Female Crested Gecko

Question
QUESTION: I have 2 crested geckos that i got last june 1male and 1 female, these are my first. I have noticed that my female has got clumsy and is unable to stay on the leaves of the artificial plants that i have she also has tremours. I have read through some pages on the internet thats say its a calcium deficency, so i have been dusting the crickets more often than normal. Im wondering whether it could be due to her laying eggs  and if i should move her into a seperate vivarium as i do not know if she is feeding propperly. If you could give me any help it would be most appreciated. Adam

ANSWER: Hi Adam,

The situation has all the hallmarks of a calcium deficiency. Egg production can really predispose a female to that condition. Producing eggs shells uses an enormous amount of calcium that all comes from her body.

You can take a peek at the calcium stores (or lack of) in a crested by looking in the back of their mouths. This link includes a photo of calcium sacs.

http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/crested-gecko-care-sheet-en.html


In order to absorb calcium effectively it must be present in greater proportions then phosphorous, ideally a 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorous. Crickets and most other feeder insects are very high in phosphorous (and low in Cal) so dusting is necessary to bring the ratio back around in favour of calcium. Vitamin D3 is also necesscary for effective absorbtion of calcium from the gut. Without sufficient vitamin D3, calcium simply passes through the system. For those reasons a calcium supplement with no phosphorous and added vitamin D3 is recomended.

You didn't happen to  mention what the other part of her diet is, whether you are using a commericial crested food like Repashy or a fruit baby food mixture. You can add a small pinch of the supplement to that part of her diet as well, especially if her hunting ability is compromised.

I would recommend moving her to a smaller cage to remove any competition for food and reduce possible falls.

The condition is also called tetany. You can read a bit more about it here.

http://www.anapsid.org/tetany.html




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thankyou for your reply i have moved her to a smaller vivarium. I didnt find any eggs but i think she shed not long ago. Maybe the lamellae has been damaged when shed, the tremours have stopped but she is still finding climbing difficult. I have been using a lucky reptile fruit jam as a supplement but i will try the babyfood to see if that helps.

Answer
Hi Adam,

If she retained skin on her lamellae then it will cause the climbing difficulties that you described, but not the tremours. The inability to climb can really stress arboreal geckos.  

Soaking is really the only effective way to loosen the skin in that area once it has been retained. They usually don't like to soak willingly so placing them in a small, lidded (aerated) plastic container with just a half inch of water is the way to go. Let her stay in there for around 20 minutes. Gently rolling your thumb over the toe pads after soaking can sometimes help roll the old skin away.

It sounds like the fruit product you are using is formulated for fruit eating reptiles. There is no reason to think that the baby food would be superior to that, unless she is not taking the reptile jam. I kept cresties years ago before there were commercial diets available for them and supplemented baby food was the only option.