Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Jackie]

I was asked by the shop where we get our livefood from if I knew what was wrong with a Crested gecko they had in. She was a tiny, immature female who had been in with a mature male for about three months (they had only been in the shop for a few days and she had laid one egg in that time). I took her out of the viv to find she was suffering with severe calcium deficiency. Her whole body was trembling, her rear legs were swollen to twice the normal size and she could not support the weight of her head, nevermind her legs. I couldn't believe the state she was in. I took her home with me and just hoped for the best (this was in November of last year).

Initally she couldn't lick any food off a spoon so I had to syringe feed her. She would eat about .2 of a ml every couple of hours. I provided her with water the same way. (All food and water was well supplemented and she had a three injection course of calcium.) This went on for about a month until eventually she started licking the food herself. Over the coming months she started to get stronger so I introduced live foods back into her diet. I was overjoyed when she managed to catch a cricket three months later.

She is now in a small set-up with a some branches and is getting about with little problems now. Her jaw still looks quite odd but (touch wood) her other joints appear to have recovered. She now feeds on her own and is a lovely little thing. She's still very small and weighs around 29 grams (my other two females weigh 52 and 50 grams).

I was never going to get any more Cresteds but I couldn't leave her in the shop. I don't think she could ever be bred from as she is so small.

My reason for posting this is to show the harm that can be done from trying to breed Cresteds too soon. The shop explained they had bought them as a breeding pair, and the previous owner said he had 'loads of babies from them'. I was so angry. A little bit of research would have gone a long way. She is a lovely female and would've produced beautiful babies when she was at the appropriate age and weight (she was 26 grams). It seemed to me the owners were too impatient to wait.







Images of her a couple of nights ago:










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Best wishes, Jackie

3:4 Eublepharis macularius
1:0 Gekko gecko
3:4:1 R. auriculatus
1:3 R. ciliatus
1:1 R. chahoua
1:1 R. leachianus henkeli

[Paulk]

What great looking critters, where can I get some?
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Beardies are the way!

Wish I were an invert!

[ben_gecko]

well done though, thats a real sign of a keeper that cares! you should be proud, she looks great, ive had my fair share of animals that have been mistreated in loadsa different ways, and sometimes you just cant save them,but when you do, its a real sense of achievment isnt it.
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[3.2.6 R.Ciliatus|1.4.7 R.Auriculatus
|1.0 R.Leachianus
[1.1 O.Monilis|1.0 Rhampoleon Brevicaudatus

[Geordiegirl]

It's such a shame that she was treated that way. Thankfully she was lucky enough to land on her feet with you.
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[grink dude]

that was a very good thing thast you have done to this poor crestie. that earns you some brownie points
she is looking very nice and podgy now. good job
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Steph

[kroakykaren]

Jackie she looks adorable, well done you
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[Ally]

Aww, you mush be so pleased to see her so chubby after all you've both been through!

[Scott W]

That's one stunning crested Jackie, well done for taking it on and pulling her through it.

I would say one thing though, I don't agree totally with the blame being on 'trying to breed them to soon'.

Crested geckos in the wild don't run around with little chastity belts on waiting for them to become 'legal' before laying eggs. They mate and breed when their bodies tell them they are ready/able to produce viable eggs.

Now you could say that these are NOT in the wild and the female couldn't escape the male and therefore was forced into breeding but that wouldn't explain why I don't get this problem at all?

All my cresteds are reared in groups of mixed sexes, with the excess males gradually being sold off until I end up with a group of 1 or 2 males with 8 females. Why aren't my young females that are free to breed from the minute they hatch not dying or suffering from MBD crashes?

I have reared close to 200 females by this method. I have lost just 1 female to a calcium crash but she was already a large breeding female that I bought in from Canada.

I believe that a poor diet and set up is what causes these problems NOT mother natures own design.

Comments/discussions welcome
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[PaulG]

I read through your post Scott and then started reading through it again but then I realised it had been posted twice.
Nice crestie Jackie.
It probebly just didnt have the correct diet because as scott says there isn't anything wrong with his because he supliments them correctly and he has been for all his time with cresties obviously.
Paul.
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Regards, Paul.

:.Rhacodactylus.:.Eublepharis.:.Stenodactylus.:.Nephrurus.:

[Scott W]