# Leopard gecko born without eyes?



## AM23 (Jul 31, 2009)

Just had a leopard gecko hatch this morning, he appears to have no eyes at all and two very small holes where his eyelids should be. Hes also tiny, and just very odd looking, his tail looks shorter than normal and his body is really flat. Im just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this or any advice? He didnt appear to have absorbed all the yolk as the cord was still attached to him for a while, this has now dropped off. I keep checking on him expecting to find him dead, but he seems to be doing OK at the moment. All my other hatchlings have been perfect and Ive had no problem with them, and Mum has been fed on the same diet with the same vitamin and calcium supplements. Is this just one of those things? And is there anything I can do to help the little guy?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks


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## spencerwells (Oct 8, 2007)

awww thats so sad...i have no advice, but hope the wee guy makes it...sounds like just one of those things that happens I suppose...but he sounds like a fighter, as usually nature gets rid of the wee critters who arent formed right xx


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## rhys s (Mar 8, 2010)

i hope this lil guy lives a long life it would be amazing to still see him here in 10years time


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## SleepyD (Feb 13, 2008)

AM23 said:


> Just had a leopard gecko hatch this morning, he appears to have no eyes at all and two very small holes where his eyelids should be. Hes also tiny, and just very odd looking, his tail looks shorter than normal and his body is really flat. Im just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this or any advice? He didnt appear to have absorbed all the yolk as the cord was still attached to him for a while, this has now dropped off. I keep checking on him expecting to find him dead, but he seems to be doing OK at the moment. All my other hatchlings have been perfect and Ive had no problem with them, and Mum has been fed on the same diet with the same vitamin and calcium supplements. Is this just one of those things? And is there anything I can do to help the little guy?
> Any help would be much appreciated.
> Thanks


I'm afraid that given it's other deformities/problems there may well be a high chance of hidden internal problems too which, while not causing too much of a problem whilst he's newly hatched could become a major problem if he survives enough to start wanting to feed/digest.
If things are worse then it would imo be kinder to have it humanely PTS.


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## AM23 (Jul 31, 2009)

Well he seems a lot brighter this morning and he's moving about OK. Its the feeding I'm worried about now more than the eyes, his abdomens really flat still, although I assume he'll need a lot of extra help there. I'll give him a few days and see how we get on, but I realise it may end it with a trip to the vets.
Thanks for your help.


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## hermit crab kid (Jul 5, 2009)

any updates?


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## TIMOTHY AND MATILDA (Oct 31, 2008)

Bless him,hope he is ok :flrt::flrt:


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## The Rook (Mar 17, 2010)

Genetic deformities usually result in short lived life if they hatch at all, but in a captive environment if he's lucky 'survival of the fittest' won't have a deprimental effect, however as someone mentioned there may be serious internal deformities so you'll need to take into consideration that it may be better for the animal to be PTS, but only if necessary of course.


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## AM23 (Jul 31, 2009)

Well he's still doing OK, I had a look inside the egg shell and there was still yolk in there so he hadnt absorbed it all. His body is still pretty flat and his back looks quite arched. Thought I'd give it a try and gave him a couple of mealworms and a cricket, all of which are still there today. I was wondering if he'd be more likely to need food earlier since he hasn't had all the yolk they'd normally get, and if he could even find the food thats in there? Does anyone know if sense of smell/hearing is enough for him to find food by himself? At a bit of a loss of what to do if it isn't, but he's still here for now anyway! Ill try and get a couple of pictures and put them up later.


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## boywonder (Mar 10, 2008)

if i had hatched out a deformed gecko i would havi it put to sleep, in my oppinion there are plenty of healthy leopard gecko's out there, i don't see the point in keeping deformed babies alive when the market for healthy ones is already saturated,


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## AM23 (Jul 31, 2009)

I do agree with you there, but if he makes it he'll be staying with me. I wouldn't ask someone else to take him on when he's not quite right, but Ill give him a chance and see how it goes.


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

AM23 said:


> Does anyone know if sense of smell/hearing is enough for him to find food by himself?


Some of my adult Leo's will eat inanimate prey - I presume they must go by the smell to know it's edible?
I would think it would struggle to catch fast moving insects such as crickets by itself but it may be ok with something either dead or slow moving. You can allways wave something under it's nose with a pair of tweezers and see if it responds to the smell.


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## fionayee (May 1, 2009)

boywonder said:


> if i had hatched out a deformed gecko i would havi it put to sleep, in my oppinion there are plenty of healthy leopard gecko's out there, i don't see the point in keeping deformed babies alive when the market for healthy ones is already saturated,


It's true that the market is saturated already but let's put it this way.
People live all over the world and there are some deformed babies but yet the parents of the deformed baby doesn't put it to sleep and do their best to keep the baby alive even when there are plenty of other normal children out there to be adopted.
My point here is that every living thing deserves a chance : victory:


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## James142 (Jul 29, 2010)

aw bless the guy: victory:


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

I know Jay (Spikebrit) has a blind, adult female leo. I think he mainly feeds her mealworms. not sure, would be good to speak to him about it.


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## AM23 (Jul 31, 2009)

Afraid he hasn't made it...found him dead a couple of days ago. Thanks for all the advice everyone, suppose its just one of those things, fingers crossed the last two eggs turn out OK.


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## Jon2ooo8 (Sep 6, 2008)

AM23 said:


> Afraid he hasn't made it...found him dead a couple of days ago. Thanks for all the advice everyone, suppose its just one of those things, fingers crossed the last two eggs turn out OK.


sorry to hear about that , never nice to see a dead animal, never mind a dead baby, fingers croseed for the other 2 eggs : victory:


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