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Underbite

cryptly

cryptly

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The other night while I was cleaning Enigma's (my petstore gecko) enclosure, I notice the little one seems to have an underbite. Never noticed this before (probably because before the other night the little one wouldn't hold still for very long when held). . .is it something I should worry about? Is this a birth defect?

Picture106.jpg
 
Underbites/overbites may be genetic, or could be caused by somthing congenital, like incubation temp fluctuations or poor calcium absorption that could contrubute to the jaws growing at a faster/slower rate than the other.

I sure hope it's not genetic, because my $1,500 male Mack Super Snow has an underbite, too!
 
I haven't noticed it with my leo hatchlings, but a couple of my fat tails seemed to have it in the first week or so of life, then it just went away! I have seen some pictures though of some VERY extreme underbites, usually in those cases there is an accompanying deformity, eye size, skull shape etc.
 
I hope it's not genetic, then you can breed your little Mack Super Snow. :)

If Enigma has a problem absorbing calcium, would there be other signs besides the underbite? I haven't noticed any signs of a calcium deficiency, and other than the underbite Enigma looks (and acts) perfectly healthy.

I hope Enigma will grow out of the underbite, if not, I hope it doesn't get worse.
 
I can't be positive because I am no expert but my guess would be MBD (metabolic bone diease) Maybe different for leopard geckos but I now that an underbite is a sign of MBD for iguanas.
 
I wouldn't guess MBD just yet, in leopard geckos a more obvious sign on MBD is rubbery legs and swollen joints. Specially in the front legs... I KNOW in the fatties that displayed a slight underbite, which again dissappeared when they grew, it was not MBD.

I would be much more inclined to think an incubation problem with temp flucuations. But again, I am no expert either!
 
Enigma isn't showing any signs of MBD, but I will keep an eye out for it.

I hope that the underbite stays slight. . .my paranoid mind keeps picturing the underbite getting worse, to the point where it will interfere with eating. :eek2:

Yea, I'm one of those people that worries waaaaay too much over the health of pets.
 
As Cory said, we had some fattail juvies with underbites to begin with. They seemed to "grow into" them, and had absolutely no problems with eating. I'd be willing to bet it gets smaller as she gets older, and disappears in a couple of months.
 
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