Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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Last night I noticed an adult female crestie of mine laying on the lip of her water dish. I also noticed that her limbs (all 4) were jerking like she was having a seizure or something. I opened the lid of the tank, she climbed down, but was very disoriented. This morning I noticed she was laying flat inside her water dish... this afternoon I was a little concerned so I picked it up to see if she was ok. She started thrashing, mouth wide open and of course dropped her tail. She's been spasming for the past hour. Is this normal? I'm a bit concerned due to her shaking of the limbs yesterday. I can't figure out what would be wrong. I realize dropping her tail could have shaken her up a bit, but that doesn't explain yesterday. Also.. her eyes seem sunken now, and her jaw is crooked (from thrashing). She's breathing ok.. but I'm worried.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - this is a first for me

Thanks,
Hailey

I have a couple suggestions, but this hasn't happened to me before so im just guessing.

I remember one time my geckos eyes were sunken in and it's skin was tight and pale so i was worried, so i took him out and he was shaking a little bit and wiggling. He couldn't climb and he rolled on his side in my hand and couldn't get up......come to find out he was in shed mode and i just peeled some skin off him and he was fine.

Also......he may be hanging out near the water bowl a lot because of either he needs more humidity and wants to shed or he may be dehidrated.

If he(or she....ive been saying he the whole time i realized) is dehydrated, im pretty sure the skin will be a little wrinkled and tight......but not pale (like when shedding).

I know more people respond with more detailed answers so just hang in........i just gave you the things that are easily treatable.....otherwise i don't know what else it could be.

I know how scared and distressed i would be if this happened to my geckos, so i really feel empathy for you. I REALLY hope everything turns out well.

I have no idea, but i hope he/she does just fine. like johndoe said if he/she hangs in there some one on here will know what to do
Good Luck
Dave Maymon

What you are describing actually sounds like a true seizure. After the tremor phase a seizuring animal will have a post ictal phase in which they will appear disoriented, just as you have described. The postictal phase must pass before they can seize again.

I would place her in some sterilite (cant climb the walls) with leaves on the bottom and a very very shallow water dish she can't drown in. Give her some leaves to hide under on the bottom. Seizures can occur for a variety of reasons, one of them toxins.

Is she housed with other geckos?

Genevieve
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8.15.10 Crested Geckos
w/ 27 incubating
1.1.5 Gold Dust Day Geckos
w/ 6 incubating
0.1.0 Presa Canario

I am thinking it might be bad case of MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease). Shaking is one of the symptoms (sp??) and in bad cases cresties will develop a rubbery jaw this may be why he/she started thrashing (you might of touched his/her's jaw the wrong way and it hurt) other symptoms are loss of appetite, jerky walking, deformed legs, and weak bones.

How often do you give your crested calcium, what supplement(s) do you use, what do you feed your crested and is he/she breeding.

Derek
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Derek Dunlop
DDReptiles
http://www.freewebs.com/ddreptiles/index.htm

I guess it very well could be some sort of vitamin deficiency, but I don't understand why this is happening now, to just this one. I have kept crested gecko's for 1 1/2yrs with no problems to date. I feed them vitamin dusted crickets (T-Rex 2:0, and Jurassical mix). Occasional wet baby food (none of them seem to like the Crestie food).

She is a breeder female of mine, her last clutch was on 5/22. She has laid 3 clutches this season. She is housed with 1 male.

She seems stable now... shallow breathing, but BREATHING which is a good thing. I am worried that she'll not make it through the night, but I am praying for the best. I'll update you all tomorrow. Thanks for all the posts.

calcium is a key factor in the functioning of muscles. it could be that because she is laying she could have become calcium defecient as a result of the calcium required to produce eggs. your best bet would be to see a vet, and in the mean while follow the advice previously given by some of the other members. hopefully this is early on, or just a temporary thing, and hopefully the vet will be able to help you find out what is wrong.

good luck, Andrew Ellis

I would take her out of breeding immediatly. It sounds like she has "crashed" you need to give her tons of calcium. You can bring her to the vet and ask them to give her a calcium shot. Dust everything in Calcium and multivitamins. I would even leave a shallow dish of just calcium in the cage.

If you do bring her to the vet "HAVE A PLAN" don't ask them to do a physical because they don't know what to do, I learned this the hard way and had to fork over $40 just so he could say "yeah its a gecko" and this was a reptile vet.

Derek
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Derek Dunlop
DDReptiles
http://www.freewebs.com/ddreptiles/index.htm

You are right about vets taking your money for nothing... sad thing is, around here you can't touch a herp vet for under $50. The last one I saw told me "you should read this book and treat your animals from home".

I do happen to be in luck this time though, I work for a dog/cat clinic, and we just hired a new vet straight out of school. He did some extensive courses on reptiles. I just got off the phone with him, and he's going to get some things ready for me. I'm also going to pick up a UVB light while I'm out. I really don't want to lose her. I feel like such an a** for not seeing this problem sooner. My other breeding females are doing great. I think I'm going to be paranoid for a long time though. I had horrible nightmares last night about my herps. I'm kicking myself so hard. I really thought I was doing everything right.

I will keep you all updated.

Thanks for all the replies.

Regards,
Hailey

I hope she gets better soon.

I totally understand how you feel. I keep asking myself if I had handled Syth more, would I of noticed the lump sooner.

I sucks, but these things happen.

Best of luck to you.
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~Kimmy
Mom to a young Crested Gecko named Syth

keep in mind that owning reptiles is always going to be a learning experience, and sometimes the learning still wont help you prevent certain things from happening. both of you guys are doing what it sounds like the rest of us would do. sometimes u just cant see things coming, and the actions you take to compensate for a sick animal are what make u a better owner.
none of us are clairvoiant. it sounds like syth developed his absess very rapidly. you were able to find it reasonably quickly and did what you could. as others have said, im sorry that he did not make it. as for this female with the possible calcium deficiency, during breeding season, this is the kind of thing that could just sneak up on you. i wish u luck with her, and hopefully your vet is able to help you.

i wish the both of u the best with your current and/or future reptiles. keep us posted on your female.

Andrew Ellis

n/p
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Derek Dunlop
DDReptiles
http://www.freewebs.com/ddreptiles/index.htm

In general, no, but in her case I'm being told, yes. The following was taken from a UV light info page,
"UVB wavelength prevents and can help reverse Metabolic Bone Disease in captive reptiles. Additionally, UVB will strengthen reptile bones and improve shell growth on all captive turtles and tortoises. UVA wavelength increases appetite, activity and helps induce reproductive behavior in captive reptiles".

i would agree, the light will likely help. get some calcium in that gecko and you should see some dramatic changes over the next couple of days. i had this happen to one of my orange females a few months ago and she is doing great now and laying perfectly calcified eggs now thanks to a couple of extra precautions.

Thanks Andrew.

At first I didn't want another gecko at all, but now, after some time, I'm sure I'll be willing to give it another go.
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~Kimmy
Mom to a young Crested Gecko named Syth

I went to my vet today. He sent me out with 2 calcium injects. One tonight, one in the a.m.

I am waiting until later to disturb her. Bad things happened yesterday when I awoke her. I do not want a repeat. She;'s still trembling in her limbs, but her breathing patterns are stable.

I will get her set up in a hospice tank tonight. I've purchased a UVA/UVB bulb. Only time will tell...

Thanks guys!

n/p
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Derek Dunlop
DDReptiles
http://www.freewebs.com/ddreptiles/index.htm

Gave her the first calcium inject last night and the seizures stopped right away. She looks really good today - alert with no lethargy.

Thank you all so much! I know I'm not out of the woods with her on this one, but so far so good.

THANK YOU!

That is so wonderful to hear!
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~Kimmy
Mom to a young Crested Gecko named Syth