*warning* disfigured gecko

[monster]

i hope these photos are educational to some. my stomach is still turning a bit.
...not exactly eye candy...

last year i had spoken with the floor managers at my local PetCo about their diet of babyfood & crickets to the cresteds, and both times i was told they would leave a message with the reptile manager. i showed them how their crested geckos all had twisted spins and that it was NOT normal. finally in Feb i contacted the store manager because they were (and still are) feeding the same diet. one of the geckos from before was still available (quite bigger then the new ones now), his back was a solid S-shape. i was assured it was being "looked into" and the reptile manager would call me back...never happened.

today i went to my PetCo today for some crickets, on the way out i stoped for a look at the geckos. the person staffing the reptile section asked if i was "the girl with a ton of crested geckos." she asked if i would take the big one home because he was up for adoption, and the staff had been waiting for me to come back in (i'm famous?  ).

so here he is. he has two different colored eyes and i haven't put him on the scale yet, hes pretty freaked out from the ride home. i'll try and get a video posted showing how he jumps and walks, i can't tell if he's in pain or not. i'm going to let him settle this week before i begin poking at him.

[portal_reptiles]

almost looks like it hit its back might be  broken, and if it walks funny it could have, could have fell...but its hard to say...i have never seen anything like it in a gecko befor.....

[krazymuttzpuck]

awwwww...poor thing!

[firecrested]

That's sad.  Perfect example why not to feed baby food.  Have you tried contacting the Regional Animal Companion Coordinator for Petco?  I wrote to him about one of our stores about the cresteds high temps, no hides and feeding baby food & meal worms.  He met with me then went to check out the store.  Now they have a very small selection of reptiles:P  It turned out that he found problems with a lot of the other animals too.  He told me that it's Petco's policy to feed cgd and there shouldnt be baby food fed at all.

We were out of cgd at the one i work at & the manager said he would go to the grocery store & pick up baby food.  I told him about the problems it causes so he didnt get any.

[portal_reptiles]

the petco in my town feeds theirs diet food.....the girl thats takes care of them is also a local breeder too, so its not all petco's that feed baby food...to think about this is the first time i have heard this

[krazymuttzpuck]

im so outta the loop..i have never been to a damn petco....

[portal_reptiles]

im so outta the loop..i have never been to a damn petco....

your not missing much...i think i have more reptiles then they do...lol

[samanthajane13]

Julie-

MY GOD!!!!  What did those a$$es DO TO HIM?   

Poor baby...

Check your messages-I send you a couple of PMs.

Donna

[katatonia]

  That's terrible.

[KatiesCresteds]

Oh my, poor thing!!! 

[AMReptiles]

yikes! That poor baby, I hope it doesn't affect his quality of life  keep up updated on him for us!

[samanthajane13]

I think I'll be taking him in a couple of weeks.  Monster wants to get him stablized, and and I need to get the money to  ship him and get him a new tank.

I hope he switches over to the CGD with no problems.  I just picked up more supplies today, and when he gets here, I'm gonna start him on a weekly gut-loaded wax worm for a snack, just to pack as much calcium into him as I can.  I've got Jump-Start and Repta-Aid in case he needs it, too.

I'll be picking up a new 20 gallon high tank, screen lid and bag of moss for him.

[portal_reptiles]

in defence of petco, i asked the repytile guy about there crested's and i saw them feeding t-rex creted gecko food, and thats what i have seen them feed them for years now....they guy didnt know you counld feed baby food to them, which is good.....so it not all petco's that do that....thank god!!!

[markNcc]

Man, he would have been a nice looking crested if it wasn't for the twisted spine

You said you have seen it there for quite a while, right? It could be something genetic. Hopefully it doesn't know the difference.

PS. Have you thought about a name yet.......how about Gullum, or Smeagul........from The Lord of the Rings.....that was my first thought when i saw it, " that looks like Smeagul"

[samanthajane13]

He'll be winging his way to Buffalo, in a few weeks...

Katey and I are thinking Ice or Snow...or Sobe.

We're waiting forJulie to let usknow what he looks like when he's fired up.

[monster]

You said you have seen it there for quite a while, right? It could be something genetic. Hopefully it doesn't know the difference.

i saw him as a juvi, looked very normal. a couple months later two from that same batch were still there, him and another. both of their spins had begun to warp. someone bought the second guy and they continued bringing in new juvi's to house with him.

good new everyone! he's eating CGD like a champ 
still shy and nervous, he's exploring his tank and overall active.

He'll be winging his way to Buffalo, in a few weeks...

it's true, once he has a stable bill of healthhe'll be going home perminatly to Donna & Katie.

[samanthajane13]

Oh-Monster!!!

I'm sooo glad he's eating well-considering he'd been fed babyfood and crix before!!!! 

I found a little secret for getting them to eat if they're VERY picky.  When I mix up the CGD, I substitute pomegranate juice for half of the water for a couple of days.  It works EVERYTIME!!!  They love it!!!  And it's not nearly as sweet as the babyfood.  Then I  gradually switch to all water.  I've completely gotten rid of babyfood from the diet that way.

John said he'd hook me up with vet visits if we need them!!!  And he won't be doing any breeding unless the vet okays it-if he feels it's safe for him and not genetic.  But I'm not even putting any hope out for that-just by the look of him.

He'll be a spoiled, pampered PET crestie...NOT a stud.

How Popeye doing???  Have his arms ever gone back to normal at all???  Is he gonna be hitching a ride to Buffalo, too??

They're both more than welcome.  I've moved tanks around to make space for the 20 gallon high tank for the newbie, and I tipped the 29 gallon on end, in case Popeye comes along. 

Damn!!!  Now we're getting excited!!!

Hugs-
Donna & Katey

[nicolas du bois]

I got a male like that to
I was going to buy a nice healthy female by a breeder here in belgium and the told me he had a male that was also availeble and the male was just like urs
he said that he was going to breed him if no one did buy him
I said hell no so i bouth em...
now hes in its verry own terrarium with no other females so he will NEVER be bred.
like this, he is better off then giving unhealthy juvies isnt he ?
anyways love the color;)
keep up the good work

grts nicolas

[honuman]

I said hell no so i bouth em...
now hes in its verry own terrarium with no other females so he will NEVER be bred.
like this, he is better off then giving unhealthy juvies isnt he ?
anyways love the color;)
keep up the good work

grts nicolas

Nicolas -

It depends on the problem.  This appears to be dietary issue not a genetic one.  (although in this case since we don't know the whole history of this animal it is safer to avoid using it as a breeding animal)  If you know the history of animal and as long as the animal can be restored to good health (since it is not as calcium dependant as a female gecko would be) breeding him would most likely not be an issue.  His genes should be fine.  The only thing that might make me reconsider breeding an animal that has been through this is that he may be genetically predisposed to this sort of condition and pass that on to his offspring.

Guess I going around in circles here I just wanted to make the point that if this not a genetic condition it will not be passed on to the offspring.

[samanthajane13]

I'm just wondering if he could have had some kind of accident to be that twisted.  Maybe a fall-or maybe something fell on him and crushed and twisted him.

I'm sure the only way to know is an x-ray, but I wouldn't want to do that unless it became necessary.

I am going to take him to the vet for a check-up after he gets here and settles in.

[honuman]

This all looks like classic MBD really.  ALong with that bone breaks are very easily gotten so actually it could be a combination.   You know like they say about older folks.  They break their hip and fall. 

[samanthajane13]

"You know like they say about older folks.  They break their hip and fall. "

Yeah-MBD leading to osteoporosis...