Skin health issues (photos included)

[Josh P.]

Hello everyone,

This SHTCTB male leopard gecko is only a little over 1 year old and is weighting 49 grams. Has been eating and defecating regularly, is kept with a female on a terrarium with great conditions, digitally controlled temperature gradient, so I am not sure what could be wrong with him. Diet is mealworms, sometimes dusted with Calcium + D3 and others with a multivitamin.

He never exhibited these symptoms before, but yesterday I have noticed 2 problems:

1 - In several places on his skin there are white patches. I thought this could be leftovers from his last shed, although he never had any serious trouble shedding, but it seems like not as I have soaked those bits of skin in warm water and tried to wash them off, but it's still there, attached to the skin. This can be seen in photo 1, although it is much more visible in real life. What could that be? Is it any form of infection or external parasite?

2 - In the area at the opening of the cloaca there is some solid yellow stuff attached. One of the pieces I managed to remove, the other is too attached to the skin for me to risk removal in a safe way. This seems like a different problem from symptom 1 and it can be seen in photo 2. Could this be skin leftovers from shedding or dry excrement attached there?

Opinions and advice as welcome as always. Thank you for your time and help.

View attachment 56130

 

[DrCarrotTail]

The white patches on his back look like scratches. I would bet your female bit him a couple of times. It's breeding season and he's probably getting a bit frisky. Breeding bites are quite common. The only way to prevent them is to keep your geckos separately.

As for the yellow around his cloaca, I would give it a few days as it doesn't look too unusual or sinister to me but if you're worried you could soak him for 5-10 minutes in 90-95 degree water and see if it washes off.

P.S. If your female isn't over 50 grams I would separate them. They will breed and it can be very hard on females to start laying eggs while they're still growing as they lose a lot of weight while doing so.

 

[Josh P.]

P.S. If your female isn't over 50 grams I would separate them. They will breed and it can be very hard on females to start laying eggs while they're still growing as they lose a lot of weight while doing so.

Thank you for your reply and advice. Much appreciated. The female is around 60 grams and the intention is breeding. They should (hopefully) become one of my breeding pairs.

The white patches on his back look more like something lodged there above the skin than actual scratches, but then again I can't really be sure. Do you have any bite picture examples that I could compare with?
What does everyone else think?

 

[SC Geckos]

I would lean towards bite marks. It almost looks like you can see the shape of the mouth, especially on the back.
As far as the yellow around the cloaca, Its hard to say. You could try giving her a soak in some warm shallow water and see if it will clean off by rolling a damp Q-tip across it very gently.

 

[sausage]

I would defo say bites too.

 

[jemjdragon]

The marks look like bite marks. If I can find the picture of Mifty when he got bites from Ryoo, I will post it so you can compare.

 

[Josh P.]

The marks look like bite marks. If I can find the picture of Mifty when he got bites from Ryoo, I will post it so you can compare.

Thank you!

 

[Josh P.]

So does anyone have any good scar pictures that I could compare with what I see live please?

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I checked my geckos and none have any scratches at the moment so I can't help you there. Bites like yours have should heal to perfection in a few sheds so unless someone's gecko got bit in the last few days you may not get many pictures.