Post Hemi Penis Removal Questions

[Spew]

I have a male that has prolapsed on both sides and after repeated attempts my herp vets has been unable to replace them. She is suggesting amputation which I am certainly not excited about but do believe that it is the best for him. There is plenty of information out there about the causes of prolapse and the removal process of a single hemi penis and I have even found a little information on double removal, but where my questions start are the post op behaviors of the geckos. He is obviously no longer going to be able to breed but will he still attempt it if I put him in with my females? Will my females treat him just like they treat each other? How is this going to modify behavior if at all?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I have a male that had one of his hemipenes removed. My vet just sutured and cut - no anesthesia or pain killers. He said he was way too risky on such small animals and he thought the tissue was dead anyhow. It still didn't seem pleasant. For 2 weeks after the surgery I had a salve to spread on the dissolveable suture and was told to keep his cage immaculate and not feed him. He was a pretty chunky guy anyhow so 2 weeks without eating wasn't a huge deal. About 3-4 weeks later the suture fell off and he's been fine every since.

I did try to breed him at the beginning of this season as he still has one hemipene left. He tried for quite a while and seemed to know which was the "good" side. However, he was totally unsuccessful. He's a bit overweight so that may have something to do with it but I bet it's more his equipment.

Not sure how similar your experience will be but that was mine for what it's worth!! Best of luck with your guy!

 

[Olympus]

He may try, since he won't have his hemipenes but will still have his testes. So as far as he's concerned he's still going to be producing testosterone and whatnot, but obviously he won't be able to perform. So in that case I would keep him far from females, since it may frustrate him. And they will still see him as a male because again, he'll still be producing all his normal hormones (if he were getting neutered it might be different.) If he's not with girls he probably will just live on like a normal gecko, eating and sleeping.

 

[Spew]

Thank you both for your responses I found them very informative. But I do have an update on my little guy. Surgery was not needed after all. The herp vet added some lidocaine in addition to the sugar water soaks and lube jobs that I had been doing multiple times a day. All good to go.