Gecko with swollen glad please help!

[paulibabes]

As the title states, I went away for a week and left my uroplatus guentheri in the care of my mother and now he appears to have a HUGE swollen gland on the left side of his neck!

Please can you advise he seemed fine yesterday and it didn't seem to bother him but now it seems to irritate him a little when it's touched.

I've honestly searched until my eyes went blood shot! And I've not been able to find anything out about it yet! I think it could be an infection, that's all I can think of. Can anyone recomend any kind of treatment or course of action that I can take right now? I'd like to catch this and treat it asap as I think it's still just about early days, he's gone off his food but he's wondering about fine atm.

Thank you in advance for anyone who can shed some light here!

I have some pictures to follow:

 

[paulibabes]

They wouldn't post directly on here, please help people I've had him for 2+ years already and he's been ace up until now!

 

[paulibabes]

Anyone, please! I've arranged to see a vet, can anyone give me some pointers?

 

[paulibabes]

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

 

[tucker]

looks like calicum sacs to me. but ive bin wrong before

 

[miguel camacho!]

This is the sort of thing that should be checked by a vet. It could be infection, could be an abscess, could be something else. It's not something that you're going to be able to treat on your own (without uncertainty of outcome), so I strongly suggest you set up an appointment as soon as you can.

 

[paulibabes]

This is the sort of thing that should be checked by a vet. It could be infection, could be an abscess, could be something else. It's not something that you're going to be able to treat on your own (without uncertainty of outcome), so I strongly suggest you set up an appointment as soon as you can.

Thanks for the help, I'v had the exact same thoughts and so has everyone else. I've booked a day for the vet, thursday morning is the best they can do, I said it's urgent but they're booked, going to have another scan around and phone some more places tomorrow asap, try and get it sorted sooner.

I'll keep everyone posted as to how it goes to save anyone else the mystery solving hassel in the future, and to let people know the right course of action to take.

Wish him luck for me!

Paul.

 

[Roxyrox]

I know you're concerned, and I would never tell anyone not to take their animal to the vet with that kind of condition...but please just consider the following:

I bought him with that on his neck, and those pics were taken Feb 2nd. He eats daily, 2 - 3 large crickets. EXTREMELY active, he jumps and runs all over the place when I take him out. Has shed about 3 times in my care.

I simply dont have the $500 to cough up at the exotic vet...but as long as your uro is eating and hydrates..............all I'm saying is shop around. Don't pay just ANY price, these vets can take advantage of people who are obviously distressed, because distressed = open wallet. Shop around. If they need to open him up, expect the bill I just quoted. Try E-mailing vets to see what they think. If its a calcium sac, it may be better that the gland shuts down rather than risk putting the knife to it.





***I AM NOT A VETERINATIAN***

 

[jadrig]

Yeah, so that gecko ended up fine? good to hear...

Is that lump, original poster, hard or soft??

I had a gold dust and a standings escape for a couple days and they ended up with asymmetrical calcium sacs...they were very hard to the point where they could not turn their head...

I was thinking that they might have licked the residue from my saltwater aquarium...

My reasoning was that if they store Calcium in their 'chalk sacs', they probably store NaCl their too...just not as efficiently...
Maybe your mom sprayed the tank with the wrong water...some sort of solute in the sprayer....

double check...

I am not sure about the Vets in your area, but where I live, NC, there really are not any specialists that it would be worth bringing such a small, fragile gecko too...Unless the problem obviously needed medicine via perscription...

 

[Roxyrox]

Yeah, so that gecko ended up fine? good to hear...

Is that lump, original poster, hard or soft??

I had a gold dust and a standings escape for a couple days and they ended up with asymmetrical calcium sacs...they were very hard to the point where they could not turn their head...

I was thinking that they might have licked the residue from my saltwater aquarium...

My reasoning was that if they store Calcium in their 'chalk sacs', they probably store NaCl their too...just not as efficiently...
Maybe your mom sprayed the tank with the wrong water...some sort of solute in the sprayer....

double check...

I am not sure about the Vets in your area, but where I live, NC, there really are not any specialists that it would be worth bringing such a small, fragile gecko too...Unless the problem obviously needed medicine via perscription...

Jad, I know you didnt ask me, but just for the original poster to compare, my gecko can turn its head and the sac is hard. I don't wanna threadjack but I think I may have one of the only pics on the net of a uroplatus with this condition. I had the same issue as he did finding info on this, thats why I joined this forum in the first place.

He turned out fine. I hope to get years out of him based on what I'm seeing.

 

[paulibabes]

Yeah, so that gecko ended up fine? good to hear...

Is that lump, original poster, hard or soft??

I had a gold dust and a standings escape for a couple days and they ended up with asymmetrical calcium sacs...they were very hard to the point where they could not turn their head...

I was thinking that they might have licked the residue from my saltwater aquarium...

My reasoning was that if they store Calcium in their 'chalk sacs', they probably store NaCl their too...just not as efficiently...
Maybe your mom sprayed the tank with the wrong water...some sort of solute in the sprayer....

double check...

I am not sure about the Vets in your area, but where I live, NC, there really are not any specialists that it would be worth bringing such a small, fragile gecko too...Unless the problem obviously needed medicine via perscription...

Hi there, it's a very hard lump, he seems to not be able to stick to the glass quite as well, and he hasn't hunted or eaten this may be why he can't stick he's lacking food?.. If it's infection then I'll have to get the anti biotics from the vets because you can't purchase them here in this country anymore just like that.

Thanks for your insight guys.

What UV holder and light set up do you use fo your uroplatus?

 

[paulibabes]

Jad, I know you didnt ask me, but just for the original poster to compare, my gecko can turn its head and the sac is hard. I don't wanna threadjack but I think I may have one of the only pics on the net of a uroplatus with this condition. I had the same issue as he did finding info on this, thats why I joined this forum in the first place.

He turned out fine. I hope to get years out of him based on what I'm seeing.

My main concern is that he's stopped eating, yes the lump is hard and very much lik the one on your gecko, maybe if you could tell me your care requirements and the setup you're using for your gecko then perhaps I might see a change for the better again.

I may as well see the vet, if they can cure the lump down without it causing him too much stress thatn would be nice.

 

[paulibabes]

roxyrox, it's like the lump on your uroplatus jsut it's on the side of the neck instead.

 

[deaxone]

ive had females with one gland slightly bigger,but nothing like this and they always seem to even out,
if he has no uv and hes been over suplemented could it be that he hasnt got the d3 to use up the calcium in the sack?it could be infected,if its hard i would definately take him to the best vet you can find,

i would get him under a 5%uv light,if he is using his heat mat the temps might be on the cold side,the light should help by creating a basking spot,(usualy the ends of the strip bulb heat up)

it will be interesting to see what others think,fingers crossed the vet will hopefully shed some light and recomend something,

 

[paulibabes]

ive had females with one gland slightly bigger,but nothing like this and they always seem to even out,
if he has no uv and hes been over suplemented could it be that he hasnt got the d3 to use up the calcium in the sack?it could be infected,if its hard i would definately take him to the best vet you can find,

i would get him under a 5%uv light,if he is using his heat mat the temps might be on the cold side,the light should help by creating a basking spot,(usualy the ends of the strip bulb heat up)

it will be interesting to see what others think,fingers crossed the vet will hopefully shed some light and recomend something,

Deaxone, guessing you're steve from RFUK right? Thanks again for the help, that's what I've also concidered it might be, he must of got uv from natural sun light before as where he was the sun would shine through my window and onto his enclosure. Recently I made a 3ft high 4ft wide 2 ft deep viv for my jengle crpet python and this must have shaded my uroplatus guentheri's enclosure from the sun.

Steve could you please give me detail as to what light fittings and what bulbs/strip light I should be looking at?

So far I think I've found one option, an exo terra repti-glo 5.0 Compact Fluorescent 13W or 26w?

Thank you again Steve,

Paul.

 

[deaxone]

yeah same guy

yeh that sounds right m8,id go with 26,as you can always move it up a few inches if the basking spot gets too hot,
use a temp gage just to check it dosnt get too high,although guentheri are prabably the most tolerant of higher temps,
as long as the ambient temp in the viv is cooler you could probably go as high as 80 in the basking spot this time of year,(this is where that bigger viv would be better)
just be careful with any reptile tank in direct sunlight,the greenhouse effect can raise temps way to high in a matter of minutes
not that any of thsi is gonna give you a quick fix for the lump but its good to cover all the bases,
spot clean his set up so you know whether he is pooing,its hard to tell if theya re eating sometimes,the presence of a newly dropped feaces always puts ur mind at ease when worrying about these sort of things,

good luck with him!
once your on this forum and u have a decent vet involved,your doing all you can,realy its down to him,lets hope its not something serious

 

[paulibabes]

yeah same guy

yeh that sounds right m8,id go with 26,as you can always move it up a few inches if the basking spot gets too hot,
use a temp gage just to check it dosnt get too high,although guentheri are prabably the most tolerant of higher temps,
as long as the ambient temp in the viv is cooler you could probably go as high as 80 in the basking spot this time of year,(this is where that bigger viv would be better)
just be careful with any reptile tank in direct sunlight,the greenhouse effect can raise temps way to high in a matter of minutes
not that any of thsi is gonna give you a quick fix for the lump but its good to cover all the bases,
spot clean his set up so you know whether he is pooing,its hard to tell if theya re eating sometimes,the presence of a newly dropped feaces always puts ur mind at ease when worrying about these sort of things,

good luck with him!
once your on this forum and u have a decent vet involved,your doing all you can,realy its down to him,lets hope its not something serious

Cheers Steve!

If it is due to d3 then it's a lump formed of crystallized calcium from what I understand?.. Similar to a form of kidney stones so it's either Calcium oxalate CaC2O4 or calcium x phosphate (struggling to find more info on this one). I wonder if that's the case then what would my gecko need to break them down?

 

[paulibabes]

Cheers Steve!

If it is due to d3 then it's a lump formed of crystallized calcium from what I understand?.. Similar to a form of kidney stones so it's either Calcium oxalate CaC2O4 or calcium x phosphate (struggling to find more info on this one). I wonder if that's the case then what would my gecko need to break them down?

I'm guessing that the 26w light would also keep any plants etc alive quite well yes?

Thanks again,

Paul.

 

[jadrig]

I dont think that your gecko was getting any UF form the sun, through the window...

Calcium absorbtion problems/Calcium deficiency will kill a gecko in about a week or two...

They can go without food for weeks/months...

If it is not hunting, you need to get some nutrition/calcium into this gecko with fruit babyfood...

If your gecko cannot cling to the walls, it has a calcium deficiency...

Despite the large lump, I dont think that it is a functioning calcium sac...

 

[paulibabes]

I dont think that your gecko was getting any UF form the sun, through the window...

Calcium absorbtion problems/Calcium deficiency will kill a gecko in about a week or two...

They can go without food for weeks/months...

If it is not hunting, you need to get some nutrition/calcium into this gecko with fruit babyfood...

If your gecko cannot cling to the walls, it has a calcium deficiency...

Despite the large lump, I dont think that it is a functioning calcium sac...

Well I've had him eating hunting and thriving for 2 years, he's done a poo but it was only white can only mean that he's still trying to pass calcium despite that he hasn't fed. He can sort of cling, just no where near as well. I'm still putting it down to the viv blocking the sun light therefore he's not getting any vitamin d3 and therefore can't absorb the calcium properly. Thanks for your imput, but I seriously think that getting more calcium in him could potentially kill him atm.