Crestie with no "traction" on toes

[BlackIrisReptiles]

I rescued a crestie from a petstore sometime in September who was in miserable condition. One of her hands was twisted in what looked like an old fracture, you could see every bone in her body, and her other feet were also mangled in stuck shed. I got her home and in no time she was looking great, she's gained a lot of weight and all her feet (except the broken one) have healed well. And despite everything she has a beautiful personality, which is admirable.

However, probably due to the poor shedding on her feet for a prolonged time, she has maybe 30% traction left on her toes. She can climb, but she really only climbs well if she can wrap her hands around a branch and actually grab it, which is why her cage is full of thin bamboo sticks. She slips-n-slides on leaves, and cannot for the life of her climb glass (she does alright on her mesh cage, but not great either).

So my question is... has anyone had this problem, and has anyone noticed what these cresties DO climb better than other materials? (Rough wood, something more stair-like, etc?) I want to see if anyone, through experience, has figured out what provide "special need" climbers so that they can still lead a normal crestie life.

 

[Soul Eater]

She sounds like a wonderful gecko. Sorry bout the traction problem but I'm glad you got everything else back up to the correct state for her
I can't really help, since I've never even heard of this happening but I wish you the best of luck with her!

 

[zohariels]

I've never had that problem but I'm wondering if maybe the fake vines you can buy at petstores would work? They have a fairly rough texture and I think they come in 1/4- 1 inch thickness.

 

[BlackIrisReptiles]

That's the problem, I don't know that anyone has had this problem either lol. I didn't know it could happen until I adopted this little one. Her feet look fine now, but she just can't stick to anything, not even my hands.

I guess the best option is probably to add rough surfaces to everything, so she can climb better.

 

[Scarlet.Escapist]

One of my females (Clover) pretty much has no traction on her hind feet but has traction on her front. Most of it is due to the fact that she doesn't have the tips of her toes anymore due to her ex-ex-owner's neglect during an improper shed. So she can still climb and all but she slides easily.

I find that its better to provide surfaces with rough exteriors to allow better grip (such as cork bark) and more slanted (not too steeply but almost horizontal) to horizontal oriented branches. The gecko will feel more secure and have less chance of slipping on these nearly even oriented surfaces. Also the branches that you provide should not be smaller than the width of her body either exactly the same width or a bit larger so they can wrap their hands and feet around it.

 

[Soul Eater]

One of my females (Clover) pretty much has no traction on her hind feet but has traction on her front. Most of it is due to the fact that she doesn't have the tips of her toes anymore due to her ex-ex-owner's neglect during an improper shed. So she can still climb and all but she slides easily.

Ah, speaking of which, I realized bout a month ago that a girl I got had a few missing toes on her back right foot. She every-so-often slides down the glass of the cage or just falls off the screen at times. I guess I've experienced this to a certain extent. Obviously mine isn't nearly as extreme though. But I agree with all the rough stuff advise and such. Maybe try a more screen cage as well if she likes to climb the glass a lot? I know you said she sometimes has problems with screen as well, but maybe it'd keep her from falling around as much...?

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

(I'm the same person as BlackIrisReptiles)

This girl, Almendra, is in with a roommate in the same enclosure and they have great grapewood branches that are nice and thick, and I've also given them thin bamboo rods and Almendra just loves the bamboo. Because they're just thick enough for her to wrap her entire hand around it and get a firm hold. She has plenty of alternatives but I always find her perched on her favorite bamboo rod. So what I've done is just give her lots of bamboo highways throughout the cage, and she seems to be doing well.

But I will try to get her more grapewood branches and bark pieces to give her more options.

 

[Soul Eater]

If she likes her bamboo then you should be fine. Sometimes they just stick to their one decor and are perfectly fine with that. Adding more things isn't a problem though either. Never know what she may decide to do

With one of my cresties, I have a driftwood piece that goes to the corner of his cage to about 6 inches from the wall. He has a hide under it but often prefers sleeping outside the hide and under the driftwood, or on top of the driftwood piece. He has a couple of them in there as well as fake plants, but he prefers that one piece. No matter how many times I clean his cage and redecorate, he finds it and settles in lol

The bamboo for her, I'm sure, is just a secure item in the cage that she feels safe on. As you said, she can wrap her "hands" around it and sit there comfortably. With a climbing problem, she may just feel secure and safe on the bamboo, so that could be another reason she stays there. And as mentioned before, cresties seem to pick their favorite spot/decor in the cage and spend A LOT of their time around it.

Experiment a little though and let us know how it goes! I've never heard of this problem so if it occurs, I want to know what I can do as well to give maximum happiness to the poor boy/girl

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

I know exactly how that goes Her roommate has discovered one of the bromeliad flowers in her cage and hasn't gotten off in two days! I don't know if she ever got off to hunt last night (she probably did, at 3am or so) but every time I check she's perched on that flower in a different position.

I'll post it here if I find something that works well for her for the future reference of others. It's probably not that common, but it's a really bizzaar situation to find yourself if you ever get a "special needs" climber gecko lol.

 

[Soul Eater]

I know exactly how that goes Her roommate has discovered one of the bromeliad flowers in her cage and hasn't gotten off in two days! I don't know if she ever got off to hunt last night (she probably did, at 3am or so) but every time I check she's perched on that flower in a different position.

I'll post it here if I find something that works well for her for the future reference of others. It's probably not that common, but it's a really bizzaar situation to find yourself if you ever get a "special needs" climber gecko lol.

lol Cute!
I have a girl that won't leave her coconut hide. Its hard as heck to get her out though too when its cricket time (I hand feed to avoid crick death and ant attacks. Specially since I have a few babies). Her and her cagemate used to stay up in the corner of the cage together and wouldn't move from that spot for 3-4 days unless I poked one of them. They'd shift a little then stare at me, and go back to their hanging out. But I always found their dishes empty when I stuck it in there. I think I need to feed them a little more lol

Definately is a bizzaar situation
Thank you for bring it to our attention

 

[strakey]

Use something with some rough surfaces like screen for example, something she can sink her claws into. Styrofoam backing, repticage screening, bark was said and tree branches, driftwood (make sure you disinfect it) and she will be climbing all over.

good luck

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

Ok, so small update.

She and her cagemate are in a screen cage, because that has been the best option for her. However, she doesn't really climb that either, while her friend is all over the walls at night. Almendra tends to like to stay on the bottom of the cage, which is fine because I have all the plants in their cage planted in tall-ish glossy pots, so if I dump the cricekts on the floor of the cage she gets plenty of time to go after them until the insects realize they can climb the walls of the cage. So she hunts on the ground just fine.

And then I've put branches from outside (properly baked) in a stair-like pattern from the ground to the plants, so she can climb at an angle that isn't completely vertical to get from her day-time hide to the floor of the cage.

So I can tell she's doing better in this set-up I have really grown to be extremely fond of this gecko, so I'm glad she's doing well. I might post a photo or two later.

 

[Martinotti Reptiles]

I decided to post some photos of my other girl and her new favorite flower lol. I swear that during the day, I can 100% guarantee that I'll find her there. But every day she's in a different position, it's too bad I only took photos two days.

The cage plants have filled in a bit more of the air space, so it looks a little fuller now. And I added some rough small branches to make "stairs" for the gecko that can't climb well. But yep. Here's where they live lol.