New Leopard Gecko

[linds]

Hello, I'm new to leopard geckos...but not to reptiles, I have 4 ball pythons, 3 kenyan sand boas, and a bearded dragon. Today, I adopted a leo. I was at a big box pet store picking up cat food and I was caught looking at the leos. They had a sign saying there were some reptiles for adoption. I inquired. They brought out this little guy, they were giving him away for free because of a "birth defect"- he has one red eye. I couldn't resist, I know horrible. I only know the basics about leos. I have him in a 10 gallon tank, UTH, paper towels with a bottle cap of calcium powder, water, and some mealworms.

He was very lethargic for most of the day, but he has perked up quite a bit. He ate one mealworm and drank a bit of water.

My questions are: why is his one eye red- is he a raptor? is he an albino? his skin looks dry, is there anything i can do? any help is appreciated! thanks




This is the best I could get of the red eye:


Here's the yellow eye:



{EDIT} I hope I posted this in the right place! If not, I'm sorry!

 

[brillobee]

He will need a warm hide on the Uth, a cool hide on the cool side, and a moist hide. Can be just a plastic container with some moist paper towels in it. He will go in to get hydrated. The one red eye isn't a defect. Some gckos have snake eyes. He is an albino. Not sure which type.

 

[linds]

Should the moist hide be above the uth as well as a dry one?

 

[brillobee]

That's a subject of debate. There is a thread about it.

http://geckoforums.net/f127-housing/24565.htm

 

[linds]

The one red eye isn't a defect. Some gckos have snake eyes. He is an albino. Not sure which type.

I googled snake eyes in leopard geckos but they don't really look like his one eye. It's completely red.

It looks a lot like this photo:

 

[brillobee]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but maybe it has the eclipse gene? Some eclipses will have only one all red eye.

 

[linds]

I'll give him a few weeks...once he's situated, I'll try to get better photos.

I have an extra plastic container humid hide from my snakes, so I got that set up for him on the humid side. He went in immediately and he's been licking the water off the sides for the past half hour. I think its a hit!