# Leopard Gecko with a lump



## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)

Hello, 

I have a leopard gecko that a friend asked me to take due to her not having time for her. She is about 4 years old and I only know part of her health history. I have a couple bearded dragons, a couple snakes, a tarantula, and even cared for a savanna monitor with a prolapsed penis that required hand feeding and lots of warm baths etc. for about a year for someone. (his penis did go back in after a few months thankfully) But this is the first leopard gecko. Aside of the monitor, who came to me that way, I've always been able to keep my reptiles healthy and happy. So now, the problem:

When I got her I was told she has had problems shedding before and lost her toes. She got impacted once when in the sand so she came in a tank with coconut fiber dirt. 

Recently I had to take her to a vet, which I really couldn't afford to do, because she wouldn't open her eyes and one was swollen with a big lump on it. Apparently, her eyes hadn't shed properly the last few times before at least. The swollen eye had an infection/cyst over it. They sedated her, cleaned the shed skin out of the eyes and removed the cyst. She was then put on antibiotics and I put an ointment on them twice a day. 

Since the vet visit, a few weeks ago now, she has shed 4 times. I tried helping her shed her face a couple times by pulling it off gently. It looked like she was getting a cloudy look to her eye again. I was afraid maybe she was getting coconut fiber in her eye so I put the reptile carpet in instead. The next time she shed I let her rub it off herself and I thought that did the trick because she opening her eyes more. However, unless I rinse her eyes out or use a washcloth to gently rub them she won't open them. I rinse them and set her on the counter. At first, when she starts to lick her eyeballs I was trying to drop small amounts of watered down chicken baby food. She would sometimes cooperate and have a little. After I felt like her tummy was a little more use to food again, she hadn't really eaten because she couldn't see the food move, I started trying to stick a wax worm in her mouth between licks. It worked for 2 days, only eating one a day, but it was progress. I am still trying and hoping I can get her eyes opened up again. The vet did say there was a possibility she could be blind after the treatment. 

Now, the new problem:
She quit trying to eat anything, and refuses to even open her mouth if I try to give her anything. I think I may know why she quit eating and drinking. She now has a big lump down between her legs, off to one side. I think it is making it hard for her to go potty. It looks like I could probably poke it with a neddle and maybe drain it. That is my question. Can I do this? If so where would be the best place to poke it? I can't watch this lizard starve to death! Thankfully I fed her very well and she had a very fat tail. Her tail still some fat on it, but for how long? The last visit to the vet cost me several hundred dollars and I can't afford to do it again. 

If someone can tell me how to upload a picture I have a few of both her eyes and the new lump underneath. 

Any and all help would be very much appreciated!!!


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Shawna said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have a leopard gecko that a friend asked me to take due to her not having time for her. She is about 4 years old and I only know part of her health history. I have a couple bearded dragons, a couple snakes, a tarantula, and even cared for a savanna monitor with a prolapsed penis that required hand feeding and lots of warm baths etc. for about a year for someone. (his penis did go back in after a few months thankfully) But this is the first leopard gecko. Aside of the monitor, who came to me that way, I've always been able to keep my reptiles healthy and happy. So now, the problem:
> 
> ...


Please don't try lancing the lump yourself! Another vet visit is your only option. To upload pics, download them onto a photo site like photobucket, imgur or tinypic, select direct link, then come back here & click on the postage stamp icon at the top. Delete the URL, then select paste.


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## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)

Thank You


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## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)




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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

I have to agree with wilks do not attempt to do anything with the lump yourself if it starts to bleed and does not stop you are in big trouble. An animal of that size could very well die through loss of blood. She does not look well. If you cannot afford anymore vet bills your best bet is to get her to a rescue of some kind.


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## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)

*Thanks for the replies*

I have given her a few warm baths tonight and I think it may end up draining itself. I still have some of the antibiotic ointment from her eye surgery. It was to put in her eyes and on top of the one that had the cyst taken off of, so I know it can be used topically as well as in her eyes. If it opens and starts draining I will put the ointment on it as well. I will keep an eye on it and if it starts bleeding instead of draining I will take her back to the vet. Which I may have to anyway because of her eyes.

I have started using the turtle eye drops that are supposed to help "closed and inflamed" eyes one day and then the ointment next day. The drops were recommended to me from the reptile specialty store that deals with only reptiles. She can open her eyes, and I am pretty sure she can see, she doesn't like them open for very long. I just found out that she had had the same problem with her eyes shedding before. It would have been nice to know that when I got her. 

I agree that she doesn't look well. I am trying everything I can think of to get her to eat. I would force feed more food aggressively, but when she doesn't want you to mess with her mouth she keeps it closed really tight and I don't want to hurt her trying to pry her mouth open. I tried rubbing to the side of her mouth because I read that it make them open their mouths. It only worked once. Any suggestions on how to try to get food down her? 

Amazingly enough, she is pretty active when I take her out of her tank, even though she doesn't look like she would. But her favorite thing to do is crawl up and lay cuddled up to the side of my neck. 

Any other ideas about any of it would be great!!!


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

How long is it since she actually ate anything? They can go some time without food as long as they have a healthy fat tail which she appears to have. Force feeding can be very stressful so I would avoid it for now.


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## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)

*Eating*

I noticed her eye was cloudy looking sometimes and she started keeping it closed a lot. I wasn't too worried because I got the drops for her and she had been a very good eater, plus I spoiled her, so she had a nice fat tail. Then her other eye started to become noticeably swollen, and she stopped eating for over a week. That's when I took her to the vet.

I was worried about her not eating after the surgery, but not too worried because her tail was still nice and fat. It has been about 2-3 weeks since the vet visit, so she hasn't eaten her normal diet for almost a month. She looks kind of skinny butt her tail is still fat, not as big, but has fat on it. I had been giving her what basically just chicken juice because she wouldn't anything solid. Then I was able to thicken up the chicken baby food a bit and she was eating a little of that off a syringe each day, so I decided to step it up to wax worms being as I figured her belly was a little more adjusted to feed again. That required waiting for her her to lick her eye so her mouth would open enough to shove one in. It worked a couple times, but then she stopped eating anything. That's when I noticed her lump. 

Thankfully tonight she ate some of the thicker baby food for me. Quite a bit actually. Plus she is getting lots of warm baths and I started putting the ointment on her lump. It really looks like it will "pop" at any time. That was why I was wondering if I should prick it with just a small needle and let it drain. It will do it itself, I have no doubt, but it looks very painful! All that pressure has to make it worse. 

Do you think I should keep trying to feed her the way I am or find a way to force her mouth open? Like I said before, even though she looks like she would be lathargic based on the pictures, she is actually pretty active. Just keeps her eyes closed most of the time. When she does open them they look clear and the deep black color they were before. 

If she were one of my dragons I would know what to do and have them cooperate more, but I have raised them from babies and she was about 4 when I got her, so I think she is warier of me than her previous owner. I've only had her a few months, and this is my first Gecko, so I came here for advice. I really appreciate all the info I am getting.


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## Shellsfeathers&fur (Jan 18, 2009)

If that lump is full of 'matter' it is going to be painful for her. Do not deal with it yourself as others have said. She needs to be taken to a vet. No wonder the poor little thing has her eyes shut it must be constantly throbbing and hot. If it does burst it will be pretty grim. I would stop with the baths.


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## Shawna (Mar 26, 2017)

*More Questions*

Thanks Everyone! It looks like I need to make a trip to the vet it is.

As long as I have posted about her, and I have done quite a bit of searching on it, but does anyone have suggestions about a couple things:

First, what have you found that works best to help them shed the eyes?

Second, what do you suggest to help remove it if it doesn't shed properly?

Lastly, and most important I think, how can you tell if it has shed properly?
I didn't realize they did to begin with, and before the vet I had noticed a cloudly look to one of them a couple times, but then it looked normal again.
The vet said she had several sheds in her eye. She has shed several times since the eye surgery and I still can't tell if it has or not. Being as she wants to keep her eyes closed for the most part I don't think they did, but I have no idea.


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