How long does it take to clear up an eye infection?

[Steve]

I have had my leopard gecko Steve for about a year. He has recently had a eye infection in both eyes due to shedding issues. I have taken him to the vet 3 times now in the last week. Because I live in New Zealand there is only one reptile vet and they don't see leopard geckos very often, so despite good intentions it is really trial and error for them.

At first I was given a painkiller/anti inflam. This did not help so I went back and spoke to a different vet who had his eyes flushed and shed removed from his eyes. I was given metacam painkiller anti inflam as well as ciloxan eye drops which I apply 3 to 4 times a day.

Due to the stress of the eye drops nd vet visits and perhaps just being sick, Steve has stopped eating for the last week. I have been feeding him with a eyedropper A/D dogfood the vet gave me which I put on his nose and he licks off. I have just mixed in some calcium D3 and flukors vitamin spray and some meal worms to make sure he has proper nutrition. We don't have pedialyte here so I can't make the proper slurry.

I also make sure that his humid hide is always damp and humid. He has a 20 gallon tank and under floor heat pad as well as 3 hides, one warm one humid and one cool. I feed him mealworms with the occasional wax worm. He is on paper towel substrate.

So far I have not seen much improvement with his eyes, he keeps them mostly closed although will open them for a bit with the eyedrops. I really want to get him healthy again and eating. I am worried the eyedrops are causing him stress.

How long have you used eye drops for with a leopard gecko?
What success have you had treating eye infections?
Is there anything else I should be doing which will help him?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Jayme]

It can take a long while to clear up. Just be persistent and even if Steve shows improvement, continue to stay on schedule with administering the antibiotics until you've used up everything proscribed by your vet, otherwise the bacteria might become resistant to the medicine.

Back in 2009 one of Saphira's geckos got a bad eye infection that took many months to clear up, she documented everything in a thread, I highly recommend you read it (lots of good information): http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=40416

Here are some other relevant articles:
Eye Problems in Leopard Geckos
Vitamin A Deficiency
More on Vitamin A Deficiency
Sterilization/Disinfection Techniques

Just do the best you can with keeping his tank as clean as possible, and remove any objects he could damage his eyes on from rubbing. It would probably be beneficial to give him daily soaks as well and to use a wet Q-tip to gently work off any loose skin you see around his eye.

Keep us updated with how things go!

 

[Steve]

This is such valuable info thankyou so much I have been trying to research eye problems and have not had much luck finding info that was written by people knowledgable on the subject.

Steve shed two days ago and I put him in a steamy container with a small amount of warm water to make sure he had a good shed. This seemed to really help him, later after he shed I managed to get him to eat a wax worm ( wasn't into the meal worms on offer..). Then the next day his eyes were open and he was looking much better and had energy. He had a check up with the vet and she said she was very happy with his improvement the following day. He still has some remaining little bits of shed in his eye, I have noticed that seem to just be floating there sometimes they go up under his eyelid so hard to always see. Removed some yesterday with a moistened q tip, continueing the eye drops. He then ate a meal worm and 3 wax worms today which was great! He seemed to have recovered the majority of his sight and is eating on his own. Just got to get the last little bits of shed out so its not over yet but really happy with how he is going.

It has been a good education for both myself and the vet as neither of us have dealt with this problem before. The article about vitamin A deficincy is particularly useful and I am gutloading always now and using the vitamin spray, as perhaps that is what caused it in the first place. Do leopard geckos convert beta carotene into vit A? as thats what is in my vitamin spray.

Will let you know how he is going hopefully he will have full recovery by the end of next week!

 

[Jayme]

Great to hear he's doing better!

Dr. Ivan Alfonso said in the Gecko Time article, "..insectivorous reptiles can’t transform beta carotene into vitamin A no matter how much beta carotene you give them." Then the rest of the article was leopard gecko specific, so I think it's safe to conclude that leos can't.