my fat and healthy 13 year old leopard gecko lost his tail in the middle of the night last night and was dead within 2 hours. I thought maybe he got his tail caught between his food dish and a rock but he's lived in this environment for 13 years with no problems and the food dish is not that heavy. I wonder if he was stressed, sick or dying of old age nd lost his tail because of that (he has always lived alone). I feel like he was too young to die of old age. He was in a molt. About a week ago he woke me up in the middle of the night barking and shaking his head like he had something stuck in his throat, I found nothing obvious and he seemed to recover from whatever it was. He was eating and well hydrated. Can a gecko die from the stress of tail loss? I am deeply saddened to have so suddenly lost my friend and I hope some feedback or answers might help me understand this. Thanks, A.
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death from tail loss?
Replies (2)
The gecko may have died from stress & the trauma of automizing its tail. Was the caging in a noisy/high-traffic area? The "barking" & "shaking" that you described is a key indicator of stress. A necropsy would truly conclude what may have caused this to happen. Sorry to hear about your loss.
I had a similar thing happen last night. Go to the leopard geocko forum and read what I wrote earlier today.
Matt
