Need help for sick leo (Diet, skin and infection)

When I said "fat sacks", I was referring to the size and not the macronutrient content. Fat as in big not as in lipid. I was quoting what Danielle said in her post hence the inverted commas. I am aware that the sacks are usually a build up of calcium that has not been absorbed and other times it is protein. I can actually see the bubble behind his front right leg in the last pic, that's why I suggested the calcium be removed from his enclosure.

If Dean has not eaten in a quite a while and he has bubbles behind his front legs, then its more than likely from licking up the calcium powder thats left in his enclosure.

Yeah Dean still hasn't been eating. The neck bubbles has receded and have almost vanished entirely and the ones behind his legs are getting smaller as well. Previous to this I hadn't given him much vitamins and the little container with the vitamins didn't have much in their either so with lack of eating and unnoticed disappearance of his vitamins I was unsure where they were coming from.
His general body size doesn't seemed to decreased though so that's a good sign. When I let him walk around no my bed he seems energetic and happy. I think he may be still on his "fasting" after his antibiotics as Sam was describing.

glad to hear his neck bubbles and behind his legs are getting smaller give him a few more weeks and he should start eating on his own again as its only been just over a week since you stopped the antibiotics. How is his abcess looking now?

It is looking crusty and dry, still relatively decent size but looks like a scab. Ill give it another week, if it hasn't gotten smaller the vet said them may have to operate on it to help it off.

thats good to here. hopefully he wont need the help from the vet

Abcesses are funny things... I'm surprised the vet didn't suggest using warm compresses as well to help it shrink cause the problem with an abcess is the fluid filled puss pocket that makes up an abcess can range is density from a thick paste like peanutbutter or as thin as cooking oil. When you treat with antibiotics in conjunction with warm compresses it makes sure that the material inside the puss pocket is thin enough for it to be excised from the abcess (however the body breaks up and deals with abcesses and reabsorbs or expells the foreign body) rather than a thick paste that is more like a stone than a gel filled pocket. I'd ask the vet if he can asperate the fluid from the abcess, maybe do a culture first and have a type specific antibiotic (insted of a broad spectrum antibiotic) that is leo safe administered before considering the much more dangerous route of surgery.

Something else to consider is that that lump is right abouts where a testicle would be... if it isin't going down at all with the use of antibiotics it might be a tumor insted of an abcess. There are many tumors that are just under the surface but still produce skin leasions similar to what your leo is displaying. Unfortunately most of the time to be 100% certain if a lump is a tumorous growth a biopsy needs to be done which means surgery... unless the vet can get a good needle draw to see any cells in the fluid under a microscope.

I hope everything improves with your leo real soon... keep up the good work

Dean ate a Cricket today dusted in cricket dust! It was exciting to see, although I think he had a hard time seeing it since it was all white and the ground was all white. Nevertheless he ate it!

The abcess already drained a bit a week or 2 ago, it was a clear fluid and leaked a few days. It was during that time it opened up in which it was releasing this. Then it scabbed over and turned to what it is now. It is right where his testes are so I'm worried it could be that, but would it still drain and scab if this was so? The other testes was swollen a bit during that time but now it is about normal size.

Dean is active, skin looks nice, he just ate and he is pooping so I see those as good signs! The poop was a bit watery because it has coloring around the paper towel but I think that was due to him not haven eaten anything. Now its just to hope the scab falls off and it heals nicely. If not, I will talk to the vet about those things you suggested thanks Kel.

That lump looks necrotic now, so it probably will just fall off.

I don't know if a soak would help or hurt that, so I'd just wait and watch for now.

That is great news Danielle! He must be feeling better if he is starting to eat again. I am sure the scab will fall off or come with his next shed. The skin directly underneath just needs to heal properly first.

thats great to hear Danielle glad he has eaten for you

It looks like his skin is turning white again like he will shed soon. Is that really soon cause he shed not too long ago lol. But yeah the lump does look like it wants to fall, still healing around the edges though to separate it from the skin and the dead skin and such.

you'll prob find he'll shed every 2weeks until he is completely healed. i took on a male called ken who had a 5g abcess sticking out his belly but it didn't drain like your boy deans and the vet removed it and left him with 3stitches but for 4months after he would shed every 2weeks you might find that the lump comes off with this shed

Hopefully, that would be nice. It's a bit big, I think it will take a bit more time. Is it normal for his head to still be bright and vibrate but the rest is in "shed mode"?

yeah his head will catch up with the rest of him before he sheds you could try soaking him in some warm water to lossen the lump up a bit

So he is starting to shed but is head is still not. Suggestions? Premature shedding?

Some of mine do not change their head colors until they are literally nearly done shedding and then start rubbing their heads on stuff like rocks. Then they pull of the skin that way. I do fine that it is that way especially if they have not been too long between sheds. Keep an eye on it and hopefully that is all it is

Dont panic, that's perfectly normal. Both of my leos go pale/white on their bodies while their heads remain dark/normal. Then they shed their bodies first and lastly their heads. I guess its cos their heads don't grow as much as the rest of their body does.

Yeah his head is starting to catch up. Its around his eyes now. I'll keep an "eye" on him and help a bit if he needs it. I'll probably do a warm soak for underneath for his scab, you think that would be fine since its just water?

the nose will finally catch up to and yeah it'll be fine to give him a soak in warm water

Just be careful of getting water in the nostrils if you do need to soak his face. Eros always gets bits stuck around his nostrils (like he does now :rolleyes: ). I just use a cotton bud and really warm water and leave it sit directly on the shed for a minute then rub, repeat, until it comes off or gets an edge up that you can grab with a qtip, all you really need to do is hold, the leo usually pulls away on their own. I'll also really soak a paper towel moist hide with hot water (it cools by the time he gets into it but it creats a nice fog in the hide) and give him 2 days to get it off himself before I intervene. This also gives his overly stuffed shed filled belly time to settle. If I hold eros on a full shed belly he chirps and grunts at you in displeasure.

So I gave him the warm soak today and the skin from his chin, under tail and a few digits came off.There is still a couple on his back toes. A concern though is the scab from his infection now remositend and he was nibbling at it to clean it up. Last I checked it looked like it opened up again and I could see a white thing (testes? tumor? puss?) not sure what it is but either way its reopedned. I had to go to class so I couldn't really do much more at the time but I'm going back home to check on it. I hope it will heal back up, if Not I will need to take him to the vet hopefully asap but don't think I will have time until tomorrow *sigh*

sorry to hear the soak hasn't helped his scab, could you get a pic of the new problem with it an i'll see if we can help at all, it could just be part of the scab itself hanging down thats gone white from getting wet like our scabs do, the nibbling will just be dean trying to clean up but i hope when you get back that its rehealed

Yeah I'll try to get a picture of it for you. It scares me when I look at it I feel like its his insides coming out. I myself am always a bit worried around my own insides lol :/

dont panic or worry im sure Dean will be fine hun is it bleeding at all? if you cant face taking a pic of it dont worry about it i dont deal with blood very well on me or the animals so i know how you feel hun x