Gecko has "Eyecap"

[Eyepatchtan]

Hello! My leopard gecko has just recently shed, and she always has had difficulties doing so. I decided to soak her to help her out with this situation, and I decided it was about time to post this. My gecko seemingly hasn't eaten or defecated in 3 weeks. Her eyes have been closed as they have little bits of shed on the eyes! I took her to a vet, he said she was fine, I am certain that she is not. I believe she won't eat, as she cannot see. She is not blind, but her eyes are agitated. I decided to fill out this sheet that I was told to prior to posting.

Handling- Due to a complicated week rotation of switching houses, I handle her and her cagemate around 3 times a week each. At night.
Acting- She is acting as she usually does, except her tail has quite noticeably thinned out since her shed about 2 months ago.
Problems Prior -She has certainly had problems prior to this specific incident. I believe this one was triggered by someone (Not me) pulling off her skin. I live with a usually frustrated person, which limits me to items I can buy for her. Due to this, she and her cagemate will be moving today.


Fecals- I am unable to decipher what droppings are hers, and her cagemates, I could be wrong, but she seemingly hasn't "gone" in 2 weeks.


Housing
Size- She lives in a tank that is 17x17x12
Type- Glass with doors that swing outward
Substrate- Carpet
Hides- As of now, 3, one of which will soon be replaced with a bigger area (humid hide, they don't use it.)

Heating- Soon to be changed, it is currently lamps that are on a strict day/night cycle, but will soon be a heat pad, with no lights.
Temperature- On the hot side, the temperature is about 89 degrees. I don't currently have readings for the cool side.
Lights (ex)- The lights are placed on the hot side of the tank, to create a minor heat gradient. Of course, this is going to be corrected this week.

Cage mates- One female, they don't fight, and if they do, it's usually a fight for a hide, in which one gecko just lays atop another, I wish I could keep them in a bigger tank, but I'm told if I keep them in a 4ft long tank, that they will become stressed. My only other option is using sterilite containers.
Previous Problems- Her cage mate is 100% healthy. She has never had a sickness for 3 years living in that tank.

Quantity of food- I feed them about 8 mealworms every other day, they are kept in a dish with calcium dust.
How I do so- Because my dish is very "ghetto" I used the bottom of a plastic cup to keep their food in. AGAIN, this will be corrected later today, as the mealworms escape, and so does the powder. They are also fed large crickets.

Supplements- I use calcium dust, I keep it in room temperature. If this is incorrect, I also have some kept in a fridge.
I also use flukers gel to feed the crickets. Is this supposed to be refrigerated?

Thanks everybody. Any response, critical or helpful is very necessary to me.

 

[acpart]

Sorry you're having problems with your gecko. Here are some suggestions:
--I think it's really important to get the shed out of her eyes somehow. First, you can drip some water on her eyes to soften the shed. You can use your fingernails or even a tweezers (carefully) to get each little piece out of the eye. This will make a big difference
--If there's any way you can separate them for now, until the one with problems gets better, I recommend it. I disagree that a 4' long enclosure will stress a gecko (and if you really think it will, you can always get a piece of plexiglass or other divider and make the enclosure smaller). So, you could put your healthier gecko in the big enclosure and leave the problem one in the current enclosure, or you could divide the big enclosure in half, get some Zoomed heat cable (which can be taped to the bottom of the enclosure and then moved and set in another configuration if you want later) and install it so each side has a "warm" area on either side of the divider
--try holding the gecko gently in one hand and poking a feeder at her mouth until she bites it. If she's not eating at all, she may just not feel well enough to eat

Good luck with her.

Aliza

 

[indyana]

I'd like to add that it's important not to remove the humid hide from a leopard gecko setup. Even if they have not learned to use it yet, it is vital in preventing dehydration, aiding shedding, and providing a spot to lay eggs for females. It took one of my geckos almost a year to learn to regularly use his humid hide before a shed, but it was well worth the wait.

A few other improvements:
- Make sure you are supplementing with calcium, D3, and multivitamins, especially one containing vitamin A. Repashy Calcium Plus is a good product that contains the correct amounts of all three and can be used to dust every feeding. There are also other ways to alternate with different products. Sometimes, shedding issues are caused by vitamin deficiencies.
- Minimize stress for the sick one. Aliza's suggestion to separate is a good one, as stress can cause an otherwise healthy animal to have problems.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

I wanted to mention the alterations I've made since the initial post.

I have swapped out their lamps for a UTH. The sick gecko has found out how to absorb belly heat from it. I also believe she has recently eaten 3 mealworms. I also have been using q-tips everyday after a 10-minute soak to remove any leftover shed, one eye is losing the shed, and another is now somewhat... Foggy? She now has 3 hides, and I am currently placing some slightly damp eco-earth as a substrate for a 4th hide, to act as a humid hide. They have been moved to a housing situation with somebody who can care for them for the week that I am not there. I have purchased a value pack of eco-earth, calcium spray, crickets, new cricket feed, more mealworms, etc. They now have a proper feeding dish, and a newer water dish. As for seperation, I'll see what I can do, it's a little difficult, as I am on a slightly limited budget. I could use a divider, because I'm a bit paranoid because I accidentally used chlorox (oops) to clean out their large 4ft tank. I may also need to use paper towels as a substrate, and she won't have a thermometer, hygrometer, or heat pad. Just the lights. Of course, it will create a new heat gradient, but I'm just worried that 2 week old chlorox can poison her. Thanks, again for posting, everybody!

 

[J&M UNE]

Heat pads must be used with a thermostat to regulate it if you don't have one hooked up o would use the lights until you get a tstat...unregulated uth get well over 110 and can burn your gecko

Sent from my Z936L using Tapatalk

 

[JessJohnson87]

You can let the bigger tank gas off for a few days outside and it should be fine for use.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Hello again, everybody. I'm in a bit of a dilemma, I just bought a cheap new tank, and many other things, including a rheostat, and they are to arrive in the next day or so. I believe they are hibernating right now, as my big, healthy girl is staying in her cave, and the sick one, she's on the hot side, whenever I see her, she's absorbing heat. Later today I should be getting tiles to line my first cage, and the other cage will temporary use paper towels, or something similar as a substrate. As for saline, I've been cautious, please tell me that I am in some way correct about using only pure saline, because I have a lot of spare contact and nasal saline, which hold many acids, and at this point, I won't even risk it. Thanks again for all your help. I also suppose it's time to mention- she no longer has a large screen of shed skin, she actually has a tiny spot in the corner, and she can't open her eyes. It's also worth noting that just today my healthy one shed, who has never ever had a health problem, and she successfully did so, with actually no stuck shed at all. Both of them are in their hides, and not eating or coming out, so I'm avoiding bothering them, until I check for mealworms at night, which always escape from their food dish.

 

[acpart]

It sounds like things are improving. The one not opening her eyes may be that way because she's still feeling crappy, or she may have a scratch or infection in her eye due to stuck shed. Hopefully she'll recover some of her energy soon and open her eyes.

Aliza

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Oh, she actually has a filmy eye, and the other has a tiny amount located in the corner, which is slowly dissolving thanks to sterile saline. I relocated my healthier girl into a 14x8x5.25. This isn't too small, right? She still has 2 hides, a heat gradient, food and water dish, and temperature. Her substrate is Eco-Earth as well.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Still going on, her tail is thinning, she can't see. With about 20 mins of soaking one eye will open, the cloudy one, but that's about it.

 

[JessJohnson87]

I would say that a vet visit is in order.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

I'm extremely happy to say that Angel was taken to the vet, and is making a recovery! The new vet pulled out a large infection of puss from behind her eye due to the shed, and gave us some medicine, nutrients and a heatless light for vitamin D. On a sad note, due to her blindness, she has a slight bow in her left leg due to MBD and calcium deprivation. Finally, she was given a nice amount of calcium, which bulked up her tail. Thanks, everyone for your help, and I will provide updates on her everytime something noteworthy happens.

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Only one day and something new to talk about, today we picked up a new charcoal cornsnake, Athena, and she is settling in very well, and is already a very good eater. Angel is shedding now, and I can't apply her medicine as her skin sticks up everytime I touch her, and I don't want to provoke early shedding. Her hide is moist, and she's been in it constantly, I am very excited to see the results of this shed. As for her cagemate and my tortoises, everybody is doing fine, and she's making a great recovery!

 

[Eyepatchtan]

Hello everyone! I am as happy as possible to say that today, Angel began shedding, but stopped. Hesitantly, I helped her get it off, and... Wow! Her eyes are open, and she's walking around and looks adorable. I almost forgot how beautiful her eyes were. Thank you, everyone for your help, and just for any mods to know, I will be updating until we get a vet's confirmation that she's fine. I'm anticipating for her to be macking on some mealworms tonight, lol.