Crested Geckos Losing Grip?

[LeoGirl575]

Hi. I have had my crested geckos for a couple months now, and they are 5 months old. I have noticed in the months that I have had them that they are losing their grip. They can't climb up my arm anymore without slipping, and can barely climb glass. They are growing a lot, eating CGD daily and crickets once every couple weeks, and pooping regularly.

What could be causing this?

Thanks in advance,
Stephanie

 

[Dog Shrink]

Maybe it's just a phase that they go thru when they're dveloping where the pads gotta catch up with the rest of the body's weight. I'm not sure hon, I don't have cresteds but just throwing the idea out there.

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thanks for the suggestion. Once crested gecko diet got on them, and stuck to their pads, so I had to soak them in water to get it off, but they were losing their grip before that too, so I'm not too sure. :/

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Have you closely examined their feet to check for any kind of discoloration, swelling, or sores?

 

[M_surinamensis]

What kind of substrate are you using, and have you got a powerful magnifying glass or a low-power microscope?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Not to hijack the thread but, I hope Santa brings me a microscope for Christmas

 

[LeoGirl575]

Yeah, their feet look perfectly normal, so I'm not sure what's going on... Is it possible that the hairs that make them stick can be ripped off if they accidentally handled too roughly? I handle them pretty gently, but I know that several times I had to pry them off of a surface as they were running away from me and about to get away.

 

[Dron2124]

have u gave them a bath? they mite have got some cgd on there feet or steaped on some thing to cover there feet a little?

 

[Daedric1]

There's at least a few things that can cause this, and from observation, I think it's mostly moisture related.

When the tank is more dry, they have more trouble gripping onto my hand, clothes, glass - you name it. When it is more humid after spraying at night or in the early morning their grip tends to be a lot better. This might be part of the problem if you've been handling them a lot during the day. If it's at night too, you might want to perform a heavier misting.

To compound this, it's winter now and our furnaces are running in many parts of the country/world, and thus dry the air out much more than during the other months of the year. To keep humidity up, I've had to increase the number of times per day I mist the tank as well as amount. The dryer air could be causing some problems that you see, as well.

Additionally, I've noticed they tend to lose more and more gripping power a day or two until they shed, when the skin is loose.

Finally, the glass can be harder and harder to climb when it builds up hard water marks/spots from spraying. They don't seem to be able to "stick" to the glass as well when it's spotty. Whenever I clean the glass, they're always back up scaling the walls within the same day.

Try a few of these things and your problem may be solved.

 

[Blacksupra94]

Your enclosure may not be humid enough. In the winter the air is much more dry so you need to mist the cage a lot in order to keep the humidity. My guy will not stick to glass when it's to dry...

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thanks! I solved the problem a little while ago! It was a mixture between most of the things you mentioned! They shed a week after I posted this thread, and had all of their grip back after, and also, like you said - they are a lot more sticky after I mist the tank.

Thanks for all the help.