 

[JakeB]

Only artificial dye is in the green carpet. He has a wooden half log hide, tupperware with moist hide substrate from the pet store, calcium/meal worm dish, water dish, and another hide on the cool side. He doesn't use the moist hide enough for that to somehow cause the red belly. Just chills in his hide on the warm side.

 

[katie_]

Could the carpet be causing a rash. It looks painful, it doesnt look like dye.

 

[JakeB]

I suppose we'll see if its the carpet since I've got paper towels down now

 

[jbs81890]

Could be heat also causing the red irritation. What are your temps on the hot side like and what size uth heater are you using?

 

[JakeB]

I only have a strip thermometer on the hot side. It usually reads around 86-88. I have the zoo-med 10-20 gallon UTH. But I literally just put that on. I use the day/night red and blue bulbs for light. I change the bulb before going to bed.

 

[grboxa]

Strip thermometers are useless.... How are you going to measure the surface area temp inside your hot hide to make sure it doesn't get to hot and burn your gecko. You need to purchase a thermometer with a probe to monitor temperatures in the hide, and you need to purchase a thermostat to regulate the heat so you can reach proper temperatures. You just plugged in your UTH without reading temps. Chances are its way to hot. Those look like burn marks to me. Hope your gecko heals.