Well I figured it out. The geckos sleep head down and what ends up happening is the water from the leaves of the plants above them falls on them. The water travels down their backs and ends at their heads where it collects. So I've switched up the spraying so that I spray the ground directly rather than the leaves and plants. Things seem to be okay now (unless it's just the vitamin E that is clearing things up).
Thanks for all the help. Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "maleldil" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 5:09 PM Subject: Re: [gecko]head infection in U. phantasticus > > >> >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 > > > > > > -- > > 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
