benjismomma
New Member
- Messages
- 1
Hi,
I wanted to share my experience with my daughter's leopard gecko. He is 3 years old and had his first hemipene prolapse. After lots of research, we finally found the determination to see if some gentle home treatment would solve the problem. It appeared that the prolapse was caused by a build up of shed and a sperm plug on the hemipene. How I fixed it:
First, a large, SHALLOW dish of warm water (like a square baking dish). I set him in the water so it would warm his belly. After a few resistant attempts, he calmed down and sat still in the water for about 5 minutes.
Second, because he was calm, I could grasp him and lay him on his back in the palm of my hand. Normally he hates this but he was still calm.
Third, I had a cup of WARM water and a little medicine dropper. I put some warm water in the dropper and just put a gentle stream over the prolapse. He was very still when I was doing this. After a few minutes of this, I took a damp qtip and brushed around the hemipene. The layer of hard "stuff" had softened, and after a few minutes of a little pushing at it with the qtip, the hunk of stuff came right off the end. It was a very hard mass. It came off, and POOF! the hemipene retracted back in without a problem! I was so happy to see that's all that it was. Turns out I learned that shed can build up internally if the gecko does not lick it off when he sheds. The last time he shed it must have been built up to where the hemipene did not retract. Now we know to make sure his hide is very moist and warm when we see signs that he will be shedding.
Bottom line is, with our experience we did not need medicine or a vet. However everyone's experience can be different. Just wanted to share in case someone else has a similar issue!
I wanted to share my experience with my daughter's leopard gecko. He is 3 years old and had his first hemipene prolapse. After lots of research, we finally found the determination to see if some gentle home treatment would solve the problem. It appeared that the prolapse was caused by a build up of shed and a sperm plug on the hemipene. How I fixed it:
First, a large, SHALLOW dish of warm water (like a square baking dish). I set him in the water so it would warm his belly. After a few resistant attempts, he calmed down and sat still in the water for about 5 minutes.
Second, because he was calm, I could grasp him and lay him on his back in the palm of my hand. Normally he hates this but he was still calm.
Third, I had a cup of WARM water and a little medicine dropper. I put some warm water in the dropper and just put a gentle stream over the prolapse. He was very still when I was doing this. After a few minutes of this, I took a damp qtip and brushed around the hemipene. The layer of hard "stuff" had softened, and after a few minutes of a little pushing at it with the qtip, the hunk of stuff came right off the end. It was a very hard mass. It came off, and POOF! the hemipene retracted back in without a problem! I was so happy to see that's all that it was. Turns out I learned that shed can build up internally if the gecko does not lick it off when he sheds. The last time he shed it must have been built up to where the hemipene did not retract. Now we know to make sure his hide is very moist and warm when we see signs that he will be shedding.
Bottom line is, with our experience we did not need medicine or a vet. However everyone's experience can be different. Just wanted to share in case someone else has a similar issue!
