Hi Guys
About 14 months ago, I got a trio of Palmatogecko rangei from a friend and have keen keeping them since. They have all been doing so well, especially the male who would virtually take mealworms from my fingers. He was the tamest of the three and also had the most personality.
During December I noted that he went off food. During the same period I noted one of the females swelling with eggs so I simply thought that his hunger strike was a breeding response. Also, because they are quite shy and skittish animals, I do not bother them too much. I physically check on them only about once a week.
When cleaning the cage, I saw some mild swelling on the male's upper lip. I didn't think much of it and thought his jaw might have been slightly misaligned during a feeder hunt or something like that. But I kept an eye on it and during the following days the swelling got rapidly worse, alarmingly so. It turned into a full-blown large abscess which started in the upper jaw, but spread below and behind the gecko's eye.
I phoned our local vet (she specializes in horses, cows etc, so that is already an issue) and she told me that she hates/is afraid of geckos and that I should not bring it in, but she would take a look at some pictures if I brought them.
I did this and she was actually very helpful. I told her what I had learnt from exotic pet vets in RSA and from my years of keeping snakes and we came to an agreement to give the gecko some Baytril orally diluted 4ml to 1 liter so that is 1:250. I also removed him from the sandy substrate cage and placed him onto newspaper because sand would get into the side of his mouth.
I would take a syringe with small needle and separate the gecko's lips slightly and inject a small quantity of Baytril solution into his mouth. Also, because he had stopped feeding, I would place small, freshly moutled (easier to digest) mealworms into his mouth and he would then swallow and do the rest, which was quite helpful.
So I followed this treatment for about 3 weeks, giving him his Baytril dose three times a day and feeding him once every second day. Recovery was slow, but steady. The past week he started to shed which is usually a sign of recovery in many reptiles. While giving him his daily dose yesterday, I noted that the abscess looked very white and "shallower" than in the past. I poked it with the needle and it was completely loose. I expected watery puss or at least sticky puss, but the abcess was hard and rubbery. I managed to hook onto it with the needle and gently slide it from behind his eye and out his mouth!
What a success! The gecko was IMMEDIATELY more lively. I am super chuffed this worked out, but I am still maintaining the Baytril treatment for another week or two. I hope this short report helps someone else who finds themselves in a similar situation in the future. Here are a few pics.
Abscess at start of treatment. The lighter colour below his eye is the abscess
His healthy eye as reference
The MASSIVE abscess which I removed
The eye immediately after removal of the abscess
This morning
Thanx for looking