Help! My geckos face is swollen!

[geckogirl83]

Yesterday when I went to go feed one of my girls, I noticed her face was very swollen on one side by the eye. It is so swollen that her eye cannot open. She is in a tank all by herself and there is nothing in there that she could hurt herself on, unless she scraped against the doorway of her hide. Help, I don't know what to do until I can find a reptile vet in my area! Thanks.

[Leolord]

I dont mean to be rude but you should have found a herp vet a long time ago but its good to know your searching now what I think is going on is NSHP (nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism ) which is caused by a couple things a diet that is too low in calcium / lack of exposure to ultraviolet light / and lack of vitamin D / more. It could be any of these or a combo of 2 or more that is usually seen with a part of the face swollen or body spasims. There are multiple ways of treating this 1) Injections of vitamin D3 or calcium 2) Take oral calcium or D3 3) Fix any husbandry problems ( you have to do this one ). This could be the problem and most likely is but don't fret because if it hasn't been that long it will be easily treated. I hope your gecko pulls through this easily and will be fine for the rest of his life.

Matt

[-okapi-]

It could be MBD which is a lack of calcium/vitamin D3 which causes jaw bones to swell up and become rubbery, or it could be not enough vitamin A, which is easy to provide by just feeding all prey items carrots or dusting prey items with a vitamin powder. It could also be an abcest which would have to be treated by draining and cleaning of the wound plus antibiotic injections. If you take her to a normal vet they should at least be able to give you reasonable advice/treatment. After all, we are all the same on the inside anyways... and they would have had to take a few classes about exotic pets.

[geckogirl83]

I recently moved in the last month, so I was unsure what there was for vets in my new area..... so I just made an appointment & drove the hour to the reptile vet that I knew. I hatched this gecko so she has always been on calcium & vitamin dusted crickets & mealworms, plus she was alone in a tank, so I was so confused as to how she could have hurt herself. Anyways, it turns out it was an absess (that the vet said just happens sometimes), so they drained it & gave me eye drops & antibiotics, but it wasn't cheap @ $125.00! Oh well, I'm glad she is better now, I was so worried about her!

[Leolord]

Oh I'm sorry I said that and it's good to know it was just that it could have been a lot worse! It sounds like your gecko will be fine congrats to you for bringing her to a vet and fixing the problem!

Matt

[-okapi-]

Yeah, that does happen sometimes. Vets are wonderful people :) Dont be too mad about paying that $125, lol, think about how much school he/she had to go through. 4 years for a biology degree, 4 years for a vet degree, 1 year internship, plus 2 years to specalize in exotics. 11 years of college/training aint cheap!

[Leolord]

I agree with okapi and I plan on being a herp vet so I'm gonna be in school for quite a while * groan * lol at least it all works out in the end.

Matt