Hello :)

[SCGeckos]

Just saying hi! My name's Sandra and I'm from Southern California. See everyone around the board!

[ArtVandelay]

Welcome to the board!

Ah, a gecko lover, huh? I have a question for you: I have a leopard gecko, about 8 years old. It has a constant heat source (one of those porcelain light things), a daytime light set to a timer so it always has the same hours, a couple good hiding spots, and some webbing on a few of the walls so it can climb a little closer to the heat sources if he wants to...

He gets a pretty steady diet of crickets with calcium powder, and wax worms, and I change out the water about twice a week.

About a month ago I noticed he had shed again, and now it looks like his eyes are missing. I'd never seen or heard of that, but it's evident he's blind, because he has been having a ton of trouble finding the crickets I give him, and he used to be a pretty efficient hunter.

What do you think? Weird, huh?

[onefrombills]

well sandra welcome to the site and If ya need anything just yell ...Im in Phoenix and should hear ya

[NoTapNorm]

Welcome Sandra! Enjoy your visit!

[Baroncad]

Welcome to the boards Sandra.

Any questions or comments just ask, there are some very knowledgeable people here to help you out.

Paddy

[SCGeckos]

Welcome to the board!

Ah, a gecko lover, huh? I have a question for you: I have a leopard gecko, about 8 years old. It has a constant heat source (one of those porcelain light things), a daytime light set to a timer so it always has the same hours, a couple good hiding spots, and some webbing on a few of the walls so it can climb a little closer to the heat sources if he wants to...

He gets a pretty steady diet of crickets with calcium powder, and wax worms, and I change out the water about twice a week.

About a month ago I noticed he had shed again, and now it looks like his eyes are missing. I'd never seen or heard of that, but it's evident he's blind, because he has been having a ton of trouble finding the crickets I give him, and he used to be a pretty efficient hunter.

What do you think? Weird, huh?

Does it look like his eyes are actually missing, or are his eyes just constantly shut? Either way, it's not something that is that detrimental to a gecko once it's already happened. What may have caused it is lack of humidity to allow it to shed properly though. The best and easiest fix for this is to take a small tupperware box, put some papertowel in it (or if you prefer, some sort of substrate like eco-earth or similar) and spray/mist it daily or every couple of days to provide a place for the gecko to go into when it's time to shed because the humidity will aid in shedding. If you go to any gecko forums looking for help, you'll find that you're not the only one with a blind gecko... there are lots around due to these shedding issues. Once the geckos do go blind though, it's best to either switch to an easier prey like mealworms or to rip off the legs of the crickets to slow them down. Handfeeding gets a little strenuous but I guess some people have to do it. (Fortunately none of mine have ever had this problem! Knock on wood) I know you're probably not looking for more ways to spend money on the little guy and at 8 years, (and I'd say he's lived a good time already so I don't think you're doing anything wrong) but you really should have an under tank heater with a leopard gecko since their digestion is aided by belly heat rather than other lizards who bask (since they don't). But, great to see other gecko owners out there. And thanks for the welcome!

[SCGeckos]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

[kev3inp]

Wow, I never realized lizard husbandry was so involved. My daughter and her husband raise those chameleons with the telescopic looking eyes, but I never thought there was a gecko "market," except for the insurance. I see them almost every night here in Florida.

Oh, and welcome to the boards, great to have you here.

[ArtVandelay]

Does it look like his eyes are actually missing, or are his eyes just constantly shut? Either way, it's not something that is that detrimental to a gecko once it's already happened. What may have caused it is lack of humidity to allow it to shed properly though. The best and easiest fix for this is to take a small tupperware box, put some papertowel in it (or if you prefer, some sort of substrate like eco-earth or similar) and spray/mist it daily or every couple of days to provide a place for the gecko to go into when it's time to shed because the humidity will aid in shedding. If you go to any gecko forums looking for help, you'll find that you're not the only one with a blind gecko... there are lots around due to these shedding issues. Once the geckos do go blind though, it's best to either switch to an easier prey like mealworms or to rip off the legs of the crickets to slow them down. Handfeeding gets a little strenuous but I guess some people have to do it. (Fortunately none of mine have ever had this problem! Knock on wood) I know you're probably not looking for more ways to spend money on the little guy and at 8 years, (and I'd say he's lived a good time already so I don't think you're doing anything wrong) but you really should have an under tank heater with a leopard gecko since their digestion is aided by belly heat rather than other lizards who bask (since they don't). But, great to see other gecko owners out there. And thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the input. It looks like the eyes are actually missing.... Sadly enough. I'm not sure how that happened. I've switched it over to pretty much wax worms as a diet, but I don't think they move around enough to satisfy him. He doesn't like to eat things that aren't moving around, although maybe he will be less picky now that he's blind. I don't have an under tank heater, but I do have a rock with a built in heater. I have that set to the same timer the light heat lamp is set to (aren't extension cords great?), for consistency (I figure in real life, rocks get cooler as the sun goes away, I try to keep the terrarium the same way).

My best guess was maybe he somehow ripped them out during shedding. I never thought of the humidity factor! That thought never crossed my mind, even once. I knew it wasn't a calcium deficiency, since I always dust the crickets and sometimes even the wax worms.

Thanks for the info. I figure I'll keep him going as long as I can, but once he went blind, I figured it might be a more difficult task.

Wow, I never realized lizard husbandry was so involved. My daughter and her husband raise those chameleons with the telescopic looking eyes, but I never thought there was a gecko "market," except for the insurance. I see them almost every night here in Florida.

Oh, and welcome to the boards, great to have you here.

They're neat little things... Harmless, cool to look at, and less involvement is required than a dog. hahahaha. I'm a dog person, always have been, always will be. But when my last one died, I figured it would be selfish to get another dog with my current availability. I wouldn't have time to train it properly, and it wouldn't be fair to me, or the dog. With the gecko's, they pretty much take care of themselves, and minimal effort is needed on my part, and normally can be taken care of whenever I find the time (maybe a couple minutes a week, and an hour or so a month at most to clean out the cage and stuff).

Plus, I'm superstitious, and this lizard has seen the Patriots win 3 Super Bowls, the Red Sox win 2 World Series, and the Celtics win 1 Championship!!!! This thing has to stay ALIVE!!!!!! It's a good luck lizard.

[SCGeckos]

lmao. Well you can't let that lizard die on your now can you? lol. As for its care, I'm not gonna lie, taking care of a "special needs" gecko (or any pet) I'm sure you know is very overwhelming. I'd hate to give up a pet just because they have special needs, but honestly if I didn't have the time or patience I would. I've actually had to give up a couple geckos this year to people who had more time to care for them because they were stubborn eaters and ill (started losing weight, wouldn't eat, etc) and I gave them to someone experienced who can better care for them.

By the way, I would throw in other food items as wax worms are both highly addicting and unhealthy. (It's like feeding your kids candy or worse yet a glob of fat all day) They're nothing but fat so even though your gecko looks nice and healthy (and fat) that's only cuz all he eats IS fat... What you won't see is that his body's starving for nutrients since waxies have no nutrients whatsoever. It also causes fatty liver disease in geckos. Most breeders and leo owners will tell you that the max amount of waxworms to give a gecko is maybe 1 or 2 a week at most. Don't worry, I'm not judging or anything since I myself feed my geckos waxworms A LOT (shhh.... don't tell anyone... other gecko owners might beat me if they knew...). So I just wanted to let you know that just in case you didn't know.

So yeah... hope your leo gets better.