I think my son’s gekko is blind

[Ginevra]

I don’t know how much obligation we have to this little “pet.” Generally speaking, I’m big on committment to pets and helping them live quality lives for as long as that can reasonably be accomplished. But I have no idea what to do about this gekko. 

He is not that old. He can rarely find his prey. Feeding him by hand does not work. Sticking the worms beside his mouth with tweezers doesn’t even work. Ocassionally, ds can put the mealworm (live) into the lizard’s hidey rock and, presumably because of close quarters, the lizard can strike the prey. But he mostly misses and now there are a bunch of beetles in the cage because they were not eaten and they pupated. 

I think this reptile will eventually starve to death. Do people euthanize gekkos? Somehow that seems pretty kooky. But I don’t know what to do, or if I even should do anything.

In other news, the most recent time the gekko sloughed, he did not get the facial bits off; I think this is because he is blind and can’t use the rocks or whatever they normally use to slough their faces. This guy is looking pitiful. Anyone ever have a gekko go blind? Judging from the frequency of this question on Google, it is apparently not very rare. It even came up as a suggestion when I typed, “Why does my leopard gekko...”; it suggested, “seem blind.” 

[jen3kids]

This happened to my ds' gecko a long time ago.  She didn't shed her skin properly and there was a layer left on her eyes and became blind.  She couldn't find her food, but what eventually killed her was that the skin that didn't shed became infected and the vet figures she got an infection in her eyes that eventually spread to her brain.  It was so sad.  

I think I have an idea of where you live and there is an exotic vet pretty close to you.  We took ds' gecko there, but there wasn't anything he could do for her.     He explained to us that geckos are not good first pets - there is a lot more to taking care of them than people think ?  His bedside manner isn't great, but he is very knowledgeable.

[Ausmumof3]

3 hours ago, Quill said:

I don’t know how much obligation we have to this little “pet.” Generally speaking, I’m big on committment to pets and helping them live quality lives for as long as that can reasonably be accomplished. But I have no idea what to do about this gekko. 

He is not that old. He can rarely find his prey. Feeding him by hand does not work. Sticking the worms beside his mouth with tweezers doesn’t even work. Ocassionally, ds can put the mealworm (live) into the lizard’s hidey rock and, presumably because of close quarters, the lizard can strike the prey. But he mostly misses and now there are a bunch of beetles in the cage because they were not eaten and they pupated. 

I think this reptile will eventually starve to death. Do people euthanize gekkos? Somehow that seems pretty kooky. But I don’t know what to do, or if I even should do anything.

In other news, the most recent time the gekko sloughed, he did not get the facial bits off; I think this is because he is blind and can’t use the rocks or whatever they normally use to slough their faces. This guy is looking pitiful. Anyone ever have a gekko go blind? Judging from the frequency of this question on Google, it is apparently not very rare. It even came up as a suggestion when I typed, “Why does my leopard gekko...”; it suggested, “seem blind.” 

Incomplete sloughing is often a sign of poor nutrition in reptiles so that would make sense if it’s not eating normally.  

I don’t know about geckos but do you have all the temperatures etc correct?

also sometimes the skin can shed except the part round the eyes.  This might contribute? 

[Ausmumof3]

https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8006545

some good info about retained spectacles and what to do about it.  Don’t know if it’s relevant 

[Shoeless]

I would get the gecko to an exotics vet.  They will be able to accurately diagnose what the issue is and tell you if it is fixable.  If it's a problem beyond your abilities to fix, they will know of a rescue that could take the gecko. 

If you live in the Chicago area, I know of an excellent exotics vet, (the practice is called Chicago Exotics.  I do not work for them, but have worked with several of the vets that are employed there, and they are all excellent). 

[Dmmetler]

How is the humidity in the tank? Retained sheds are usually a result of low humidity. At this point, he may need vet assistance, but usually just giving the animal a moist hide or a soak in warm water can help sheds come off. Once the spectacles are removed, he’ll be able to see again, if that’s the problem. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dmmetler said:

How is the humidity in the tank? Retained sheds are usually a result of low humidity. At this point, he may need vet assistance, but usually just giving the animal a moist hide or a soak in warm water can help sheds come off. Once the spectacles are removed, he’ll be able to see again, if that’s the problem. 

I was hoping you would chime in. I am not sure about the humidity; I will have DS check. I know he keeps a damp sponge in there and he had a water pool, so it would seem to add enough humidity, but I do not know for certain.