Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The other day i noticed that two of my cresteds had a floppy tail. I noticed it when they were hanging upside down on the sides or the top. I dont understand why they have it though. They get calcium with there crickets. And occaisionally i will throw it in with there peach baby food.There crickets are dusted every other to every third day. They had branches in there cages to climb on. And from what i read those are the two causes (lack of calcium, lack of branches) Any one have any input. Thanks

Reptile
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www.reptilefreaks.tk
4.7.2 leopard geckos (super hypo tangs, blizzards,albinos)
1.0.2 crested geckos (lite cream fire, buckskin, tiger)
1.2 golden geckos
1.1 texas collared lizards
1.1 veiled chameleons
1.0 Bearded dragon

well, you're not alone out there. about a month ago, i realized one of mine had floppy tail. i bought her as a baby from a local pet store, and she's always been healthy and given the right supplements as far as vitamins and calcium and such, and has always had more than enough climbing material in the enclosure to keep her busy. no one knows for sure what it comes from. but out of my total of 5 crested geckos, im glad only 1 got floppy tail. would anyone recommend against using individuals with floppy tail for breeding?

Floppy tail does not effect breeding whatsoever. It is not known what causes it so that would mean there is no evidence that it is genetic.

I wouldnt worry at all about breeding an animal with FTS IMO. I have only had 1 male crested get it and he breeds fine and his offspring have all been fine to date.

Eric

I have one fellow with floppy tail as well. He developed it literally overnight. IM confident in my calcium levels and while he does tend to sleep upside down his tail is usually wrapped around the plants and branches.

I have a theory based on observation only... I figure Its probably off base because its too simple.

The tail is floppy right where they break off. I wonder if floppy tail might be caused from the bone disconnecting at the fracture point but not ripping the muscles as they do when frightened or caught.

This would still fit into the typical reasoning of floppy tail(low calcium) because low calcium makes bones brittle and more fragile.

As I said this is just from observation with no scientific data to back it up.

yea, it is definitely frustrating to think of what the causes are, because when it comes to calcium supplementation, that has been one thing i have never had any trouble with. its all the more frustrating when i have raised numerous others from the same age or earlier, and they have turned out just fine. anyway, i think its a minor problem and if it does become any bigger of a problem for her, then she'll probably just drop her tail. still, id prefer a floppy tail over no tail at all, even if her tail folds back over her when she hangs on the glass. now if it gets to the point where her pelvis begins to deform....then we have a problem. i tried feeling the base of her tail, and yes, it does feel as though theres some sort of detachment right there at the base. i try to encourage her to try to straighten her tail, and she does still have some control of the rigidity. i know WC cresteds often lack their tails, but i wonder sometimes about the prevalence of floppy tail in the wild. implications for need of re-introduction of WC genes?