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First baby leopards- weird eye problem??

A

ApollosDragons

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So I had an exciting event, my first ever leopard gecko eggs hatched on June 15th! I had the hardest time with gecko eggs for some reason, they always went bad on me and never hatched before. Never had any problems with bearded dragons.

Anyways, the eggs were laid April 21st and from what I was reading they should have been a couple more weeks. I know the room the incubator was in was getting fairly warm for some the days as we live in a metal trailer house and regulating can be a big pain in the butt. One of the babies only lasted a couple of days, never absorbed his yolk sack and passed away. The other one is still alive but his 'eye-lids' are crinkled and he acts like he can't really see. You can see the eyes but it's like there's skin over them. I'll try to get a picture of it the eyes later but was wondering if anyone has ever run into something like this before? Any one have any ideas on how to help correct this little 'defect'?
 
It is possible that the problem is stuck shed. Photos would help.
If it is stuck shed, you can place the gecko into a plastic container (with some holes for breathing) that contains either wet paper towels &/or damp moss. Leave the gecko, in there, for approx. 1 hr. Hopefully the gecko will remove the stuck shed on his/her own. If not, after the gecko's "sauna", you can try using a wet q-tip to gently remove the stuck shed.
Again, stuck shed is just one possibility. So, photos would help.
BTW Are you misting the baby/babies twice a day (or, at least, a minimum of once a day)? Is there a wet hide in its/their enclosure?
 
I'm pretty sure its not stuck shed. It came out of the egg.

I'm keeping it in a plastic shoe box, with paper towels. There are two hides one moist one dry. The moist is closer to the warm side. Using baby food jar lid as a water bowl. I'm misting and filling the water 2-3 times a day. It will climb on top of the dry hide and just hang out but doesn't seem to be able to see anything at all. I've offered a few small mealworms with absolutely no interest hence why I believe the inability to see.
 

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I had a gecko like that hatch out in 2008. I'm not sure what happened. I'm thinking either incubator malfunction or not enough energy in the yolk (it was a first time mom, first clutch ever). He survived and was a great pet, but his eyes were sunken, he had dimpled eyelids, and although he was male he had no hemipenile bulges. He also had skin connecting his upper thigh to his ankle on both hind legs, which made it very difficult to walk around. I did minor surgery and clipped the extra skin (avoiding veins) when he was just a baby. He grew up healthy and fine, but obviously couldn't breed (not that I would have considering his history anyway).

I had to hand feed him for almost a year before he could hunt on his own. His vision was never the best, but he ended up eating mealworms with no problem. Considering your baby is enigma on top of the developmental problem it has, its vision could be even worse.

For now, I would get him started on crested gecko diet smeared on his lips. Once he's taking that regularly, then I would put a mealworm in the corner of his mouth and let him chomp down on it. Once the guts go down his throat he may realize it's food and be interested in more. It will take time on your part, but I think the baby has a good chance of surviving.
 

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ApollosDragons said:
I'm pretty sure its not stuck shed. It came out of the egg.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see, didn't realize it hatched out that way. In that case, the extra misting may not be necessary since you do have a wet hide in the baby's enclosure. At least not unless you note a problem looming with its shedding.
While I do make sure my baby Cresties get extra misting I do not do it for my Leos. With just a wet hide, I've never had a shed problem with my Leos.

Am not sure what is going on, with your baby Leo, and, unfortunately, not sure how to remedy it (if there is a remedy). It appears that it may be a deformity that occurred during its development.
 
snowgyre said:
For now, I would get him started on crested gecko diet smeared on his lips. Once he's taking that regularly, then I would put a mealworm in the corner of his mouth and let him chomp down on it. Once the guts go down his throat he may realize it's food and be interested in more. It will take time on your part, but I think the baby has a good chance of surviving.
Click to expand...

Pretty good advice. I agree. Although, since Leos are insectivores (and if it were me), I would try using a dried, or moist, insectivore diet (you can mix in some water to make it "runny") instead of CGD.
 
I agree that it's a deformity. It may be genetic, but I would guess it's from the fluctuating temps in your house.
 
I'm leaning more towards the fluctuating temps and tried moving the incubator as I just got another pair of eggs out of my leopards. If it happens again I know it's time to freeze the eggs as I get them. So far the incubator has been much more stable this time around.

Update on the baby, I have gotten it to syringe feed a mix of dry food and water twice. Even though it was just a little bit, it was something. Thank you all for the opinions and advice. I'll do what I can for the little one.
 
ApollosDragons said:
I'm leaning more towards the fluctuating temps and tried moving the incubator as I just got another pair of eggs out of my leopards. If it happens again I know it's time to freeze the eggs as I get them. So far the incubator has been much more stable this time around.

Update on the baby, I have gotten it to syringe feed a mix of dry food and water twice. Even though it was just a little bit, it was something. Thank you all for the opinions and advice. I'll do what I can for the little one.
Click to expand...

Great to hear that you were able to get something into the little one's belly.
Wishing you the best with him/her.
 
looks to be a deformed eyelid. Often times the deformity causes the iris to become attached to the skin and cause a lifetime of eye issues, other times it doesn't effect much.

in addition to the temperature swings you might want to look into vitamin a supplmentation
 
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