With good nutrition and proper care, leopard geckos can live for a long time. However, there are times when illness can occur even if you provide a good diet and habitat. This is why a responsible leopard gecko owner needs to know everything about the signs, causes, and treatment of Leo’s diseases.
Leopard gecko respiratory infection is a disease caused by a bacterial infection in the lungs of your gecko. This disease’s main cause is the incorrect living conditions for your gecko, such as their terrarium is too cool or the humidity is too high.
In this article, we will discuss more on leopard gecko respiratory infections, their causes, and the best prevention and treatment methods to follow. We will also talk about other common diseases that can happen to your leopard gecko.
This article has been reviewed by Dr. Gospel. Read more about our knowledge control process here.
Contents
What is Leopard gecko respiratory infection?
Leopard gecko respiratory infection is a health issue that occurs because of bacterial infection in your gecko’s lung.
This usually happens if your gecko is living in an incorrect habitat condition, such as the enclosure is too cold or the humidity is too high. Your gecko can also get a respiratory infection if you keep it in a dirty enclosure, and you offer it an incorrect feeding.
Furthermore, the respiratory infection can become a severe problem for your leopard gecko if you do not treat it immediately.
Signs of a respiratory infection in leopard geckos
Several signs that can help indicate whether your leopard gecko has a respiratory infection.
Once you notice that your gecko has one or more of these symptoms, you will need to treat it as fast as possible.
Some of the symptoms to be on the lookout for are stated below.
- Open-mouth breathing
- Lethargy
- Bubbly saliva
- Clogged nostrils
- Weight loss because of loss of appetite
- Wheezing
- Your gecko is making clicking noises when breathing.
- Bloated or swollen body
- Your gecko head is held in a raised position to support breathing.
What causes Leopard gecko respiratory infection?
Before you can decide the best way to treat leopard gecko respiratory infection when your leopard gecko shows the sign, you need to understand what causes it in the first place.
Some of the things that cause leopard gecko respiratory infection are stated below.
- Low temps
- High humidity
- Using of substrates that crumbles too much
The main cause of respiratory infection in leopard geckos is if there is high humidity or low temperatures in their terrarium.
Although your leos are hardy animals, if you expose them to a bad terrarium setup for a long time, they can develop a respiratory infection.
This is why you need to ensure that their tank temperature does not go below 75 degrees Fahrenheit for a long time before you regulate it. You also need to ensure that their tank is not too humid.
Another thing that can lead to leopard gecko respiratory infection is if you are using a substrate that crumbles a lot. The substrates (like alfalfa) leave many dust particles that your leopard gecko can breath in. This will then lead to respiratory infection.
How to treat/prevent leopard gecko respiratory infection?
Prevention
As an old adage, prevention is better than cure. This means that it is best to provide your gecko with the best care available to avoid health problems and make them happy for many years.
Some of the ways to prevent respiratory infections in leopard geckos are stated below.
- Monitor your leopard gecko’s tank’s humidity levels regularly with a digital hygrometer to ensure the humidity levels are correct.
- Monitor your Leo’s tank’s temperatures regularly with a digital thermometer to ensure the temperature is correct.
- Use a good quality substrate like reptile carpet that your leopard gecko cannot inhale.
Fully understanding your leopard gecko will help you better take care of them. As a suggestion, we would recommend you to get a good leopard gecko book. Not to become an expert on leopard gecko care but will help you avoid the common mistake in new pet lizard owners.
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Treatment
There are lots of ways that you can treat respiratory infection in leopard geckos. You can incorporate one or two of these methods to treat your gecko with the infection.
- Increase the temperature in your gecko’s terrarium to 85-88oF.
- Place additional heat sources in your leopard gecko’s enclosure.
- Replace all the broken or malfunctioning equipment in the tank.
- Place your gecko with respiratory infection in a draft-free but well-ventilated enclosure.
- Wash your leopard gecko’s nose with a warm chamomile tea solution.
- If all the methods above do not work, make an appointment with your reptile vet immediately.
These treatment tips are only applicable for those who gets difficult to visit the VET, if you do have your local VET nearby, please make an appointment with your reptile vet immediately as soon as possible.
Other common health issues in leopard geckos
Here are some of the other common health issues that can happen to your leopard gecko.
Impaction: this is a health problem that occurs when your leopard gecko stomach eats something that it cannot digest.Some of the things that can cause obstruction are large insects, gravel, sand, or substrate. This is a common health problem and can be fatal if you do not treat it immediately.
Dysecdysis (retained Shed) in Leopard Gecko: this is the abnormal detachment of a leopard gecko’s dead outer skin. This disease can happen to your leopard gecko if their enclosure is not at high humidity, no moist hide, and cool temperature. It can also happen if there is a low vitamin A level in their diet or a sign of infectious disease.
Tail rot in leopard geckos: this is a health condition where the tail tip of your leopard gecko starts to look dry, black, and skinnier than the rest of the tail. The major cause of tail rot is if there is a retained shed on your leopard gecko’s tail or a cage mate bite it.
Eye problems in leopard geckos: this is the condition where your leopard gecko is unable to open its eye fully or have something in its eyes. Some of the things that can cause eye problems are stuck shedded skin around leopard geckos’ eyes, attack from cage mates, Vit A and E deficiencies, etc.
Some of the other common health issues that can happen to leopard geckos are
- Mouth rot
- Metabolic bone disease
- Prolapsed hemipenis
- Egg binding
Wrapping Up
Leopard gecko respiratory infection can only occur to your gecko if you keep it in an incorrect habitat condition. However, you can easily treat respiratory infection in leopard geckos if you know the signs to look for and the ways to prevent it.
You can also visit a reptile vet for proper treatment to speed up recovery once you notice your gecko has a respiratory infection.
