:shock: My 1 year old crested gecko took a leap off my boyfriend shoulder and landed on the floor. It's carpeted but he's really tall. I'm concerned that she could have internal injuries. She ate after her fall which was yesterday, and ate today. She's acting normal. What symptoms should I look for or would she have acted hurt right away? Please someone answer quick, If I need to take her to a vet I'd rather do it sooner then later. Thanks
Crested geckos are relatively good at hiding symtoms and landing from tremendous hieghts without serious injury. It's hard to tell about any symptoms that can occur because if it's an internal one than than no symptoms or even cures may be made. As for the vet, it's always a good idea to take your pet to the vet after something dangerous happens. The only downside to a vet is that most likely it will be during the day and cresties are nocturnal. Another problem is stress and of corarse tail loss. While observing the animal, the vet must handle it in different posisions and this can scare the gecko and possibly make it drop it's tail. This risk lowers dramitically if the gecko is an adult but theres always a chance. Basically it's a win lose, lose lose, or win win situation. Your cresty could come out with no problem and tail intact or it could come out with the need for surgery and a tail gone. The best advice I can give you is to take the little girl to the vet and tell the vet to be extremely careful with it. Stress the fact that if the tail is dropped it can't grow back to him/her as much as possible. I hope this helps a little
Unless you see some indication of injury, I wouldn't waste the money on a vet trip. Cresties are extremely resilient and a jump like that is no different than hopping from a tree to avoid predation and landing on the forest floor. As long as all his limbs are functioning, there are no obvious deformations in his skeleton, and no unusual or bloody fecal deposits, he is more than likely fine. One thing I've learned from handling arboreal geckos is to always do as near to the floor as possible to avoid a gravity attack. C
This isn't much of a laughing matter if you ask me. It's possible that in the wild they jump from these heights but that doesn't mean that the lizard is nessesarily safe, and theres a difference between jumping fearfully without anticipating where to land and simply jumping from limb to limb. It could easily have a broken bone or some internal injusry but no one would know because I can almost garuntee thay none of us has been to New Caledonia and watched a crested gecko fall then take it to the vet to make sure nothing was wrong with it.
I wasn't joking about it...I asked for advise. I'm new to this and I need as much info as people would like to give me but I promise I won't come crying to you. I am still worried. She ate half of what she did yesterday. Yesterday she ate 5 crickets and about 1/2 teaspoon of babyfood. Today she ate 3 crickets and a few laps of babyfood. When she started lapping at the babyfood her tounge was pale pink and got bright pink after a few licks. Also...she looked almost like she was panting or breathing heavy for a min or two. Now she's breathing normal. Now she's starting to move around since it's night time.. I'm not discounting the vet yet but I'd also like some encouraging words. They were just trying to make me feel a little better...you have no idea how very important my pets are to me or how upset I am about what happened to her!
I was talking to Ceph cause she said lol. But I'm assuming that your cresty had cold babyfood? If it's too cold they get a bright red color on the tongue and may have to "breath it down" as i say because it's too cold. It probably had a very cold/painful feeling in its throat from cold babyfood if thats what you gave it. Kina like you putting an ice cube on your tooth except to them its their throat. I wouldn't worry a ton about the amount of food shes eating. That is, unless the crickets are extrememly small. Because three crickets and a 1/2 teaspoon of babyfood should be sufficient. If symptoms of pain, regurgitation, loss of appetite, or trouble moving I would make a vet appointment as soon as possible. Make sure if you do go to the vet, they know what they are doing and actully know about herps. And don't be afraid to stress the fact that they can drop the tail and it will not grown back if they do. I hope everything turns out ok for you. Even though cresties are built for jumping and climbing, doesn't mean that they are built for landing. As long as she stays active with no problems or symptoms and is eating normally, then she should be fine.
OK...thanks for the tip on the baby food. It was cold. I'll wait for it to hit room temp next time. I'm just really stressed with the 3rd hurricane bearring down on us. Not only am I worried about keeping the gecko cool and the beardie warm if we lose power but I have horses that I can't keep safe and sound inside with me. I just lost one (not hurricane related) and I couldn't bear the though of losing another! I'm from California, I'm used to the ground moving, not the sky!! I really appreciate everyones advise. It makes caring for them (the reptiles of course) much easier.
Your very welcome! If the tongue still turns red or brighter pink due to the babyfood It's normal. Iv'e rasied a few and all of them get that even if it's not cold. But when cold it tends to be brighter. Sorry to hear about the hurricanes and stuff, must really stink. I live in Ohio and the only thing to worry about here are tornados, which are very rare. If anything happens that is unusual or anything please post it!
