Gecko Death Question.

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callith

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As some of you may be aware my clone gecko died on the weekend. it was in the process of shedding and when i checked on her on saturday morning her jaw appeared locked open but on closer inspection it appeared as though her bottom jaw was broken. I was just wondering if something like this has ever happened to anyone else? There was no other gecko in the tank, there is nothing that could have fallen on her, the tank was heated and the sustrate was sand.

Cheers Thomas!!!
 

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mmm, calcium absorption is related to a heating / food balance, some of these little fast growing geckoes need alot of food when heated at a good temp. I feed every day, making sure there is always food on hand.
 
mmm, calcium absorption is related to a heating / food balance, some of these little fast growing geckoes need alot of food when heated at a good temp. I feed every day, making sure there is always food on hand.

I always had feed up to her, cant remember a day when i didn't feed her
 
As I said, I'm only guessing from the lower jaw and the sudden death.. it may of been something else, I have heard of other clones dieing suddenly, so somethings a miss ???
 
As I said, I'm only guessing from the lower jaw and the sudden death.. it may of been something else, I have heard of other clones dieing suddenly, so somethings a miss ???

i was talking to one on my mates and we were speculating, what do you think the chances of something like an asian house gecko getting in and doing it or would it have eaten it was well??
 
I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, Thomas.

If you were feeding every day it's not going to have been a starvation issue. The clones are very tolerant of fasting and will be fine for a week or two without anything to eat.

Since you haven't mentioned anything, I'm assuming she was fine until she suddenly and unexpectedly died.

The jaw certainly does seem to indicate a problem. With a jaw like that I imagine she'd have trouble feeding. She does look skinny, and if she was getting enough food this possibly indicates that she was kept very dry, although they're very tolerant of dry conditions. Were you spraying her enclosure? How often? (This is unlikely to be the issue, especially given that jaw, but it's good to rule things out).

The jaw really does seem unusual, and I'd be guessing that it's either a physical injury (was the enclosure open-topped? Could a mouse or something have got in?) or a calcium deficiency as others have guessed. They don't seem to need a heck of a lot of calcium and I suspect you'd get away with only dusting one in every five or ten meals (although I dust every meal and recommend everyone does the same, just for good measure). I very much doubt the strange jaw is unrelated to the death. When geckoes die of any health issue it's common for it to happen during sloughing. The sloughing process is a bit of a challenge and requires a bit of energy expenditure. Normally it isn't an issue, but if the lizard is slowly getting to the point of death, the slough is likely to be the time it'll happen, so the slough likely wasn't related to the death. Your lizard certainly doesn't seem to have had a bad enough slough for it to be a significant problem.

If you've been giving her calcium supplements and she had been feeding up until she died, I really can't help but lean towards suspecting a mechanical injury from some source. I've seen a small number of geckoes with calcium deficiencies, and to have such a severe jaw issue with no other problems seems unlike what I'm familiar with. I've never seen calcium deficiency in a Clone Gecko, so what I've seen may not be relevant, but the problems have been in the legs. I've seen a lot of calcium issues in dragons (including one I raised myself many years ago - the only calcium-related issue I've ever personally had with reptile) and often these include jaw issues, but I haven't seen anything like yours. It looks mechanical.

I've sold out of clones for the season, but get in touch around November and we'll see what we can work out.
 
I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, Thomas.

If you were feeding every day it's not going to have been a starvation issue. The clones are very tolerant of fasting and will be fine for a week or two without anything to eat.

Since you haven't mentioned anything, I'm assuming she was fine until she suddenly and unexpectedly died.

The jaw certainly does seem to indicate a problem. With a jaw like that I imagine she'd have trouble feeding. She does look skinny, and if she was getting enough food this possibly indicates that she was kept very dry, although they're very tolerant of dry conditions. Were you spraying her enclosure? How often? (This is unlikely to be the issue, especially given that jaw, but it's good to rule things out).

The jaw really does seem unusual, and I'd be guessing that it's either a physical injury (was the enclosure open-topped? Could a mouse or something have got in?) or a calcium deficiency as others have guessed. They don't seem to need a heck of a lot of calcium and I suspect you'd get away with only dusting one in every five or ten meals (although I dust every meal and recommend everyone does the same, just for good measure). I very much doubt the strange jaw is unrelated to the death. When geckoes die of any health issue it's common for it to happen during sloughing. The sloughing process is a bit of a challenge and requires a bit of energy expenditure. Normally it isn't an issue, but if the lizard is slowly getting to the point of death, the slough is likely to be the time it'll happen, so the slough likely wasn't related to the death. Your lizard certainly doesn't seem to have had a bad enough slough for it to be a significant problem.

If you've been giving her calcium supplements and she had been feeding up until she died, I really can't help but lean towards suspecting a mechanical injury from some source. I've seen a small number of geckoes with calcium deficiencies, and to have such a severe jaw issue with no other problems seems unlike what I'm familiar with. I've never seen calcium deficiency in a Clone Gecko, so what I've seen may not be relevant, but the problems have been in the legs. I've seen a lot of calcium issues in dragons (including one I raised myself many years ago - the only calcium-related issue I've ever personally had with reptile) and often these include jaw issues, but I haven't seen anything like yours. It looks mechanical.

I've sold out of clones for the season, but get in touch around November and we'll see what we can work out.

Thanks, i sprayed her enclousre every day or two days and she is in a two foot fish tank with a hood on and there is a small gap at the back of the hood and it is possible that a mouse or something else could have got in but i cant see any footprints in the sand. Thank you heaps for your advice etc and i will get in contact later this year.
 
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