Baby Deformity?

[Keira]

I have a six month old leopard gecko who has just reached three inches in lengh. She was born with a gimpy leg, a curled up tail, and a large growth on the top of her head. Her eyes are also smaller than normal and it took her a while to open them. I have been working on her leg since she was born and Im happy to say its almost normal now and she only walks with a slight limp. We all had to evacuate the house last month due to a gas leak and ahe was so stressed out, she dropped her tail. I was really worried about her because last year I had a baby, bigger than her, die like that. She managed to pull through and now has a nice little plump tail that doesnt get in her way anymore. her back is a bit curved and it seems to be getting worse. Has anyone ever heard of a gecko with these birth defects? What should I do about her stunted growth and scoliosis? I give her calcium powder and she eats as much as her perfectly normal twin. Will she have a normal life span? Im really worried about her. Thank you.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

This is a very sad situation. Where did you get her?

 

[Keith N]

Sometimes keeping an animal alive prolongs the injury and problems, it will still always be there. Have you taken it to a vet?

 

[acpart]

Some geckos don't metabolize calcium well, so no matter how well you supplement there amy always be an element of MBD. There are different opinions about what to do with geckos with deformities, as you will see if you do a search. In my opinion, if you're willing to keep and care for such a gecko and not breed it, and if you're willing to have it put down if it appears to be suffering or declining, then go for it.

Aliza

 

[JordanAng420]

I agree with aliza. To add to that, there is really nothing much you can do for "scoliosis" or any kind of spinal deformities...surgery or any diagnostics more invasive than xrays are compleatly unrealistic for a leopard gecko, and good luck finding a vet that versed in reptilian medicine. In my opinion, this poor gecko should have been culled at birth.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I agree with aliza. To add to that, there is really nothing much you can do for "scoliosis" or any kind of spinal deformities...surgery or any diagnostics more invasive than xrays are compleatly unrealistic for a leopard gecko, and good luck finding a vet that versed in reptilian medicine. In my opinion, this poor gecko should have been culled at birth.

May sound cruel but I agree. But like Aliza said, if you're willing to put the time and extra effort into a leo with deformaties and be prepared to have to euth if he start suffering then it really is up to you. In this situation you really need to consider QUALITY of life over quantity, and put his well being and suffering ahead of your own desires to keep him with you.

 

[Keira]

I hatched her myself and she doesn't ever apear to be in pain. Shes just little and looks wierd. But Im worried about her. I havent been able to find a vet so I've just been taking it on a day to day basis with her.

 

[Keira]

I dont want to put her down. She deserves a life too.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Responsible breeders cull genetically defective animals shortly after hatching.... That said, there really isn't anything you can do but keep her comfortable. Deformed animals do not survive in the wild as they are not strong enough. It's not likely for her to have a normal lifespan in captivity and will be susceptable to issues that would be minor in a healthy animal.

 

[Keith N]

The question is how do you know it is not in pain? Just because it is walking doesn't mean it a o.k. You need to cull it without question.

 

[acpart]

I don't think you can know for certain whether there is pain or not, however, I have seen in some of my ill geckos what I'd consider a "pain posture" --back arched up and not moving much. Once again, at the risk of getting into a culling debate, I think that if the breeder is planning to keep this animal herself and not sell it to an unsuspecting buyer (which she is clearly not going to do), feels that the gecko is not suffering unduly and wants to maintain it, it's her affair. Of course, if the breeder is inclined to cull, this is definitely a candidate.

Aliza

 

[Keith N]

Then what advice should we give?

 

[acpart]

Then what advice should we give?

Here's my opinion about what advice to give: as long as the husbandry is correct there's probably nothing more to do. If the owner feels it's worth it to continue working with it and it seems to be doing reasonably well, then she should continue. If at any time she feels the gecko is declining, suffering or not improving and she's concerned, she should either cull it herself or take it to the vet for it to be put down.

It really comes down to what she wants to do. Two years ago I produced a gecko with multiple congenital anomalies. When it was still newly hatched, I needed to go away on a short trip and (not having decided what to do) I asked my gecko feeder to keep this one in her home since she needed more care than a quick visit every few days. When I got back, she decided she wanted to keep it. It remained small and very dependent for all its functions and it lived for 13 months. The person who kept it felt that it was a positive experience for both her and the gecko (to whatever extent you can interpret how positive an experience a gecko is having). If you're interested in more details, I wrote an article for Gecko Time about it: http://www.geckotime.com/sela-a-story-of-a-special-needs-gecko/

Aliza

 

[Jordan]

Hey, interesting thread.
I think without causing any arguments it needs to be culled, that way there is no risk of suffering and no risk of it being bred. So the culling would be a positive thing.
If it is culled and it was living a normal life, then, well, without sounding horrible and heartless, its not the end of the world. And we wouldnt know.
The saying 'better safe than sorry' comes to mind. It better to put it out its suffering then assume there is no suffering.
Sorry, to the OP.
Always a sad and debatable topic.

 

[Keith N]

Hey, interesting thread.
I think without causing any arguments it needs to be culled, that way there is no risk of suffering and no risk of it being bred. So the culling would be a positive thing.
If it is culled and it was living a normal life, then, well, without sounding horrible and heartless, its not the end of the world. And we wouldnt know.
The saying 'better safe than sorry' comes to mind. It better to put it out its suffering then assume there is no suffering.
Sorry, to the OP.
Always a sad and debatable topic.

Exactly :main_yes:

 

[M_surinamensis]

I disagree with you Aliza, but I think by now you're well aware of why. So here's this instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gO7uemm6Yo

 

[acpart]

I've been wondering where you've been lately. I think we can agree to disagree on this one. Thanks for the vid --brought back old memories.

Aliza

 

[Keith N]

I think my point was when the breeder hatched it there was a decision to be made. If there was a thought of keeping then research should have been done prior to keeping. I do believe with a little bit of searching they would have seen you are a proponet of keeping some of these alive and could have emailed to research. There are some people on here that just think you can throw a male and female together and everything will be o. K and every hatchling is perfect. Then when they have not properly set up an incubator in anticipation of eggs the deformities show up and it goes on.

 

[acpart]

I do understand your point. I also find that sometimes a baby hatches and it's not clear what the outcome will be. I had that happen 3 times this season. One was a small baby who seemed to be doing OK for awhile but then stopped eating and died. Another was a gecko with eye issues where the problems did not improve but the gecko thrived and is now in the hands of a reptile rescue that does reptile shows with special needs reptiles for special need kids. With the third one, I initially thought there were eye issues, but she is fine.

I have seen situations here where it's pretty clear to me that the "breeder" did just as you said --didn't set up the incubator properly, etc. and met with disaster. However, I have also had some deformed geckos hatched during the past 6 seasons after taking great care with my temps, so it's impossible to know what the circumstances were for this poster without more info.

Aliza

 

[fl_orchidslave]

I think with a small number of animals, a person can adequately care for a severe deformity, and learn. It's part of becoming experienced. What to do and not to do in the future should the situation ever arise again. As we grow, we become less tolerant of some situations we know to be nothing but trouble down the road, so we nip it (in the bud).