Swollen nasal cavity - to the vet?

[RampantReptiles]

So I got this gecko about 3-4 weeks ago. She seemed to be doing great at first, I thought she was eating on her own but maybe maybe not. I dont think she understands how to eat out of a dish or maybe its because she is sick that she does not want to come out to eat.

She started having symptoms of an upper respiratory infection maybe a week after I got her. There is absolutely no way that she is being kept too cold, I had the thermostat at 96(under the paper so above its 93ish... I just turned it down a few days ago). If anything there was one day when it got to be too hot, the tape that was keeping the probe down came undone so the probe was measuring ambient rather than surface and so it got pretty warm for a few hours. This is when I noticed her breathing hard and opening her mouth. I thought maybe she was doing this to exhale warm air to cool off. Well she is still doing it and its 2 weeks later.

Anyways I noticed her nose is oddly shaped, it looks to be bumped up the area above her nostrils. She just shed yesterday and I noticed last night that it looks a lot worse. I dont have a camera at the moment as my sister took it for a trip over the weekend.

Should I try to get in to see a vet ASAP or wait until I can get photos for you guys?

 

[acpart]

Any possibility of infection is a good reason to go to the vet. I had 3 geckos during the winter with combinations of RI's and mouth sores which the vet said can be related if the gecko starts breathing through its mouth. All 3 geckos have recovered and all are finally eating.

Aliza

 

[ariana]

take her to the vet..
if you wait it could be the reason she doesnt make it

 

[RampantReptiles]

She went to the vet today.

Got baytril for the uri and not really sure whats going on with her nose. 1 of 3 things... 1. bacteria, so baytril should fix/help 2. fungal 3. foreign body aka something stuck in there. not sure about 2 but 3 could involve flushing the cavity and would need anesthesia which in her current condition is not a good idea.

So running the course of baytril for 10 days and see how that goes. She gave me tuna flavor instead of banana to see if it was more appetizing... the gecko totally hates it. Its hilarious everytime she tastes it she moves her head around like she is trying to wipe the stuff off but she has already swallowed it.... too funny.

I will try to get pictures either tomorrow or Wednesday. Super busy with 2 jobs so hard to find time for this stuff... anyways.

 

[RampantReptiles]

Better late than never!

 

[steve905]

It looks like some kind of abcess. Is it hard or soft to the touch?

 

[RampantReptiles]

Im not really sure... she doesnt like it when I try to touch it. But if I had to guess I would say hard. The nostril looks clogged so there is no fluid coming out. I kind of wish I could loosen up the clog so that it could drain.

Any suggestions? Vet recommended I take her in the shower with me because the steam would help but that hasnt really been happening. I could just give her warm baths. I have been keeping her moist hide moist on and off. I dont want it moist all the time since that will make the URI worse but need the steam...

I have not seen much improvement and its been almost a week. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[thegeckoguy23]

take her to the vet..
if you wait it could be the reason she doesnt make it

i think this also keep us updated

 

[steve905]

If it was mine I'd go back now that shes been on antibiotics for a week and have the vet excorcise the abcess...she'll probably need some antistetic but I think if you get it cleaned out her body can then fight the infection...Good Luck...

 

[RampantReptiles]

vet said 10 days on the baytril so I am going to follow through on that and then call the vet. Thank you for the input!

 

[RampantReptiles]

Just wanted to give everyone an update.
Baytril didnt do much of anything. Had the vet take a sample, turns out its a very hard fungal infection.
Vet says there are no easy ways to treat a fungal infection like this in geckos so wanted me to try putting Betadine/Iodine on her nose every day for a couple weeks to see if that would do anything. This sounds odd to me but I am giving it a try. Only been a couple days and I think I already see improvement. I think the only reason its working is that the Iodine is able to seep into a soar that has formed so can actually get to the infection? I dont know. I have also been putting hydrogen peroxide to clean the soar and then the Iodine, probably overkill as they do basically the same thing.
Well hopefully her nose will get better and she continues to put on weight. She will be healthy in no time!

 

[The Gecko Vision]

How's the girl going now? I got a gecko has the exactly same cyst in nose. Hope to solve the problem too!