Is my leo blind?

[gitrdone0420]

This may be a weird question, but I was watching one of my leos and I think it may be blind. I put him back in his cage and he just looks around like he is lost. He looks up and walks around. He walks really slow and he will bump things with his head like he didnt know it was there, and then lick, and then keep moving his head along the hide until he found a hole. He seems to find the mealworm dish just fine, but I've never watched him eat, he always eats while Im sleeping. I put two crickets in there when I first got him and he didnt even seem interested. They eventually died and he ate the dead crickets (there were plenty of meal worms available). When I hold him he walks really slowly and he will walk off my hand like he didnt realize it ended. Btw, my room has very low lighting in general, and where he is housed there is never a lot of lighting, it is usually very dim. So light sensitivity doesnt seem to pop into my head that much.
So, does anyone have any answers as to why he is acting really weird?

 

[Mel&Keith]

Some geckos just tend to be better hunters or more coordinated than others. We have an adorable little het Rainwater (no Enigma genes) that moves really slow and half heartedly strikes at worms 5 or 6 times before she gets one. It's just her mellow personality.

We have had a completely blind gecko before and her pupils did not dilate at all. Here are a couple of eye pics so you can compare -

 

[gitrdone0420]

The first picture is what my leos eyes look like most of the time. They will dialate a little bit when he is in his hide, but not much. He is very very mellow though, so perhaps that is it.

 

[gitrdone0420]

Any one else have any opinions?

 

[ez2animate]

Mellow, sounds like that.

 

[JordanAng420]

You could always remove the bowl of mealies for a few hours, and then when he gets real hungry later use tweezers & put one right in front of his face...see if he can focus on it...you know how leos kinda cock their heads from side to side a few times before they eat something? They're watching it move. If he does this, it's a good indication he can see.

On the other hand, I could be compleatly off base and he very well could be blind. You're the one who knows best, but most of the time its blatanly obvious when they're compleatly blind.

 

[katemonsterxo]

is there any way you could take some pics of the eyes?

 

[gitrdone0420]

I will get some pics of his eyes tomorrow, when I get home. I really appreciate everyone's opinions. I really think it is probably because he is so mellow, but I just want to make sure I am not missing something obvious. Maia, I will def. try your suggestion soon, that sounds like a good idea.

 

[leonut]

It may also be the morph. If he is albino they tend not to see very well in bright light.

 

[mainelygeckos]

OK I have to post here and tell you this:

My adult male high yellow Maximus also does all this. He moves slowly and bumps into things (especially after changing his cage around when cleaning so I try not to do that). he eats fine but take shim forever to catch the mealy even out of his dish. He oes not eat crickets at all. Shows no interest or that he even sees them if I put them in his tank but his eye dialate fine all the way and then back down again so I know he isn't blind. I assume he just sucks at hunting when it comes to food. But the bumping into things and moving slowly made me wonder at first of his sight. He weighs 68 grams so I know he's eating fine just slowly. Though you would like to know yours is not the only one.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I'd be willing to bet that some geckos just have worse eyesight than others. I tend to run into things if I don't have my glasses on but I'm not blind. LOL Maybe a lot of Leos fall into that mediocre eyesight category.

 

[STUTFL]

Mine bumps his nose against new things and "tastes" them, but in a deliberate, checking-it-out sort of way. He catches crickets fine, in the right lighting. He'll also take a running leap off my hand into nothingness, but I think it's just because leos think they can fly. :tongue3: His vision seems fine, though sometimes he does take him quite a while if something doesn't move enough or moves very fast.