I had a male crested, a little over a year old. He was seemingly my biggest, most rubust and healthy crested. I had no concerns about him.
Around christmas time, he and my other three lizards (two cresteds, one fat tail) went upstate for the holidays. We traveled by car.
My parents house is on the cool side, so i set them up with lights after a couple days of worrying about the temp. We returned on the second of this month.
Today I found him dead.
This boggles my mind.
He was eating regularly and all. He seems to maybe have lost a little bit of weight, but nothing extremely drastic.
I feel horrible, and bewildered.
Can anoyone offer any insight??
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Why did my crested die??
alieliza
Jan 07, 2005 07:45 PM
Replies (5)
Sara_Neoscales
Jan 07, 2005 08:28 PM
#1) How high were the temps? Cresteds cannot tolerate high temps (which includes anything over 80 for extended periods of time).
#2) Did you house them separately or everybody together? (mixing species is a very big "no-no", even mixing the same animals from different sources without the proper quarantine time carries risk.)
alieliza
Jan 07, 2005 08:37 PM
I wouldnt say that the temps were over 80 degrees. It was probably around 60-65 in the house without lights. It was also (by now) a week ago since the lights were on him last. We have been back home for almost a week (6 days) where we do not need the lights because the temps in our house are warmer.
Each gecko is housed separately.
mike777777
Jan 07, 2005 11:45 PM
It might have been from thermal burns from the lights you used to heat the enclosure. Other than that, I would guess the stress from traveling. Cresties dont take road trips in New Caledonia. Sorry for your loss.
O_S
Jan 08, 2005 12:59 PM
>>#1) How high were the temps? Cresteds cannot tolerate high temps (which includes anything over 80 for extended periods of time).
New Caledonia's temperature averages over 80 degrees for seven months of the year.
Oct: 81
Nov: 83
Dec: 86
Jan: 87
Feb: 86
Mar: 85
Apr: 82
Precipitation rises and falls with NC's temperature, as well (when it's hotter, it's generally wetter).
The problem we see is most cages start drying out when the temperature is increased much above 80 degrees.
-----
Mark
Sara_H
Jan 08, 2005 09:24 PM
There is a big difference between 85 daytime/75 nighttime temps and a constant 80 constant temperature.
"The problem we see is most cages start drying out when the temperature is increased much above 80 degrees."
Unfortunately most keepers won't take that into account and adjust accordingly - which is where the problems come in with high temps.
