Eye Infections in Leopard gecko - A Sad Story

Hopefully this story will have a happy ending, but unfortunately, I don't think so. And, I apologise for the long post.

Well, about 3 weeks ago I noticed that my Female adult Line Bred Snow, Dominoe, was keeping her eyes closed a lot, and when I finally got her to open them, I noticed that her eyes were "Cloudy" looking. I had some eye ointment (Vetropolycin) from when one of my fat tail geckos got some Bed-A-Beast in her eye and had to have it flushed out. So, I put the ointment on her eyes for a couple of days. Her eyes didn't get any better. I also noticed that one of her daughters, Sammie, was having the same problems with her eyes. Neither one of them would eat either during this time either.

Dominoe and Sammie's colors got very dark and they were very sluggish. I called my Vet and got an appointment for the next day. They said that they weren't sure what was wrong with their eyes and for me to continue putting the Vetropolycin ointment in their eyes 3 times a day, and they gave me Flagyl to try to stimulate them to eat. And if they didn't look better in 10 or so days to bring them back in.

A few days later I called Marcia, she recommended that I put them on the "G3 Slurry" diet. I got the ingredients that night, and started to syringe feed them that night. That was this past Friday night. Although their eyes don't look any better, they fed very well on the Slurry, and their color seams to be getting brighter and they aren't losing any more weight.

I kept this up until Monday, when I noticed that Dominoes other daughter, Oreo, was getting the eye infection as well. None of these geckos were kept together. Kind of weird that only these 3 related geckos were getting the infections and no one else. I made another appointment with my Vet, which was yesterday, and got some really bad news.

They told me that Sammie is blind in both eyes, that she has perforated corneas from chronic viral infection. And, they said that Dominoe and Oreo could go blind as well. They are now treating them for a viral infection. They gave me Gentamicin Ophthalmic Solution drops for their eyes, and Tribrissen drops to be given orally. I started this treatment this morning, and need to give them the drops twice a day for 10 days. If Sammies’ eyes aren’t better after that, and if they bother her, they said all they can do is remove the eyes. And if Dominoe and Oreo's’ eyes perforate and continue to stay infected, they will do the same for them.

I don’t know if this viral infection is genetic or not, the vet said it could be but they don’t know for sure, it just seams weird that it only happened in their family.

I want to give a BIG “Thank you” to Marcia and Kelli for their help. If it weren’t for Marcia’s Slurry they wouldn’t be eating at all.

Sorry to hear that Jeanne. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us. So many seemingly unexplainable things happen with these geckos. Hope they can recover...I know it's tough. We'll be thinking of you...

So many seemingly unexplainable things happen with these geckos.

Exactly why we need to post these types of threads when they happen, so we can learn from them.

Thanks Paul!

If anybody has any experience with eye infections, please post it here! Any info may help.

Jeanne, I'm so sorry to hear this is terrible news! I'm glad you made the slurry for them, and hopefully the medication will reverse the effects of the infections with the others. Did the vet give you ANY idea what the possible causes could be?

Originally Posted by Golden Gate Geckos

Jeanne, I'm so sorry to hear this is terrible news! I'm glad you made the slurry for them, and hopefully the medication will reverse the effects of the infections with the others. Did the vet give you ANY idea what the possible causes could be?

Thank you Marcia, and I really want to thank you for all your help.

Unfortunately, they don't have any clue as to what caused it. I will be seeking a new Vet now, as I am not too happy with the way they handled this, if they had given me the medication for the viral infection in the beginning, Sammie may not be blind now. They said the first time I brought her in that it might be a viral infection, if I would have know that it could cause blindness, I would have demanded the Viral medication right away! I did find out that they are the local vet for all the Petcos in this area, which doesn't build my confidence in them at all.

I am just so upset, especially for Sammie, she is such a sweet girl and shouldn't have to suffer like this. Unfortunately, after I finish with the meds, if she isn't any better, I may have to put her down, it comes down to quality of life.

Man, This Really It is quite heart breaking.

My first female ever had something similar (she was 8+ years old). Her eyes were always closed which I flushed with saline solution in accordance to my Vet's advice. Soon after her eyes began to swell so I took her in a second time. The Vet examined her and was baffled. He had no idea what was wrong with her but she had huge tumor-esque growths in her eyes that he took out. The swelling went down and she began to eat (which she hadn't done before). The next week the tumors were back, here eyes were swollen to grotesque sizes. The next die she died in the middle of a shed. I was so heartbroken at the time that I couldn't even handle taking the body out of the tub. Later I found out my dad disposed of the body before I could get a necropsy done (which I doubt would had shed any light on the problem).

Anyways, that's my eye-related issues.

*the next day she died...

It's too early in the morning, lol. I need my coffee? I'm looking for excuses here.

I am so sorry to hear that. I feel your pain. Thank you for sharing your story though.

I'm really sorry to hear about your geckos Jeanne. It is very sad, and I know how frustrating it can be. It is odd that it is only happening in the snows. Perhaps you could contact the originator of the line and ask if they have had any similar issues. I wish you luck on your search for a new vet. I still can't help but wonder if it might be some sort of bacterial problem. I'll keep you and the geckos in my thoughts, and always know you can call me anytime if you feel I can help out.

Thanks Kelli.

I did contact the person I got them from, and they are baffeled as well. They said that none of their Snows have had any eye problems.

I mentioned that to my vet and they said they didn't think it was. But I looked up flagyl in the "Understanding Reptile Parasites" book and it says it is a "Anti-bacterial agent". Wouldn't that have worked if it was a bacterial infection?