Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have this little female that has head tilt issues. It seems to throw off her balance also. Could anyone out there enlighten me?
Thanks,
Brian

I don't have an answer for you, but I have a female with the same symptoms. She was adopted out to me from a retail pet store last year. The employee told me that they had even taken her to the "vet" and the vet said that she was born missing a vertebrae....yeah whatever..

It almost seems psychological and it was really bad when she was younger! If I went to handle her, she would roll around in all directions. But when she would calm down, she wasn't that bad. She was able to hunt crickets easily and didn't have a problem getting to the food dish.

Now that she is an adult, she is not nearly as bad as she was and she is not as spastic and disoriented-ish when handling either. Watching her hunt or move about, it is hardley noticable to me and not noticed by anyone who doesn't know that something is wrong with her. She composes herself well!

To take a stab at it though, I believe she was born like this. I recieved her when she was super small, not much bigger than my month old hatchlings. I often wonder if she wasn't the last egg laid by a female whose calcium levels weren't up to par. Maybe it was something that happened to her in incubation like fluctuating temps. I dunno.

All the same, she is a stunning pet and I will always have her!

Severa

Correction...I meant to say Neurological as appose to psychological.

Severa

Thanks for the insight. She is healthy and can eat just fine. Just has the head thing going on.

Everything I have ever found related to this points to a form of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). Make sure your gecko is getting enough calcium. It will not allow her to make a full recovery but it will prevent it from getting worse. Like I said earlier, mine actually got alot better but there is a subtle tilt.

Severa

I just got her and I am doing everything in my power to correct this problem.