Hi Neil, I'm starting the vitamin E as of today. I remembered it last night while in bed ;-) . I am using Herptivite for the vitamins and Repcal + vit D for the calcium. Both of these are at every feeding because the older female is starting to lay (infertile) eggs. I also give a direct dose of vitamins/calcium mixed in water once a week from an eyedropper. I am doing this because I worry that there isn't any calcium left on the geckos after being in the enclosure for longer than a few seconds.
I still think Barbie was right - that the dark spot is fungal - but I hope vitamin E will help the geckos fight off any other skin infections/injuries. The injury looks a lot better after removing the dead skin. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neil A. Meister" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 1:50 PM Subject: Re: [gecko]head infection in U. phantasticus > Hi Mike, > > That is a nasty looking injury. > > Betadine won't hurt, but I would keep watching the other > geckos. Skin problems heal better with Vit E supplemenation. > You can simply take a droplet of goo out of a capsule and put > it on the tip of their snout. > > This was recommended to me by vets when I ran into > a vitamin E deficiency. Since then I've found it helps > skin problems clear up. I would give them all small doses > for a few days and then cut back to weekly and see if that helps. > > What are you using for supplements? > > Neil > > >I apologise if this message appears in duplicate. > > > >I wrote: > > > >This is a long post but I hope someone can help lead me on the right path. I > >have a number of U. phantasticus/ebenaui in 3 separate vivaria. In an effort > >to experiment with the amount of spraying actually needed, I stopped > >spraying as frequently. This weekend I noticed that one male had a shiny > >spot on his head that wasn't going away. I thought it was just water but I > >noticed the spot every time I spray the viv. Since the viv was now "dry" > >there was no reason a droplet should have stayed on his head so I took him > >out and there was a hole! It was like the tissue was receding at that spot. > >I took him to the vet and the vet told me it was a physical injury (also > >implying the injury looks like a burn from a bulb which is absolutely > >impossible). I suppose this is possible but very unlikely. He prescribed > >betadine for me to daub on the gecko's head. I decided to take a look at the > >other geckos and lo and behold, all the males (3 in total) have some form of > >"shiny" growing there. It's not significant but I think it's there. Two of > >these males have only been with me for less than 2 weeks. However, the > >female in this group does not have the shiny beginnings of this injury. > >Also, this "injury" does not exist in the other viv containing the other 2 > >young phants and 2 young ebens, nor does it exist in the quarantine of 2 > >other ebens. > > > >So here is the scenario: the vivs are split into - viv#1) 3 adult males, 1 > >adult female (she laid infertile eggs) and viv#2) 1.1 young phants, 1.1 > >young ebens. Viv 1 is less "planted", viv 2 is very well planted because it > >has the youngsters in it. > > > >This is what I think the possibilities are. > >1) In viv 1, the males fight and bite each other. This isn't occuring in viv > >2 because they are all young. This seems far-fetched. > >2) Because viv 1 is less planted, when I spray the viv, water gets on the > >animals and starts to rot their heads. But this doesn't explain why the > >female doesn't have the infection. In viv 2 the geckos are always "hidden" > >from water because they are small and always in the leaves. > >3) The geckos are infected with something and it's just a matter of time > >before it gets the female (or she is just stronger than the males). > >4) Crickets bit them. > > > >There is something ill at work here. I don't understand why even new geckos > >are getting this. I really think it's the spraying but does anyone have any > >other ideas? I included a pic so you can see the injury. (The pic makes it > >look a LOT worse than really it is.) > > > >Thanks for any help, > > > >Mike > > > > > >Attachment converted: Neil's HD:injury.jpg (JPEG/ogle) (000B75BC) > > > -- > Neil Meister > > Promotions Secretary > Global Gecko Association > http://www.gekkota.com > http://www.gekkota.com/html/gecko_night_2002.html > > President > Nova Scotia Herpetoculture Society > http://users.eastlink.ca/~nshs > _______________________________________________ > Global Gecko Association > http://www.gekkota.com > Classifieds > http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi > gecko mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko _______________________________________________ Global Gecko Association http://www.gekkota.com Classifieds http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi gecko mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko
