Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has anyone's leo ever had a broken back? Tonight as I was handling my new female super hypo tang, I stood up to shut my room door b/c she isn't very tame and every once in a while likes to take a mad dash to feedom. When I stood up, she jumped out of my hands and hit the carpet. At first I thought she was OK but when I went ot pick her up, her tail started to twitch uncontrollably and her back legs were limp. I flipped out and ran her to my mom who has been messing with her. Now she is using her legs and walking but I was wondering how you could tell if her back is broken. Thanks For Your Help!!! Cory

if her back was broken, she'd be paralyzed.
Moving her back legs is a very good sign.
hopefully she was just shaken up by the drop. How far did she fall and what is on the floor?
I had a baby leo do a superman out of my hands, probably 5' off the ground, and land on an old heat rock I had in the room.
that was almost a year ago and he's fine.

Just goes to show you that heat rocks can be dangerous even outside the tanks

I hope your leo is just freaked out and not hurt badly, if you're really concerned you can probably get x-rays done.
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The following sentence is true.
The above sentence is false.

4.4 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Marbled Gecko
1.1 Red Eared Sliders
0.2 Siamese Mice

It was maybe a four foot drop onto the carpet. She is now walking on her back legs. Thanks!! Cory

Yes I've had a very similar thing happen. First thing, after checking her out, put her either in her own cage or in a simplified one. Warm end 88-90, cool end 80 (nothing new), and leave her be.

Chances are good that she'll recover, probably fully, excellent sign thatif you can help ensure she doesn't agravate the injury. Its an excellent thing that she's using her legs to walk but now you have to make sure she doesn't irritate it and cause any further swelling. The more peace and quiet for her, the better. Fresh water is good, but I'd hold off on feeding her until tomorrow evening.

Best wishes to her and to you,
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Andrea A.

had a leo with a broken back, but I've had many leos jump off my hand for a fall to floor. None ever showed any signs of paralyzation though. I'm not a vet, but if your leo is walking normally now and shows no other symptoms, if it were me I would assume they are okay and it was a pinched nerve or something. If your leo is having symptoms, you might want to take him/her to the vet for x-rays and a professional examination. I do recall one poster here whose leo DID have a broken back, and was unable to use the back legs, and the vet was able to create a body cast and the gecko recovered completely!
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

Cory, how's your girl doing tonight? Up and about I hope. If you can do it, help her area to stay calm & quiet for a bit.

For about 4 years I had no problems at all with jumping geckos. Every adult had at least a few minutes on my shoulder about three times a week. That was how several of them learned it was safe to be out with me, and until this year I had no problems at all. They almost never jumped, and I got pretty good at anticipating their movement based on how they held their bodies while they were on my shoulder (or back, or neck ..).

This year I had three make sudden unexpected dives from my shoulder to the floor. Two scared me but were fine although one of those had seizure-like motions from his lower back down. After a few minutes that stopped, and by the next evening he was walking around and eating like normal. The third one died. It was younger and I shouldn't have been doing anything else while it was out. Now I'm much more careful, especially around yearlings.

One reason for posting on this board is to share experiences so each individual person can benefit from the collective experience of all of us. That includes the mistakes we make.
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Andrea A.

She is doing amazing!!:?) SHe is eating and walking around like nothing ever happened. Thanks for all who shared their shy diving stories. It makes me feel alot better. thanks! Cory

From my personal experience, I'd say adult leos are 99.5% reliable for me while sitting on my shoulder. I'm very aware of their body position etc. Its just that the 0.5% of the time ...
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Andrea A.