Ivyna J. Spyder
New Member
- Messages
- 18
- Location
- USA
This is so frustrating. 
I'm getting desperate for answers.
Okay, first some basic care info:
Gecko is 6 months old 'mack super snow' female. 20 gallon tank to herself. Paper towel substrate (always has been). 90-91 on the warm side using a UTH and red bulb, other side is room temp (70-75). Has many caves to hide in and a plastic humid hide. Eats silkworms exclusively, used to eat crickets but she had trouble catching them.
In the middle of November I started noticing problems with her right eye. It looked 'gummed up' and couldn't open properly. Her left eye was fine at the time. I took her to the vet and he said she probably got something in her right eye, it got irritated and got stuck because of teh resulting 'eye gunk'. He cleaned it with saline and a q-tip and told me to rinse it each day.
I did, but it seemed to get worse (or at least not better) and then her left eye began to look odd too, like the eyelid was notched and uneven. Over time her right eye began to look worse and worse, all 'gummy' with odd white stuff visible, so I took her back to the vet. He was still at a loss but prescribed eyedrops with antibiotics (in case of infection) and steroids (in case of something inflammed/swollen) to use twice a day. I only put them in the right eye.
In the meantime I've removed any rough-sided furniture from her tank, just in case. She used to have a brighter light in there but I also removed it a few weeks ago so she only gets the ambient light from my other lizard tanks.
She shed yesterday for the first time since the eye problems and after... her eyes were COMPLETELY NORMAL. I thought it was a miracle! I figured maybe it was a shedding problem to begin with and this new shed fixed it somehow. There was no gunk or anything, and the eyelids looked fine on both, though her right eye wasn't open quite as much as the left. I didn't see any sign of stuck shed except on her back toes which I helped her get off.
...but then only hours later her right eye began to get 'stuck' again. Imagine like the eyelids are a zipper- it looked like one side of the eye was partially 'zipped up' and she couldn't open it any further. I gave her the medicated eyedrop as the vet instructed, and the next day BOTH her eyes were 'zipped' closed. It just looks like the edges of the eyelids are sticking together basically.
(I don't think it's because of dryness because even if she's spent the night in her humid hide, her eyelids will STILL be stuck together. I just don't know)
I spent the morning dabbing them with saline and her left eye opened and looked normal, but her right eye was right very squinty and can't open fully.
I'm worried because she can't or won't eat, either because she can't see her prey or because she's stressed because I keep having to handle her to get her eyes open. Thankfully she has a fat tail and these swellings behind her front legs that I guess are more fat stores? I hope that's what they are... But she's been eating less and less lately.
The vet said a lot of guesses as to what could be causing this, I don't even remember them all (complex names). One thing I remember he said was it could be a genetic defect with her eyelids, where the skin forms improperly or something. Could it be some new problem with these morphs, or maybe just a random fluke? Has anyone seen it before?
But I really hope it's only something temporary...
I'm getting desperate for answers.Okay, first some basic care info:
Gecko is 6 months old 'mack super snow' female. 20 gallon tank to herself. Paper towel substrate (always has been). 90-91 on the warm side using a UTH and red bulb, other side is room temp (70-75). Has many caves to hide in and a plastic humid hide. Eats silkworms exclusively, used to eat crickets but she had trouble catching them.
In the middle of November I started noticing problems with her right eye. It looked 'gummed up' and couldn't open properly. Her left eye was fine at the time. I took her to the vet and he said she probably got something in her right eye, it got irritated and got stuck because of teh resulting 'eye gunk'. He cleaned it with saline and a q-tip and told me to rinse it each day.
I did, but it seemed to get worse (or at least not better) and then her left eye began to look odd too, like the eyelid was notched and uneven. Over time her right eye began to look worse and worse, all 'gummy' with odd white stuff visible, so I took her back to the vet. He was still at a loss but prescribed eyedrops with antibiotics (in case of infection) and steroids (in case of something inflammed/swollen) to use twice a day. I only put them in the right eye.
In the meantime I've removed any rough-sided furniture from her tank, just in case. She used to have a brighter light in there but I also removed it a few weeks ago so she only gets the ambient light from my other lizard tanks.
She shed yesterday for the first time since the eye problems and after... her eyes were COMPLETELY NORMAL. I thought it was a miracle! I figured maybe it was a shedding problem to begin with and this new shed fixed it somehow. There was no gunk or anything, and the eyelids looked fine on both, though her right eye wasn't open quite as much as the left. I didn't see any sign of stuck shed except on her back toes which I helped her get off.
...but then only hours later her right eye began to get 'stuck' again. Imagine like the eyelids are a zipper- it looked like one side of the eye was partially 'zipped up' and she couldn't open it any further. I gave her the medicated eyedrop as the vet instructed, and the next day BOTH her eyes were 'zipped' closed. It just looks like the edges of the eyelids are sticking together basically.
(I don't think it's because of dryness because even if she's spent the night in her humid hide, her eyelids will STILL be stuck together. I just don't know)
I spent the morning dabbing them with saline and her left eye opened and looked normal, but her right eye was right very squinty and can't open fully.
I'm worried because she can't or won't eat, either because she can't see her prey or because she's stressed because I keep having to handle her to get her eyes open. Thankfully she has a fat tail and these swellings behind her front legs that I guess are more fat stores? I hope that's what they are... But she's been eating less and less lately.
The vet said a lot of guesses as to what could be causing this, I don't even remember them all (complex names). One thing I remember he said was it could be a genetic defect with her eyelids, where the skin forms improperly or something. Could it be some new problem with these morphs, or maybe just a random fluke? Has anyone seen it before?
But I really hope it's only something temporary...
