***Pics....is this okay?

[lilmidget865]

Okay, so I had brought this gecko to the vet today because of dry skin and he/she scratching up against the rocks and stuff and scraping off skin on its neck. It looked raw, so I wanted to be sure he/she was okay. Well, the doctor actually took some more skin off and this is what he/she looks like now.....Is this okay!?

He gave me some cream (Baytril-Silvadene) to put on the wound once a day for seven days to stop infection....but he made the wound bigger!

 

[Kellyr]

That does not look good at all. Why did he take more skin off? To send to the lab?? It looks like he took an uninfected area??!?!?!?

 

[lilmidget865]

No...I think he was just seeing if he/she was shedding....it looks very red in these pics, but it's not too far off....I'm not sure what to do now....I just spent $61 at the vet.

 

[lilmidget865]

One good thing is that I got it to recognize the humid hide....so he/she stays in there a lot more than before (which was never) and I gave him/her a warm bath for the past 2 days (being sure the temp of the water wasn't more than 92 degrees or so) which he/she seems to like, almost like it was slightly relieving. I figured it would help him/her shed as well as clean the areas where the skin looks so thin. He/she just got done drinking a ton of water, which I am guessing isn't a bad thing. I'm so nervous for the little guy.

 

[snowgyre]

Can you get closer pictures? The wound is too far away. Also, it looks like his eyes are swollen shut in all photos? Is he eating and defecating normally?

Leopards tend to heal fast from wounds, even grievous ones, if they're healthy. I had a male that got into a fight with another male and had half of his inner thigh of a back leg bitten off. He recovered 100% with no loss of movement, and all I did was make sure he stayed on paper towels and I flushed the wound with sterile saline solution twice a day until it healed.

How is he self-inflicting those wounds? Is he scratching himself with his front leg or is he rubbing against the substrate? I don't know enough about what's going on to really help you out.

 

[lilmidget865]

Can you get closer pictures? The wound is too far away. Also, it looks like his eyes are swollen shut in all photos? Is he eating and defecating normally?

Leopards tend to heal fast from wounds, even grievous ones, if they're healthy. I had a male that got into a fight with another male and had half of his inner thigh of a back leg bitten off. He recovered 100% with no loss of movement, and all I did was make sure he stayed on paper towels and I flushed the wound with sterile saline solution twice a day until it healed.

How is he self-inflicting those wounds? Is he scratching himself with his front leg or is he rubbing against the substrate? I don't know enough about what's going on to really help you out.

Thanks for your reply....The way the initial wounds were self-inflicted was when he/she rubbed against a rock setup I have in the tank....The doctor peeled off everything else (not sure why on earth he did that)...I'm going to try and get some better pictures if he/she will let me

 

[lilmidget865]

Eyes open (he/she does open his/her eyes, but not frequently.

Neck wound (scraped on rocks)

All wounds caused by vet pulling off skin - skin is not AS red as it looks here, but pretty close, I think the flash intensifies it

My other baby in the tank (without these problems)

 

[Lady_Kiya]

Wow, I honestly have no idea what to say. What a dumb vet for pulling off more skin... that has to be irritating that poor little thing. I would say put neosporin on the injury.. that is the only thing I can think of, but considering the vet gave you cream...

 

[lilmidget865]

Wow, I honestly have no idea what to say. What a dumb vet for pulling off more skin... that has to be irritating that poor little thing. I would say put neosporin on the injury.. that is the only thing I can think of, but considering the vet gave you cream...

I think I will be writing a strongly worded letter....I'm pretty frustrated....I knew that you weren't supposed to do that to them, but of course, I didn't realize what he was doing at the time....not only that, but you would think they would know that....why do they even offer to treat reptiles if they're that ignorant. I seriously am considering asking for the money back....all they did was make the problem worse...and I have pictures to prove it. Urgh! My poor baby I gave him another bath hoping it would relieve some of the discomfort...

 

[fallen_angel]

That's horrible, I would have been very upset with the vet if he had done that to one of our babies!! He just pulled off her skin! that skin wasn't supposed to come off! Poor little one, but yes, it'll hopefully heal quickly and be just fine.. that's just so horrible

Best wishes to you both, keep us updated!

 

[matt1134]

that is horiable i would possiably recomend using mabey snake oil cause it is used for skin problems frome cuts,scrapes and bites i use it on my snakes when ever they get any injuries like cuts or scrapes. just a sugestion

 

[snowgyre]

That vet was an idiot, plain and simple. He/she is obviously not a reptile specialist. He probably assumed that the wound wasn't a wound but instead an incomplete shed, so he probably thought he was doing the gecko a 'favor' by removing all of that skin. That vet probably just killed your gecko.

You need to separate that gecko and keep it in sterile container with moist paper towels as a substrate. Do not handle the gecko until that skin heals. The gecko is probably under tremendous pain and stress from all of that missing tissue. Leave it alone until it heals. I would offer food, but don't expect it to feed. Hopefully within a month that skin will heal and it will be feeling better.

The gecko looks dehydrated as well, so make sure there's water available. Seriously though, that guy is in a bad way, and never, ever take it to that vet again.

Also, DO NOT APPLY CREAM!! Reptiles are much more sensitive than mammals to that sort of stuff, and most creams leave a residue that can prevent skin from healing properly. Keep it in a sterile container and leave it. If there are any contaminants in the skin at all (ie. dirt), use sterile saline solution to clean it, no creams!!

 

[DarthGekko]

OMG! That just makes me sick. That poor baby.... I have used Neosporine on minor cuts in the past but I don't know if you could use that in this case. I know when Leo's snap their tails it is best to keep them dry but with access to water... I agree that you should keep it in a sterile container and do your best not to stress it out. I hope things work out for you and your baby.

 

[acpart]

I have to say, just to balance this a bit, that one of my geckos once looked as if she was in shed but just wasn't able to shed. In this case it was the tail and I did "help" her, resulting in that shiny look (though not as red as in this picture). I'm fairly experienced but missed the call on that one, so I don't know for sure that the vet is necessarily not to be trusted with reptiles. In the case of the one I mistakenly "peeled" it did take a while to heal but she's fine now.

I notice from one of your posts that you have her in with another gecko. It's possible that she is being stressed from the other gecko. I say this because on another occasion, I had a female in with a male who kept "bothering" her during mating season. She had a terrible shed where she couldn't get the shed off and there was a lot of "sticking" --her feet were getting constricted but the shed really wasn't loose enough. I ended up doing a lot of warm soaks and probably pulled a bit of the shed off before it was ready. I separated her immediately and never had another shedding problem with her like that one. As mentioned by someone else, she should definitely be separated while she's healing, and after that, consider keeping her separate.

Aliza

 

[lilmidget865]

I wish I could afford to separate them, but honestly, I can't afford it. They don't seem to bother eachother. I have watched them during the day, as well as late at night. If anything, they love eachother. The reason I picked them at the store was because they were "cuddling" up in the moist cave. Right now, I have noticed that they are keeping their distance, which is good for the sick one. I just spent so much money on the vet and trying to get him better that I can't afford to get everything for a second setup right now. I do have them on cage carpet, so there isn't any kind of sand or anything that will get into the areas. The cream is actually helping create a barrier from anything getting to the sensitive skin. I have some good news at least! I got the sick one to feed on some repta-aid yesterday (almost a whole cc, which is what is recommended for his size). He was willingly opening his mouth and is now going into the humid hide. The daily routine is now....feed, bathe and apply medication. I keep him in the container for a few minutes to make sure the cream isn't uncomfortable and then put him back. I also got his tank buddy to eat crickets yesterday, and that one hadn't been eating either, so I think it's all a great sign! Somebody was licking at the calcium dish I have in the tank too because there's a little calcium trail. So everything is going okay for now! I will take some update pictures later to track the progress.

 

[catvettech]

If the vet did not pull off the dead/dying skin, there would have been a greater chance of infection/necrotic tissue underneath. Now we can tell that there is pink, healthy tissue.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I think I will be writing a strongly worded letter....I'm pretty frustrated....I knew that you weren't supposed to do that to them, but of course, I didn't realize what he was doing at the time....not only that, but you would think they would know that....why do they even offer to treat reptiles if they're that ignorant. I seriously am considering asking for the money back....all they did was make the problem worse...and I have pictures to prove it. Urgh! My poor baby I gave him another bath hoping it would relieve some of the discomfort...

I would march in there and ask for my money back. The vet should know what they are doing, and know that pulling off more of the already irritated skin will cause more pain and make it easier to get infected. I am glad that they are both doing alright. It is a good idea to keep the area very well moistened. I would think that if it became to dry that would cause more irritation and possibly cause the gecko to pick at it. Keep me informed. ^^ I am wishing the best!

 

[paintedlizards]

I think maybe everyones going OMG a wound! thats horrible . blame the vet.

if you can't afford to separate the geckos then I'm not sure that you should have two,bottom line. You also said he/she and he/she is with another gecko. they don't appear to be too small.. I just had a 22 gram female I picked up at a petstore lay two eggs last night... so they CAN and WILL breed at that size, not to mention fight. are you sure that's not a fight wound? If you can't afford to house two separately then how are you going to afford the offspring that they will create?

A 10 gallon tank is 12.00 here. And a small heat pad about 15 . so for 30.00 you could have NO chance of the other gecko spreading infection, irritating the healing gecko or otherwise causing stress.

maybe the vet wanted to 'clean up' the area or dead tissue, scabs ect so he could see what was what under the shed or scabbing. I know that when my horse got hurt ( not a gecko, i know) I was instructed to pull the scabs off of a very bad wound DAILY till it healed. we didn't want infection brewing under the surface.

I'd stop bathing the gecko. You need to keep the area clean, dry and lightly ointmented ... not WET and moist and slathered... not saying you're slathering just saying less is more with these guys.

and maybe it was the vet's fault. I'd write the vet an email ( some have links on the websites) or a letter asking him to explain why he did what he did...or call him...! and how it will affect the healing process, what you can expect to see during the healing process ect.. and i'd say that youre not 100% satisifed with what he did. I wouldnt be so quick to blame him for everything...maybe you just dont understand what exactly his 'plan' was for the gecko. next time ( or with his next reptile client) he may be inspried to explain better.

 

[JordanAng420]

I think maybe everyones going OMG a wound! thats horrible . blame the vet.

if you can't afford to separate the geckos then I'm not sure that you should have two,bottom line. You also said he/she and he/she is with another gecko. they don't appear to be too small.. I just had a 22 gram female I picked up at a petstore lay two eggs last night... so they CAN and WILL breed at that size, not to mention fight. are you sure that's not a fight wound? If you can't afford to house two separately then how are you going to afford the offspring that they will create?

A 10 gallon tank is 12.00 here. And a small heat pad about 15 . so for 30.00 you could have NO chance of the other gecko spreading infection, irritating the healing gecko or otherwise causing stress.

maybe the vet wanted to 'clean up' the area or dead tissue, scabs ect so he could see what was what under the shed or scabbing. I know that when my horse got hurt ( not a gecko, i know) I was instructed to pull the scabs off of a very bad wound DAILY till it healed. we didn't want infection brewing under the surface.

I'd stop bathing the gecko. You need to keep the area clean, dry and lightly ointmented ... not WET and moist and slathered... not saying you're slathering just saying less is more with these guys.

and maybe it was the vet's fault. I'd write the vet an email ( some have links on the websites) or a letter asking him to explain why he did what he did...or call him...! and how it will affect the healing process, what you can expect to see during the healing process ect.. and i'd say that youre not 100% satisifed with what he did. I wouldnt be so quick to blame him for everything...maybe you just dont understand what exactly his 'plan' was for the gecko. next time ( or with his next reptile client) he may be inspried to explain better.

Very well worded, Christina. I agree compleatly. :main_thumbsup:

 

[Alusdra]

Good idea to take those rocks out, too- they look very sharp. After the little one heals only put them back in if you can grind them down.

Poor kid! Hope he/she heals up well.