Help with baby crested gecko please...

Hey hows it going everyone. so I posted about this little geckoon the thread quick opinion please a couple threads down and its been growing more since then been doing fine and is a really aggressive hunter with small/medium crickets but today I think I put a little too large of a cricket in and the little guy ate it and after its back looked a little twisted and looked a little weird while it was walking. I dunno if it was just all scrunched up in the corner and was just kinda stiff or what but has anyone had their gecko just go from walking around ok and its spine looked fine the day before and then just look distorted and walking funny the next? Any advice would be appreciated please because my wife is really sad for it and I dunno really what to tell her. Ill post some pics tomorrow, i'm at work but hopefully it will look better by then.

Any pics? It could be a number of problems, if it's calcium related that could "appear" suddenly but a deficiency could have been occurring inside without visible signs for a while. Do you also feed Repashy Crested Gecko Diet? It's more of a staple for them (they are frugivores) than insects.

Sometimes they walk funny when they are about to shed and their skin is pulled tight across their body. A soak in lukewarm (not hot) water can help, but don't leave him unattended as he could drown.

Ya I can put a couple of pics of him up in a second I just didn't really reply back because nobody really answered so yeah.

Ok so here are some pics of the little one and its not that the gecko has a curve in its back but more of like a hump kinda look and maybe a little bit of a twist. Also this gecko is almost 3 months old and is already under the weight for its age, but it eats like a champ. I change their food every 2 days and mist them once or twice a day and it has a small water bowl for it to. I really wanna know if this looks like something that is beyond all hope or Isn't too bad and can be saved by more calcium or that super concentrated calcium stuff by Repashy. I have only held off on it mainly because I heard that it can be lethal if not measured exactly to proportion of weight and med mix? But any advice and tips for this little guy would be very appreciated from anyone who may have had this as well.

mialma09 said:

Ok so here are some pics of the little one and its not that the gecko has a curve in its back but more of like a hump kinda look and maybe a little bit of a twist. Also this gecko is almost 3 months old and is already under the weight for its age, but it eats like a champ. I change their food every 2 days and mist them once or twice a day and it has a small water bowl for it to. I really wanna know if this looks like something that is beyond all hope or Isn't too bad and can be saved by more calcium or that super concentrated calcium stuff by Repashy. I have only held off on it mainly because I heard that it can be lethal if not measured exactly to proportion of weight and med mix? But any advice and tips for this little guy would be very appreciated from anyone who may have had this as well.

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It looks like it's developed Metabolic Bone Disease, which is generally caused by not enough calcium in the diet, but can also be a congenital issue if the gecko just doesn't absorb calcium very well. Sometimes lack of calcium in the mother leaves the babies with little to fall back on to grow, and if they hit a growth spurt can have problems. You should take the little guy to a reptile vet to diagnose if it is, indeed, MBD and not something else. Sometimes OVER supplementation can cause similar side effects.

Are you sure you are feeding Repashy Crested Gecko diet? There are some other brands, and most are not as good even if they eat it well. I'd say it doesn't look underweight for its age, many do grow slowly. Also, be sure you are dusting the crickets, as if they are undusted and the gecko eats a lot at a young age that can easily contribute to a calcium deficiency, and thus MBD develops.

Looking at that last photo, his rear feet are also a bit malformed. I agree with Spyral, it could be MBD or birth defects. Neither can be reversed, but you can often slow or stop the progress of MBD if it's caught early enough. The jury is still out on whether they absorb 'excess' calcium, perhaps causing more harm than good, or whether the excess simply passes through them. You'll find good herp vets on both sides of the coin. Same with calcium injections. But the vet can xray the little guy and maybe determine the cause of the irregularities. You definitely don't want to breed him if it's congenital.

Noelle

Well that really sucks though. Ya I dont think I will be breeding this one at all. I took it by a buddy at LLL reptile who owned and bred crested gecko's and he kinda told me the same thing and asked how my husbandry was like feeding regimine and what not. And after I told him he said the only real explination could be congenital. But yeah I am using the real repashy CGD and I mix a little calcium plus with it. Only give him 2 or 3 crickets dusted a week and the rest I keep CGD in there. But I figure if I gave it back they would just put it down or something so imma just give it a good home.

I have 2 other gecko's as well just as long and give them the exact same schedule for feeding and misting I just didnt know what happened to this little one. Just kept getting a little worse at a time.