Lost Crested Gecko

CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
So, it all started when I woke up yesterday and he wasn't in his tank, I took everything out and checked everywhere and we found him on a wall behind his tank, covered in dust, but okay. I thought it was all good and put him in the tank and left for my dads, and when I woke up this morning I texted my mum to check on him and she said he wasn't in there. I went over, we checked about everywhere but for the places that I couldn't disturb like a water tank for his sprayer because the water would go everywhere, and we still have not found him :cry: . I'm starting to fear the worst as the house is one of those older ones, so the heaters happen to have big gaps in them (big enough of where I think he could fit) and I'm worried he got stuck in there :( . I'm completely devastated because I feel its my fault that I lost him, and I'm so scared that I may never find him again or if I do he will turn up dead.. Any advice please on finding him, I would really really appreciate it :cry:

This is a picture of the heaters image.jpgimage.jpg
 
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CrestedRick

Active member
Where are the heaters that you showed located? Floor or ceiling? He most likely isn't very far from his enclosure. Best thing is keep the door to the room shut and stay out of it, then tonight go in once it's dark and flip the light on and you will probably find him. Another issue, what type of enclosure are you keeping him in that he continues to get out? Pictures will help us locate problem areas.
 
CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
CrestedRick said:
Where are the heaters that you showed located? Floor or ceiling? He most likely isn't very far from his enclosure. Best thing is keep the door to the room shut and stay out of it, then tonight go in once it's dark and flip the light on and you will probably find him. Another issue, what type of enclosure are you keeping him in that he continues to get out? Pictures will help us locate problem areas.
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The heaters are about approx 4 feet away and mounted on the wall, I have his tank on a dresser. I've already cleared out much of the room so if he does turn up he would be easily seen. Right now I took a lot of the foliage out of his tank but two of his big plants, and left the heat lamp I have for when it's really cold on and his water dish and food dish out, with the tank door open, and I have shut all the blinds (after I checked them) to make the room a little darker, and I always keep my door shut even last night when he escaped so I'm hoping he is still in the room. I believe he got out through the top where I put my autosprayer's nozzle in, it was secured so he probably pushed it out of the way and got out, and I have removed the nozzle as of now till we find a better solution. Il get a picture of his tank in a second
 

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CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
CrestedRick said:
You place the nosal back in the hole and possibly use some silicone to secure it in place some can push it out.
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We're going to cut a hole in the mesh top and put a piece of metal to secure it in, I originally tried securing it on the top but the water just clumped, so I put it inside his tank. I'm just really hoping that he didn't go in the heater though because if he did there is no way of getting him out without having to take out and replace the duct work entirely because it's all connected :(
 
CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
:yahoo:OH MY GOD right as i typed that there was a big bang and i found him crawling out of my colouring pencil case! He has a lot of white stuff on his face, definitely not shed because he shed just a few days before, he still has his tail, I can hardly type because I'm shaking so much, thankyou crested rick for the advice, I'm so happy I found him image.jpg going to give him a nice sauna and feed him, god im so happy
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
CrestedL said:
Thankyou very much for the link :eek: lots of stuff there that could help, il do my best to prevent any further escapes
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You're quite welcome.

Many of us have escapee stories. :razz: One day I took mature crestie George to a kindergarten outreach. He was in a very small cage that I placed on the carpet. The kids went to lunch and I almost did too. Checked George; cage door was open and he was no where to be seen. Alerted the office: "Gecko on the Loose!" Found another person to help me search. Guess what? I looked up and there was George! He had scaled a 6 foot storage cabinet and was looking down upon us from the top of an overturned aquarium.

Found something tall and carefully scooped up George and placed him back in his cage. I felt very happy. :D On with the outreach. :biggrin:

Then there was another time right after a warm Memorial Day weekend when I rescued an escaped mourning gecko from outside my 3rd floor clerestory window! Had to climb onto the roof through a "hole", walk over a flat roof to my window, trap the gecko in a jar, climb down a ladder, and return her to her cage.
 
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CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
Elizabeth Freer said:
You're quite welcome.

Many of us have escapee stories. :razz: One day I took mature crestie George to a kindergarten outreach. He was in a very small cage that I placed on the carpet. The kids went to lunch and I almost did too. Checked George; cage door was open and he was no where to be seen. Alerted the office: "Gecko on the Loose!" Found another person to help me look low and high. Guess what? I looked up and there was George! He had scaled a 6 foot storage cabinet and was looking down upon us from the top of an overturned aquarium.

Found something tall and carefully scooped up George and placed him back in his cage. I felt very happy. :D On with the outreach. :biggrin:

Then there was another time right after a warm Memorial Day weekend when I rescued an escaped mourning gecko from outside my 3rd floor clerestory window! Had to climb onto the roof through a "hole", walk over a flat roof to my window, trap the gecko in a jar, climb down a ladder, and return her to her cage.
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Aw XD I guess its good that you have experience because you would know the best places to look and what to do, this was a first time thing for me so I panicked because I already love him, so I took apart the entire bed and looked thought every sheet, tore out everything in the closet, took apart my desk and all the drawers in my drawer including looking through all the clothes, and through all this he was just chilling inches from his tank inside of my colouring supplies container.. Gecko logic -_-
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
CrestedL said:
Aw XD I guess its good that you have experience because you would know the best places to look and what to do, this was a first time thing for me so I panicked because I already love him, so I took apart the entire bed and looked thought every sheet, tore out everything in the closet, took apart my desk and all the drawers in my drawer including looking through all the clothes, and through all this he was just chilling inches from his tank inside of my colouring supplies container.. Gecko logic -_-
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One needs to exercise caution when searching. More noise and commotion can drive geckos deeper into hiding.

Unfortunately I know that panicky feeling well. I've done /\ that approximately. My beloved female Phelsuma barbouri (day gecko) escaped once. My place was cluttered. I really had no idea where she went. I completely tore everything out of the nearby hall closet. Stuff was all over the floor. No gecko though. :(

So I set up her cage as usual, but on the carpet nearby its usual location. Left the top open, some fresh water nearby, and a couple crickets inside. Low and behold, there she was amongst a tangle of electrical cords a few days later. Returned her to her cage and she thrives to this day. (I think she had been chilling out under my wet bar.)

Then a young friend of mine had this experience: One night her northern velvet gecko was out and about. Her dad tried to catch it by its tail. Of course, the tail separated and the gecko split. The next day her mom went carefully through everything in the child's closet. The mom took several bags of stuff to the Goodwill. Mom also moved a milk crate of books to their daylight basement that was like an apartment. Guess what? About 3-4 months later the mom was in the basement and heard a noise. :) There was that gecko alive and doing alright. The tail had not regenerated much. Later Sara gave velvet Elizabeth back to me with the cage and all the equipment. Velvet gecko Elizabeth regrew her tail and is doing quite well to this very day.
 
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CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
Elizabeth Freer said:
One needs to exercise caution when searching. More noise and commotion can drive geckos deeper into hiding.

Unfortunately I know that panicky feeling well. I've done /\ that approximately. My beloved female Phelsuma barbouri (day gecko) escaped once. My place was cluttered. I really had no idea where she went. I completely tore everything out of the nearby hall closet. Stuff was all over the floor. No gecko though. :(

So I set up her cage as usual, but on the carpet nearby its usual location. Left the top open, some fresh water nearby, and a couple crickets inside. Low and behold, there she was amongst a tangle of electrical cords a few days later. Returned her to her cage and she thrives to this day. (I think she had been chilling out under my wet bar.)

Then a young friend of mine had this experience: One night her northern velvet gecko was out and about. Her dad tried to catch it by its tail. Of course, the tail separated and the gecko split. The next day her mom went carefully through everything in the child's closet. The mom took several bags of stuff to the Goodwill. Mom also moved a milk crate box of books to their daylight basement that was like an apartment. Guess what? About 3-4 months later the mom was in the basement and heard a noise. :) There was that gecko alive and doing alright. The tail had not regenerated much. Later Sara gave velvet Elizabeth back to me with the cage and all the equipment. Velvet gecko Elizabeth regrew her tail and is doing quite well to this very day.
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Aw :) I'm glad she's doing good, its crazy that she was able to live for 3-4 months without anyone noticing :eek:
 
CrestedL

CrestedL

New member
Look at him now, he's like a little kid climbing all over the place XD
 

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CrestedL

CrestedL

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I am happy to say that we have fixed the problem of the nozzle, so Riley should no longer have any more escape routes, much better than what I has before :D we were able to drill a hold into the side of his tank so the wire could go through, that way it can still be inside the tank and not allow an escape route
 

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