Gecko won't open eyes?

[whoaxmary]

Hey everyone. Was hoping I could get some opinions/advice.

I have a younger leopard gecko who has randomly stopped opening their eyes...

I noticed a week or two ago there seemed to be a bit of "gunk" on his eye against his top eyelid. Not discharged, if anything it looked like a piece of sand.

He isn't fond of being handled, and is super ... spunky ... lol. Instead of stressing him out by trying to hold his and remove it somehow I left him thinking he would be able to clean it out with his tounge, and I did see him licking at it a few times...

Now though he is walking around almost constantly with his eyes shut. He will even drink water from his bowl or eat with them shut. Sometimes I see them open but hardly ever... Besides that he seems healthy... Has shed fine...

I have him a twenty gallon tank, with play sand as substrate. I use a small heat matt underneath to keep his temp up, (between 75 and 80; cool side/night ) and a basking lamp to give him a hot spot. (about 85-90) . I was using a fluorescent day light but stopped when I noticed he was keeping both eyes closed as I've read sometimes too much exposure to bright light can hurt their eyes.
He has a gecko den full of spaggle moss I keep moist for him...

Any ideas on whats going on? :S

[bumblebat]

He may have sand stuck in his eyes and they could be irritated or infected. A resporatory infection can also gunk up their eyes to the point where they can't open them. Either way, I'd move him to paper towel until you get his problem resolved.

[whoaxmary]

Thanks for the tips. Tonight is cleaning night, so I will switch the sand out for some paper towel when I get home tonight.