# HELP. Crested gecko emergency!



## NOM<3gecko (Feb 7, 2011)

Hi, well I've had my gecko (oscar, 1 year old) for about 2 months now and at the beginning he was fussy with his food, not eating his fruit&CGD or the crickets. I thought this was the usual settling in period. But he's still acting the same, not very energetic, hardly eats his fruit and CGD and never eats his crickets. I also think he's not been drinking because you can tell from the quality of his skin that he is dehydrated. I'm in panic mode atm because he is my first reptile and I'm not 100% sure how to deal with it.

I would appreciate any advice!!!

Thank you


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

how often do you spray his viv?
and has he got a uv light?
what cgd are you using?
or do you use a vitamin power on his live food?


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

pigglywiggly said:


> how often do you spray his viv?
> and has he got a uv light?
> what cgd are you using?
> or do you use a vitamin power on his live food?


Same as above. Also do you know if the cgd is the same as what he ate with his last owner?


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## GlassWalker (Jun 15, 2011)

In addition to above, what's the temperature like? What's the tank like generally?


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## NOM<3gecko (Feb 7, 2011)

Right, well I was told to spray him heavily once a day but I've increased that to twice heavily since I noticed his dehydration. He does have a bowl of water as well. 

He has a 25W day glo bulb which i was told was safe for them, but now i'm thinking a heat mat may improve things? 

He's currently on Komodo Premium Complete CGD, he was definitely on this with his last owner, they said he'd been eating it fine, is there a possibility it's the food? I do dust the crickets in calcium, but they've grown quite big atm and so not sure if their safe to feed him because i know they can't be wider than his mouth...

Well the temperature is usually around 22 degrees in the day (which i know is a little low but I was in a struggle because i couldn't get a stronger W bulb otherwise it would burn him) and around 17-19 degrees at night. The tank in general concerns me slightly because i have noticed a lot of mould at the bottom of the tank and on his wood branches, but they've all been treated so i didnt know why this was happening, i did post about this before but everyone seemed to think it was pretty normal :-/ 

hope these answers can help with a conclusion!

Thank you very much


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## luvlylillaurz (Jul 22, 2011)

Have you got a hygrometer in the viv to check the humidity? It depends what set up he has, but if I sprayed mine twice daily they would mould very quick. You need to spray, let it dry out thoroughly and then spray again. 

Those temps are fine in my opinion especially during winter. 

None of my cresties will touch the komodo diet, however if he is usually eating it then it should be fine. IMO I'd leave off crickets and fruit for the time being and try to get him eating his diet. You can always try hand feeding if you really need to get food into him. A lot of my guy have gone off their food atm but I think its due to the cold.

Have you been regularly weighing him? If so it can help you tell if he is eating and you just don't notice it. 

I know it sounds silly but are you sure his skin isn't just him coming up to a shed? They go very wrinkly when shedding. 

Hope that helps!
Laura


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

the crickets sound too big, you want ones that are no bigger than the distance between his eyes, and brown ones are better than black.

it would be better to dust some vitamin opowder on them too, nutrobal is good.

how big is he? an adult or a juvenile? how have you get the viv set up? any substrate on the floor?

have you seen any poop at all?

if he isnt eating the komodo ( not many do ) you can try putting a bit of honey in with it, and/or a bit of pureed fruit to make it sweet and tempt him. no citrus or banana though.

i wouldnt hand feed him as it will be stressful and you could block his nostrils

his he still sticky and walking ok? can you get a photo of him at all, i`m wondering if he has `baggy` legs/joints


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## Ba55ca5e (Jul 16, 2011)

just out of curiousity what would 'baggy' legs, joints mean?


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2011)

Are you sure they're not eating the crested gecko diet? I have a youngster (3 months old) and I ensure that clarks crested gecko diet is available at all times. Thing is, I can never tell if he's eaten it due to the tiny portions they consume. If I were you I'd just monitor the weight of the gecko once a week, ensuring its humid enough and it has access to water to control the dehydration problems. Also try ensuring the substrate (even if its just tissue paper) is constantly damp as this will help with humidity. Using damp substrate also makes it easy to tell if you have humidity problems as the gecko will stick close to it all of the time if its not quite humid enough.

All live food should be dusted in one way or another, usually nutrobal once a week, and calcium the other times. If you're using a good gecko diet (I'd recommend clarks simply because it was recommended to me) then that should supply all of the nutritional requirements of the gecko.

Dan


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## Ba55ca5e (Jul 16, 2011)

i always have cgd (repashys) available to my cresty and to monitor i put some in a milk bottle top, but i put a rather thin layer in the bottle top. this way if he does have some you can clearly see it has been licked up. I also have a couple of feeding points. generally one on the floor and one up high. I just moved my cresty into a 45x45x60 and until he began to feed again i had three feeding points to make sure he could find the food.


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

Ba55ca5e said:


> just out of curiousity what would 'baggy' legs, joints mean?


the legs get swollen and baggy when its the start of mbd.
as well as shedding problems and difficulty moving, hopping and sticking to the glass.

it seems to happen quite a lot with cresties, especially if their live food isnt dusted and/or the cgd is mixed with fruit etc


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