Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
Click here to visit Classifieds

crested gecko seizures?!! help please?!

djzion May 03, 2006 07:27 AM

my crested gecko seems to be having seizures! all morning shes been shaking and twitching and her tounge is goin crazy, her toes curl up when it happens. i called the vet in my area and they dont have a clue! oh just bring her in and well figure it they said. yea ok! any one have any ideas or know any good vets in th northwest suburbs of chicago, il?

Replies (4)

flamedcrestie May 03, 2006 09:24 AM

I should start by saying i'm not a Vet, and cannot give you 100% sure diagnosis of the problem. If it were my gecko I would start by immediately mixing calcium with d3 in a dropper/syringe with whatever the animal will take on it's own. Your animal is almost definitely suffering from a severe calcium crash.
I had one female crash hard a year or so back after she laid several clutches of eggs. A pinch of calcium mixed with water, babyfood, peach yogurt, or CGD should be all you need. It may take a week or so before the seizuring stops, and after that she should improve ( if she makes it that long). Remember, your gecko isn't very big, so 1 CC or maybe 2CC should be all you need to give it. Mix so it is still a liquid, with a suspended calcium added it. You don't want a paste, and you don't want to give it too much calcium.
Finally, you need to ask yourself " why did this happen?"
well.... your animal is either not receiving enough calcium, is being over bred, or is not absorbing the calcium it is receiving. There is one very, very simple solution.... Feed only t-rex's Crested Gecko Diet ( CGD) . CGD has everything your gecko needs, and I have never had a crested have a calcium crash since i've been using it. The only thing I would suggest doing would maybe be to add a pinch of calcium with D3 after your female has just laid eggs, after she's laid several clutches. This is by no means necessary, but after experiencing what you are right now, I don't want to risk having it happen again.
let me know if you have anymore questions, but you absolutely must get calcium in your girl today, or she will most likely die ( and still may)
good luck
Andrew Gilpin

PHEve May 03, 2006 12:08 PM

I do not have any cresties but have many other species of lizards, some I breed. Whenever you see twitching, or seisures, especially in a breeding female, you can pretty much be sure she is in desperate need of calcium.

I have only has females with minor twitching and have a liquid calcium syrup I keep on hand for this very reason.

Hope she perks up soon
-----
PHEve / Eve

Contact PHEve

djzion May 03, 2006 11:14 PM

thx that is kinda what i figured just nice to have a 2nd opinion. before i even posted i gave her some baby food with calcium powder and d3 both through a syringe and in a dish in the enclosure about an hour or so later the seizure turned into more of a steady twitch. so hopefully shell make her way to the dish tonight and ill hand feed her a bit more tom morn. shes only laid eggs once and that was last month and i was good and upped her calcium for about 1-2 weeks after. so the only thing i can figure is since they lay about once a month, shes probably developing or trying to develop some eggs right now which is why she would crash 5 weeks after her first clutch. which mean the chance those eggs come out fertile if at all is slim n none, but id rather have dud eggs then a dead crested. thx for all ur help and i will keep you updated. but the way i figure, if theres a noticable change in about an hour we should be able to get through this with nothing more than a scare.

dragonpink May 04, 2006 08:44 PM

Sorry to hear Ms. Midas is having issues.... as far as a decent reptile vet I can only recomend Dr. O'Brien. She's helped my little guys get through some rough times. She's a little pricey but I really wouldn't put a price on the health and wellbeing of my cold blooded clan. She's at the Dundee animal hospital and usually can get ya in quickly.

Koko had a crash her first time clutching, she was my only crestie at the time so I had no clue she was ovulating. In the meantime buy the slim line reptile light at Petco. It's 30 dollars and will help her process the much needed calcium. I've kept Koko under UVB/UVA light since her crash, even though most keepers don't provide full spectrum lighting for noctornal species. She hasn't had a crash since and now that she's got Bubo as a mate they pop out eggs about every two months.

Since your girl is going to be exhausted you need to seperate her from her mate untill she regains her health and gets back to at least 35 grams. Just keep up with the calcium and get her a light and things should get better.

Site Tools