Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im really bummed, and no im not a noob to spare any flaming attempts, i have 7 cresteds, and I am pretty well experienced with them. Anyhow, she is a recent acquisition, and i was told that the previous owner pretty much NEVER handled them, unfortunately i did not know this until i called my buddy and he told me about that, this was after she dropped it.

anyhow, she is a beautiful female, the coloration on her is amazing, i was in the tank doing some routine maintenance, and putting in a few crickets, somehow i must have startled her, and she just flew up the side of the tank, jumped out, and was running around my floor. I was trying to get her as gently as I could and every time i got a hold of her she would get away, because i was being gentle and i didnt have a tight grip on her trying to avoid a tail drop. well she finally ended up on a little pad i have on the ground, and i grabbed the edge of the pad and started pulling it towards me while she was on it to keep her from running away, and bam, she dropped it, just sitting there she dropped her tail, i was just about in shock.

i am so ticked off right now, for one i feel bad, even though it happens and it isnt that uncommon for cresteds, i never really thought it would happen to me, and i think they look so much better with tails. its unfortunate that she dropped it, because it was just a fluke deal, but im really bummed about it.

do any of you have any experiences with this?

i have 4 that i hardly ever handle. while they're jumpy the once in a while that i do handle them, they are not overly intent on escaping. usually they scurry for a bit, then settle down. never had any tail problems. very sorry to hear about it, but its not the end of the world. she could still make a wonderful breeder.

yea, i will breed her for sure, i just hate seeing it happen, i really care A TON about all of my animals, they get the best of the best all the way around, and i care a lot about them, and all of my other cresteds a lot, and it really makes me upset to see this happen, i know its common in the wild, but i never thought she would drop it over something so small, but i guess something just set her off, i dont know what it was.

To be honest, I personally dont handle my crested that much. Letting them live happily in a habitat that is void of excessive human contact is the best way to raise a crested and keep them healthy. JMHO

-Chris

I had the same thing happen to me, I just bought a young crested, and after letting him adjust to his cage, it was time to change his cage, and apparentely he wasnt adjusted to me. He flipped out and ran all around the cage, he didnt get out but at one point I saw his tail go one way and he went the other. This was the only gecko that I have had do this so I was pretty shocked, all my other geckos will actually come out of their cages and walk up my arms.

Daniel Martin
Kryptic Morphs

The incident did not happen because i was trying to hold her chris, something just set her off.

i really dont hold my cresteds much either, most the time i only take them out for tank cleaning, i rarely take them out just for the fun of it.

anyhow, i was pretty shocked too, it was the last thing that i wanted to happen, but oh well, she will still make a good breeder, and i have kind of gotten used to it as well, they really dont look that bad w/o tails, shes unique now, all my other cresteds have tails.

Well now you dont have to worry about her losing her tail durring breeding? I have seen with all my geckos that certain males are nice to the females(they only bite the neck area), and others that I have will just bite her anywhere. But now you dont have to worry about it! GOOD LUCK! ERIk

yea that is the only upside to all of this, i was always hesitant to breed because i hate to see them lose tails, but i think im just gonna go for it, i cant control what happens so there isnt any point being worried.