Eye problems, not eating, maybe impacted? Also not moving back legs normally.

[DeutschPantherV]

About your leo:
- Sex
Male
- Age & Weight
Approximately 7 years old, weight unknown but gecko looks healthy overall (maybe a little skinny relative to normal)
- How long have you owned your leo
Around 6-7 years, but I got him when I was a child, and I don't quite remember.
- Where was he/she obtained (ex. Pet store, breeder, wild caught, friend)
Local pet store.

A) Health/History
- How often do you handle your leo
I usually avoid handling the gecko too much as he dislikes it, but I have been handling him around 3-5 times per week now while trying to help him.
- Is your leo acting any different today? If so how does he/she normally act which differs from now.
He is dragging his hind legs. He still moves them, just not quite as much as the front legs. Also, he is hiding more than normal and refusing to eat. I needed to feed him formula for around a year because he refused to eat live food at all, but he has been back on live food for around 9 months.
- Has he/she had any problems in the past, if so please describe.
He had issues with skin getting stuck on his feet. I did not notice that he had skin stuck on his toes once, and after shedding again I discovered the problem and got most off, but he did lose the tips of 3 toes.

B) Fecals
- Describe (look any different than normal)
Last he was pooping, they seemed small and a bit watery.
- When was the last time he/she went
Around two weeks

C) Problem
- Please briefly describe the problem and how long it has been going on
Around 3 weeks ago, I noticed that my gecko, Bolt, was keeping his eyes shut. This was strange as he is usually very curious and looking out his cage all the time. This was right after he shed, and I had noticed him having some trouble getting skin off of his head/eyes. However, nothing was externally visible. After the problem did not go away for a week I started coaxing him to open his eyes and dripping saline solution (Contact solution I stole from my dad) in there. I noticed that his left eye was somewhat cloudy and there appears to be skin stuck on top of it but there is nothing I can get with tweezers. Specifically, instead of the inside of the eyelid over the eye being black all the way to his eye, there is a thin cream/white line between his eye and the bottom of the lid. His right eye is about back to normal now and he opens it all the time. However, his left eye has not improved too much. It is slightly less cloudy, but the skin appears to still be there. Also, I noticed today that he is not moving his back legs normally (They lag relative to the front legs). This problem developed within the last week. There is some dried excrement around his rear end, which I was largely able to remove with a wet q-tip. Also, he looks a bit swollen back there and I am thinking that he might be impacted, causing both that problem as well as the issues with moving his rear legs. Lastly, he has refused to eat for the last 2-3 weeks. He isn't drinking also that I have seen, so I am giving him water droplets with a q-tip.

Housing:
A) Enclosure
- Size
30 gallons
- Type (ex. glass tank)
Glass
- Type of substrate
Sand, however today I put a layer of paper towels over it today after reading that sand is a bad idea on these forums.
- Hides, how many, what kind
2 hollow plastic cactus thingies.
B) Heating
- Heat source
He has a head pad on one side of his tank, as well as a lamp that is centered over the cage.
- Cage temps (hot side, cool side)
Don't know. Cool side is obviously cool to the touch, warm side is warm to the touch.
- Method of regulating heat source
No control besides turning things off and on.
- What are you using to measure your temps
hands.
- Do you have any lights (describe)
I use a 15 watt incadesent bulb in a spot light type lamp.
C) Cage mates
N/A
- How many (males, females)
- Describe health, or previous problems

Describe Diet:
A) Typical diet
- What you're feeding (how often, how much)
Around 10 mealworms per week, when he is eating.
- How are you feeding (hand fed, left in dish, ect)
Dish
B) Supplements (describe how often)
N/A
- What vitamin/minerals are you using (list brands)
- What are you gut loading food with

 

[sausage]

there are several things wrong with your set up.
when you say a heat pad on one side do you mean under the tank or literally on the side of the tank?
if it is infact on the side you need to move it onto the floor of the tank as geckos absorb heat through their bellies.
you have not listed vits or supplements, dose this mean you are not using any?
if this is the case its extremely vital you start supplementing with a mix that contains calcium and vitamin D3. (you can leave a lid full of pure calcium in the tank and dust his food with the mix that contains vit D3).
a lack of vitamins and mineral could be the cause of your leg issues and lack of heat the food and impaction problem.

 

[DeutschPantherV]

The heat pad is on the bottom of the tank, on the side with no hides. Also, I just checked it out and it doesn't seem to be working all that well. I stuck my home thermometer in the tank (don't tell anyone) and it read 77 degrees. The light turns off at night, so the temp probably gets to around 69 which is room temperature. Would replacing the bulb with a higher wattage one help? I have not been supplementing his diet in any way.

Since he is not eating, what is the best way to give him calcium powder?

 

[DeutschPantherV]

Oh also, I recall reading somewhere that the stuff in his eye could come out next time he sheds, is that a safe way to deal with that problem?

 

[sausage]

having a light on the tank is purely for your benefit (to se the gecko ect), the lights are not useful to geckos atall as they absorb heat through their bellies.
if the mat is not working i would advise replacing it asap as its vital for the geckos survival. the temp is a little low on the hot side, during the day it should be around 85. temps falling at night is normal.
sandwich the mat between some tiles and try placing a medium sized hide on top of the UTH, as this will offer a spot that is much hotter. its good to offer spots of varying temps to allow the geckos to thermoregulate properly.

It is important that you start supplementing as i have already stated. if hes still not eating you could try a slurry mix, there is one on here somewhere by golden gate geckos. or alternately you can just blitz up a mix of bugs with some minerals and vitamins and a tiny bit of organic chicken or pumpkin baby food (thickens the mix up). use a small syringe to place small drops on the lips. the gecko will then lick it off its lips.

the mixture can be put into an ice cube tray and frozen so it will last longer, just get one out every day befor you feed.

if there is skin on the eyelids it should come off next shed however there should not be any skin on the eyeball itself. if this is the case he might need to see a vet to check that it is skin and not another eye condition.

 

[DeutschPantherV]

I gave him this suppliment stuff today by wiping some onto his lips for him to lick off. I also used a q tip to put water on his lips for him to lick off.

Here is a full body shot, he is sitting in some warm water.

This is his left eye, the bad one. The whiteish stuff is basically gone. However it is rather cloudy and he still likes to keep it closed. I put a drop of saline solution in there.

Here is his right eye for the sake of comparison.

Is what I am doing correct? Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[sausage]

he looks in reasonably good nick, his tail is a tad thin though.
supplementing is a good start but you need to make sure your getting food into him too. blitz up some bugs (in a food blender) or mush them up by hand if you're not squeamish with a small amount of that calcium mix.

his eye lids looks quite swollen. i iv recently had a male with a similar eye problem (it needed surgery), anyway the saline solution i was bathing his eye with actually made it worse. so id say try just using tepid water instead of the saline for a while and see if that makes a difference. I just used a fresh packet of cotton wool (bought especially for him so there was no chance of contamination), dipped it a pot of tepid water and used the cotton wool to gently drip the water into the eye (to flush out any thing in the eye, same as you would do to your self if you got any thing in your eye) then I gently wipe over the closed eye its self.

Hes cute he looks like my sausage.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I agree with sausage that your gecko looks like he's a pretty "safe" weight so any issues he's confronting should be able to be dealt with before he's in serious jeopardy. Sometimes shedding issues can develop from a vitamin deficiency. You could try soaking him in a gecko sauna, or in other words a closed tupperware with about a 1/2 inch of 95 degree water for 10-15 minutes every 24-48 hours for a few days which should help temporarily with any shedding issues. I think your best bet would be a trip to the vet. If you haven't had him on adequate heat and he hasn't been getting the vitamins he needs in addition to the calcium the vet may be able to diagnose where a deficiency or problem lies and give you some supplements that would help him the most quickly and best. Good luck and keep us posted on how he's doing!!

 

[DeutschPantherV]

Is there any good way to increase the heat in his tank while I wait for the opportunity to get a new pad?

Also, for planning purposes, about how much will a vet visit cost, assuming he just needs antibiotic drops?

 

[sausage]

try placing a hide directly on the heat mat, that will create a hotter area.
all vets will vary tbh.

 

[DeutschPantherV]

I will finally be seeing a vet tomorrow, would have gone sooner but my grandmother got very sick.

Also, a new heat pad got put in last week, he seems to be enjoying it!

 

[DeutschPantherV]

Update from the vet visit:

He has infections in both eyes, right eye is quite mild, left is moderate.
Somewhat dehydrated
Getting rather skinny (52 g)
Calcium deficiency

Treatment:

Anti-Biotic eye drops
Subcutaneous fluid injection
Daily warm water baths
Oral calcium suppliment
Carnivor Care suppliment until he starts taking interest in mealworms again.

Prognosis:
Full recovery