Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two baby pictus geckos. Recently there was an accident where the water dish flipped on to the back of one of these tiny little lizards. It is more than apparent that he is really injured. I can't tell if he is in any pain or not, though.
It must have landed on his back legs, because his tail has been wagging back and forth alright, but he seems to have no ability to move those back two legs.
He is only about two to three months old, so he is TINY. I don't know what I can do, if anything. It's breaking my heart.
Can anyone help me?
I have many different lizards and I consider myself to be pretty well educated when it comes to herps. I've just never had anything like this happen before, especially with a baby.
Any help at all would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Eric

It's impossible to know without seeing the animal, but it sounds like it may have actually damaged his spinal cord if he's lost the use of both back legs. It's also impossible to say whether he'll recover or not. If he's still eating, I'd just give it some time and see if he improves. If he's not eating or if he doesn't start to regain some control of his back legs within a week or so, I'd consider a visit to the vet. If it is in fact, a spinal injury, then (as hard as it is to say), euthanasia may be the only humane thing to do.
-----
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I had something similar happen with a banded gecko years ago. The cage slid off a shelf and the water dish pinned the lizard. Broke its back and, sad to say, it died not too long after. I don't know that the prognosis is very hopeful with a tiny lizard like a juvenile pictus. You can try the vet- but I don't know that they can do much either if the spine is damaged (the tail may keep moving even though the lizard has no motor control of the legs).
Sorry to hear about the accident! Good luck.
Lora

Unfortunately there was internal bleeding inside the baby's legs, where his spine had been broken.
This was by far the saddest thing I have ever had to witness with any of my herps. I hope no one else will ever have to go through this. We had to put him down, he was just too small for a splint and there was no operation that could have helped.
Be careful with your babies, please.

Thanks for everyone's help. I wish there was more that I could have done.

Eric