CRESTED GECKO DIED :(

[moonlitgecko]

Hello,

I came home to find my crested gecko dead today. I fed her well. I held her often as well. Since she died, I am curious to know if me holding her often had anything to do with it. She always seemed fine, she never seemed scared in fact she was most explorative when I held her. I did notice that she started to move less and less but I thought it was her shedding.I also noticed she would be incredibly still and eat less when she shed but everything I read said it was normal. I did notice that this Saturday I took her out to clean her cage and out of nowhere she got so incredibly stiff I thought she died then. I saw her heart beating and I put her in water and slowly she began moving. It happened again last night when I checked on her she was stiff and I could flip her on her back and she would not move. I also notice stuck shed on her toes so I removed it and then she was stiffer. I want to know what the problem was. I took exceptional care, I fed her meal worms, crickets and repashy. I misted her cage. She had branches from the desert to climb on. Paper towel substrate then I switched it to calcium carbonate sand this morning, and I came home and she was limp upside down. I'd love to know what I did wrong when I felt like I did everything right.

[Treebiscuit]

First of all, I'm sorry for your loss. It sounds like you did everything right. Sometimes animals die for reasons beyond our control and this sounds like one of those times.

One of my crested geckos died two years ago. One morning I looked in on her and she was looking pale and lethargic -- definitely not her normal self. When reptiles show any sign of distress it is likely serious, so I found a vet and took her in within about two hours, but by the time I got there, she had died. I had the vet do a necropsy on her to see why she died. It turns out to be a freak accident -- one of her ovaries had ruptured and she died of internal bleeding. It could have been caused by a fall or could have happened out of nowhere.

It doesn't sound like your gecko had the same issue but it is likewise something that you probably would not have been able to prevent, especially now, when vet care is so hard to get.

Take it easy on yourself.

[TAD]

I agree, things happen, and I doubt that your handling had anything to do with it. A necropsy would be the only way you could find out for sure what caused it.

I will say though, if you get another gecko - DON'T use calci-sand. It's real easy for a gecko to get impacted on calci-sand, but it doesn't sound like you had it in there long enough for this to be the cause of death for your gecko. I would also suggest not feeding mealworms. Though some geckos do fine with them, they have a rather hard exo-skeleton, and can be a bit hard to digest. Stick with dubias, crickets, superworms, and an occasional waxworm as better alternatives for live feeders.

I'm sorry for the loss of your gecko. I hope it won't stop you from loving another.

[jane477]

I agree, things happen, and I doubt that your handling had anything to do with it. A necropsy would be the only way you could find out for sure what caused it.

I will say though, if you get another gecko - DON'T use calci-sand. It's real easy for a gecko to get impacted on calci-sand, but it doesn't sound like you had it in there long enough for this to be the cause of death for your gecko https://prohighgrades.com/case-converter. I would also suggest not feeding mealworms. Though some geckos do fine with them, they have a rather hard exo-skeleton, and can be a bit hard to digest. Stick with dubias, crickets, superworms, and an occasional waxworm as better alternatives for live feeders.

I'm sorry for the loss of your gecko. I hope it won't stop you from loving another.

Never thought the sand could case so much trouble

[JITISAWA]

I will say though, if you get another gecko - DON'T use calci-sand. It's real easy for a gecko to get impacted on calci-sand, but it doesn't sound like you had it in there long enough for this to be the cause of death for your gecko. I would also suggest not feeding mealworms. Though some geckos do fine with them, they have a rather hard exo-skeleton, and can be a bit hard to digest. Stick with dubias, crickets, superworms, and an occasional waxworm as better alternatives for live feeders. Tutuapp 9Apps ShowBox