Gecko's came in with some problems:( (Pic heavy!)

Optimist · #1 08-22-2011, 06:32 PM

I bought 11 geckos off this guy on Kijiji. The only reason I got them all was because it was like a bulk deal all of them for 300, me and a friend split it. Unfortunately when we got them they weren't in the best care. In small tubs, the paper towel in their enclosures were dry as can be, there was poop everywhere and the smell was just horrid!

The first thing I notice when we got them was this poor little male.

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/...48789c_20.jpeg

It's hard to tell in the picture but his spine is kind of bent and curved. I'm thinking some kind of bone disease? Maybe a lack of calcium? I feel so bad for the poor guy. He's so incredibly cute and he has so many spots on him! Is it at all possible that he can recover from something this severe?

The second thing I noticed was that almost all of the cresties are ridiculously skittish. Except for 3 females, 1 male and the baby. When we opened up the first tub one of the females jumped out and hid behind a dresser took us like ten minutes to get her out. And this morning I was transferring one of the males and he managed to get behind my bed and he dropped his tail unfortunately

All of the 4 males I am keeping at the moment are extremely jumpy! Could this be do simply to the long car ride? They came from an hour a way. Do you think after a week of me letting them get comfortable they will calm down?

The third thing I noticed was the baby that we also received was very very tiny. He has to be at least a month old but he can fit nicely on a loonie (Canadian coin:P). I was thinking maybe he was hatched way to early. We are going to make sure he gets lots of CGD and some pinhead crickets with calcium and make sure he get nice and plump:P Anything else I can do to make sure he stays healthy? We already have a buyer for that little guy we just want him to get bigger.

The forth thing I noticed was that my large male (not fat large but big) has a crooked tail. I'm thinking FTS? I'm not really 100% sure, I haven't seen any flopping.

Here's a pic from the ad, Ill try to get a better one after...

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/kj/...558452_20.jpeg

EDIT: Actually I think that is a different gecko, I think that is the one that just dropped his tail.

There is this one too but it's hard to tell...

EDIT: It looks kind of like this http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3...4060346ia.jpgb (not my gecko)

I've heard that some people make geckos with FTS drop their tails purposely. Is that recommended? Anything I can do to help the big guy let me know.

In the end we got mostly healthy wonderful geckos and I'm happy to take these guys in considering that they were kept in such harsh conditions for the last little while.

Here are some random show off pics:P I'll prob post more after.

Setup for the breeding trio I will be keeping

Here is a younger male, he's not fired up much but he gets quite a bit darker and his patterns get deeper. He is kind of cool if you can morph him from this pic it would be appreciated:P

Here is the baby, hard to tell how small he is in these pics, I don't have him now to do a size comparison.

This is the female that got away when we first got her:P Never would have thought she would have fired up so nice! (Sorry for blurriness)

This is another female harley, we have another just like her.

Fired up more

Her soon to be mate

This is called white walls? I believe

Here is another younger male

That's all the pics I have now, but I have a feeling I might post more:P

Hopefully some of my questions will be answered, thanks guys

thehotchik1000 · #2 08-22-2011, 07:20 PM

I think alot of the problems you are seeing with the bone deformities Is due to lack of calcium with d3. They have what I would consider severe mbd. Mbd can affect geckos in Manu different ways including fts, bone deformities, fjs, or rubber limbs. I have also seen fts with perfect calcium supplementation due to not enough horizontal climbing space. It's obvious to me anyways that there Is an issue with that persons husbandry and care. Unfortunately bone defects will be permentant. Males can usually breed ok with issue in the spine like that. But it will be hard to figure out whether they are birth defects or mbd defects. You may not want to breed them because of this. Females with spinal kinks or pelvis kinks shouldn't be bred because of them not being able to Lay the eggs due to the defect. Sometimes they can but also laying will take a huge toll on their ca stores and this can lead to things like rubber jaw or rubber limb syndrome popping up. Personally i wouldn't have paid a darn dime for those poor animals. As for the jumpy ness. It's obvious he didn't have much contact with them. I would try and leave them alone for awhile. Let them settle in. But if they had zero Human contact they mat remain jumpy.
The baby. He Lois pretty well established. If he was hatched prematurely. Beleive me he wouldn't be alive. House him separate, make sure hes eating. Some babies grow at different rates. There's really nothing that can be done except to make sure he has plenty of food an water and calcium/ca d3. Anyways I hope this helps. Good luck with the group.
Morgan

Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Optimist · #3 08-22-2011, 10:09 PM

The stuff about not enough climbing room makes sense, that individual gecko was in what they call a "shoe box" container. It's only like 6 qts or so. All of the containers were really shallow actually, and only a little foliage.

Bella · #4 08-22-2011, 10:53 PM

How very very sad...that's all I have to say.

thehotchik1000 · #5 08-22-2011, 11:35 PM

Oh wow no wonder. Cresteds are arboreal. I keep hatchling leos in a 6qt. But adults and baby crested are kept in vertical enclosures. That makes no sense why that idiot would keep them in 6qt tubs. I still think that alot of that comes from lack of calcium too.

Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

PassPort · #6 08-23-2011, 12:13 AM

Sorry about the poor shape of your new kids. Glad they're with you and on the road to recovery.

Spyral · #7 08-23-2011, 01:29 AM

Are you housing males and females together now? I would definitely wait for several months to evaluate their conditions. Some may have Metabolic Bone Disease and should not be bred.

Have you kept cresties previously?

Optimist · #8 08-23-2011, 01:59 AM

They are not together, all separated, except the two females are together right now. Even though they just moved they are all eating great.

Optimist · #9 08-24-2011, 02:41 AM

I have what may be a weird question. Does it make sense to make a gecko purposely drop his tail? I've heard that some people have done it before. Is it recommended? I've heard that FTS can cause spine problems, is that true? I don't want anything worse to happen to this poor guy.

Here is another pic that I think will make it clear that this is FTS:

Amythest · #10 08-24-2011, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Does it make sense to make a gecko purposely drop his tail? I've heard that some people have done it before. Is it recommended? I've heard that FTS can cause spine problems, is that true? I don't want anything worse to happen to this poor guy.

Honestly, I wouldn't. FTS is more of a tail and pelvic deformity than a spinal issue. It also seems to affect males worse than females in a lot of cases. Reason being, the geckos will sleep facing downwards on walls of their tank. Females are flat to the wall and their tails often stay straight, with males, because of the hemipene bulge their tails will drift off at a angle, if that makes sense? Always the same angle and over time the weight of the tail causes the base of it and the pelvis to start bending in that direction and there you have FTS!

Make sure he has climbing room and proper calcium & D3 supplementation. Make sure he has lots of horizontal sleeping ledges as well. You want him to stop sleeping facing downwards on a wall which will stop the progression of FTS just as surely as forcing him to drop his tail without the added trauma/stress etc.