Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I strongly strongly suspect that I have a blind crested gecko. Reasons:

1)His pupils aren't effected by light and dark...they just stay little slits...they don't expand at all

2)I've offered him live prey for the past week(He's been on the crested gecko diet for the past few months), he hasn't touched it...I've even offered WAXWORMS for 3 days.

3)He doesn't bite me when I wiggle my fingers in front of his head.

4)Very clumsy...lands awkwardly

5)Even before I put him on the CGD, he always had a tough time catching prey, he would miss...even when I fed him from a bowl.

6)Gets confused when his food is placed somewhere else.

So..what do I do with my possibly blind crested gecko? I'm keeping him of course, but do I need to give him any special care? I've been misting him 2x a day for water, do I give him a bowl?
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Don't worry I'll catch you...

Nothing's going to change the world.

Is this what you call tact?
I swear you're as subtle as a brick in the small of my back.

It's times like these where silence means everything.

Everyone's caught onto everything you do.

While something like this is bound to happen with the increase in popularity for crested geckos and the inevitability of inbreeding for color, I think you might just be an over worried owner .

1) Try taking your gecko out at night with the lights off and check the size of the pupil, then flick the lights on. See if you can catch the adjustment. If he was blind I would imagine they would be dilated not slits, but not sure on that one. Anyway check them again.

2) If he has been on the CGD it is not surprising he is not taking live prey. Very hard to get rhacs off all fruit diets once they are on them, they have major sweet tooth’s…lol. Cresteds also are not fans of mealworms or waxworms to begin with, so again it’s a normal thing for him to show any interest.

3) They don’t really bite, very uncommon.

4) Crested geckos being pretty heavy bodied are not the most graceful of creatures. So it’s common to hear bumps and thuds as they move around their cages at nite.

5) Some individuals are more skilled then others when it comes to catching prey.

6) Reptiles are creatures of habit they get stressed if things are moved around to much such as cage furniture. So placing his food in completely different areas nightly could have the same effect.

Now I am not saying your gecko is or is not blind, it is impossible to tell without seeing the animal who knows it could even be do to something else (MBD). But I am pretty confidant he is fine. Just keep giving him the CGD if that’s what he wants and keep it in the same place every night. Even if he can’t see he should be able to locate it by scent. If he still is not eating and it really appears he his blind after taking a second look you might need to hand feed him using a spoon by placing the mix up to his snout so he can lap from it. Best of Luck.
-Mike

His pupils responded! Very slowly, but it did respond, maybe he's just slow on that or something.

On the subject of biting...He does usually bite. Both of my crested geckos have always bitten me. It doesn't hurt, it's just very annoying. My female is especially moody. She's actually latched onto my pinkie once and was hanging off for a while before I pried her off.

Well I hope he was being a brat about not eating live prey. Thanks for the help...I just get worried about him sometimes because he almost never comes out and I don't handle him much due to his jumpiness and his tendency to bite and poop on me.
-----
Don't worry I'll catch you...

Nothing's going to change the world.

Is this what you call tact?
I swear you're as subtle as a brick in the small of my back.

It's times like these where silence means everything.

Everyone's caught onto everything you do.