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12-03-2012, 01:06 AM

Admittedly, I do not know a lot about gargoyle geckos, but I work for a veterinary ophthalmologist and therefore know a lot about eyes.

If money is of no concern to you, I would take him to the vet and have him evaluated, regardless of what's causing the issue. Everyone here can look at those pictures and tell you what they think is going on, but everyone may be wrong, and then that doesn't help you or your little guy out at all. There is NO substitute for an exam by a qualified veterinarian.

I imagine, however, that for whatever reason you are not quite on board with a vet visit just yet, which is why you are asking for advice here. I think I am in a unique position to give you some good advice concerning eye care in general, but please be aware I am a vet tech and I work for an ophthalmologist. I am not a vet, and am not attempting to diagnose your issue. Also, all of the following advise may help him, but it absolutely will not harm him, no matter what is wrong. If you have any questions or are confused about anything, please get in touch with me before trying to sort it out on your own.

Sometimes when reptiles have retained eye caps they will get a secondary infection under the scale which makes their eyes look cloudy like that. Also, as the eye cap is no longer viable tissue, it loses nutrients and dries out and can look cloudy on its own, even if no infection is present. You can also have a build up of white blood cells (pus) in the eye as the eye reacts to the foreign material (dead skin/eye cap) without bacterial overgrowth, which is not a true infection (doesn't need antibiotics). Those are the most common scenarios for cloudy eyes a few days post shed.

If you are dealing with retained eye caps, my opinion is that you don't have a lot to worry about, as they generally come off with the next shed provided your husbandry is good. However, as I said these guys can develop a secondary infection related to the eye caps which needs to be treated. Watch out for discharge from the eyes and anything that looks green in particular.

Whether you hare retained eye caps or not, I strongly recommend you stop trying to manually remove them. You can seriously injure their eyes ESPECIALLY if your little guy has something going on besides retained eye caps. Either way, rubbing an abrasive substance across the eye (and to a sensitive structure like an eye, q-tips are extremely abrasive) can and will cause corneal ulcers (the cornea is the clear part of your eye...the part that gets really irritated if you get an eyelash in your eye). If corneal ulcers become infected, the bacteria can destroy the corneal cells and the eye can rupture. This happens frequently with dogs and they often require surgery in order to save the eye, which is not an option for a little guy like yours. That's kinda a worst case scenario, but I have seen that exact scenario play out once with a leopard gecko whose owner was trying to clean discharge from his eye with a q-tip (that was me......waaayyy back when I first started keeping leos) and once with a boa with retained eye caps that ended up losing one eye and is severely visually impaired in the other due to enthusiastic q-tipping. It also hurts a lot if you don't put drops in to numb the eyes first. So please, no more q-tips.

If you want to help him out, a gentle flushing of his eyes with sterile eye wash (available over-the-counter at any human pharmacy) will make him feel better. This will help remove any debris and discharge that has accumulated because of the retained eye caps and may help to loosen and remove the eye caps as well. You can do this 2-3 times daily. I don't think this next suggestion is necessary, but if you simply MUST do something more than flushing, you can put some artificial tears in his eyes (not to be confused with eye drops, like Clear Eyes, etc which are full of needless medications). I like GenTeal Tear Gel a lot. A drop in each eye a couple times a day will help maintain moisture and comfort. If you cannot find this brand, please get in touch with me before putting anything else in there instead. But, to reiterate, this is more to make YOU feel better. As long as your humidity is appropriate, he should do just fine all by himself with his little tongue.

If his eyes get cloudier, if you notice discharge of any color but especially green, and if he seems lethargic or unwilling to eat, he needs to be seen by a vet ASAP so they can put him on antibiotics for his eyes. Also, if he doesn't get any worse but this does not clear up with his next shed, he also needs to be seen by a vet.

Now, let's talk for a minute about this not being retained eye caps. Possibilities include corneal ulcers, bacterial or fungal infection, some sort of immune-mediated condition (his own body is attacking his corneas for some reason), a few other rare conditions, or a combination of any of those things mentioned above. Again, I'm not diagnosing, but I will say that the chance that he has developed any of these uncommon conditions in BOTH eyes and it just so happens to be a few days after a shed is.....well, the chances are incredibly small.

Bottom line: The vet if possible. If not, the advice above is advice I give out every day to clients with animals with various eye issues. If he doesn't get better, then the vet is really a must.

12-03-2012, 01:06 AM	#2
skirtinthedirt	Admittedly, I do not know a lot about gargoyle geckos, but I work for a veterinary ophthalmologist and therefore know a lot about eyes. If money is of no concern to you, I would take him to the vet and have him evaluated, regardless of what's causing the issue. Everyone here can look at those pictures and tell you what they think is going on, but everyone may be wrong, and then that doesn't help you or your little guy out at all. There is NO substitute for an exam by a qualified veterinarian. I imagine, however, that for whatever reason you are not quite on board with a vet visit just yet, which is why you are asking for advice here. I think I am in a unique position to give you some good advice concerning eye care in general, but please be aware I am a vet tech and I work for an ophthalmologist. I am not a vet, and am not attempting to diagnose your issue. Also, all of the following advise may help him, but it absolutely will not harm him, no matter what is wrong. If you have any questions or are confused about anything, please get in touch with me before trying to sort it out on your own. Sometimes when reptiles have retained eye caps they will get a secondary infection under the scale which makes their eyes look cloudy like that. Also, as the eye cap is no longer viable tissue, it loses nutrients and dries out and can look cloudy on its own, even if no infection is present. You can also have a build up of white blood cells (pus) in the eye as the eye reacts to the foreign material (dead skin/eye cap) without bacterial overgrowth, which is not a true infection (doesn't need antibiotics). Those are the most common scenarios for cloudy eyes a few days post shed. If you are dealing with retained eye caps, my opinion is that you don't have a lot to worry about, as they generally come off with the next shed provided your husbandry is good. However, as I said these guys can develop a secondary infection related to the eye caps which needs to be treated. Watch out for discharge from the eyes and anything that looks green in particular. Whether you hare retained eye caps or not, I strongly recommend you stop trying to manually remove them. You can seriously injure their eyes ESPECIALLY if your little guy has something going on besides retained eye caps. Either way, rubbing an abrasive substance across the eye (and to a sensitive structure like an eye, q-tips are extremely abrasive) can and will cause corneal ulcers (the cornea is the clear part of your eye...the part that gets really irritated if you get an eyelash in your eye). If corneal ulcers become infected, the bacteria can destroy the corneal cells and the eye can rupture. This happens frequently with dogs and they often require surgery in order to save the eye, which is not an option for a little guy like yours. That's kinda a worst case scenario, but I have seen that exact scenario play out once with a leopard gecko whose owner was trying to clean discharge from his eye with a q-tip (that was me......waaayyy back when I first started keeping leos) and once with a boa with retained eye caps that ended up losing one eye and is severely visually impaired in the other due to enthusiastic q-tipping. It also hurts a lot if you don't put drops in to numb the eyes first. So please, no more q-tips. If you want to help him out, a gentle flushing of his eyes with sterile eye wash (available over-the-counter at any human pharmacy) will make him feel better. This will help remove any debris and discharge that has accumulated because of the retained eye caps and may help to loosen and remove the eye caps as well. You can do this 2-3 times daily. I don't think this next suggestion is necessary, but if you simply MUST do something more than flushing, you can put some artificial tears in his eyes (not to be confused with eye drops, like Clear Eyes, etc which are full of needless medications). I like GenTeal Tear Gel a lot. A drop in each eye a couple times a day will help maintain moisture and comfort. If you cannot find this brand, please get in touch with me before putting anything else in there instead. But, to reiterate, this is more to make YOU feel better. As long as your humidity is appropriate, he should do just fine all by himself with his little tongue. If his eyes get cloudier, if you notice discharge of any color but especially green, and if he seems lethargic or unwilling to eat, he needs to be seen by a vet ASAP so they can put him on antibiotics for his eyes. Also, if he doesn't get any worse but this does not clear up with his next shed, he also needs to be seen by a vet. Now, let's talk for a minute about this not being retained eye caps. Possibilities include corneal ulcers, bacterial or fungal infection, some sort of immune-mediated condition (his own body is attacking his corneas for some reason), a few other rare conditions, or a combination of any of those things mentioned above. Again, I'm not diagnosing, but I will say that the chance that he has developed any of these uncommon conditions in BOTH eyes and it just so happens to be a few days after a shed is.....well, the chances are incredibly small. Bottom line: The vet if possible. If not, the advice above is advice I give out every day to clients with animals with various eye issues. If he doesn't get better, then the vet is really a must.