Curious tail issue.. Need some info

[pmkent1]

So this little guy has been doing really well. About a month old. Eating great plenty of energy etc etc. I go in to clean all the cages and here it is, tail in a scorpion like position and it wont relax to a normal position. Never had any issues with him/her at all and was completely fine yesterday. Been about an hour since I first noticed and its still like that. This is my first year breeding them. Ive heard about kinked tails etc and Ive (as usual) gone full bore obsession with researching them and learning, but I havent seen this yet. Any suggestions?

 

[katie_]

It just happened over night?

 

[pmkent1]

Yep. I check them all every day when I get home from work. Was fine when I went to bed. Came home from work to clean everyones cage and there it is.

 

[pmkent1]

Almost looks like a spasm. Not break or a kink, but more of a forced curl

 

[ChristinaJ]

do you have a picture of it before this issue? and what was the pairing that produced it? Can you include pictures of the parents?

 

[pmkent1]

I dont have photos of the parents at the moment. Momma's a mack snow bell het eclipse. Dads a Mack snow enigma het bell and eclipse

 

[justindh1]

Hmm that does look weird. Only time I have ever seen this is someone who posted a bunch of hatchlings that they wanted to call curly tails. There is a thread of them somewhere on this site. It was a genetic issue with them. What kind of hides do you have in the tank? If he is a month old and he had no signs of any tail issues then it may be some kind of break or something. Have you tried uncurling it and see what happens. Not like it is going to fix it but it could be a nerve issue in the tail.

 

[geckoguru929]

Calcium deficiency can cause spasms and I noticed you did not dust those mealworms. Mealworms are very low in calcium.

 

[ChristinaJ]

mealworms are very hard to "dust" and a calcium bowl is left for the gecko to use at it's own need for it, I would assume the OP does this. I would wonder if the Enigma gene could be at play here. Enigmas are known to have neurological issues, and not much is really understood about them... At one point I got rid of all my enigmas and this is my first year being back to breeding them because an idea popped in my head and I got lucky with parents that have a VERY mild syndrome, however my hatchling's have been very diverse in their display of it.

It is also possible the baby could have underlying issues you haven't observed or noticed until this point, maybe it could be having seizure episodes which could have caused the spasm in the tail to occur in the first place. What are you supplementing with and how do you keep the baby as far as substrate, hides, and temps?

 

[pmkent1]

Tried uncurling it and it did uncurl a bit. Felt like I would imagine trying to stretch a spasming muscle would be (I was very careful with it), there was tension there. Checked it again a few minutes later and it haddent curled back any more then when I first tried (meaning its only curled about half way now).

 

[pmkent1]

I do keep a calcium dish in the tub, and Ive witnessed plenty of occassions he/she using it. I dont think thats the issue.

The enigma issue could be a candidate. Though, theres no visual or behavioral signs of enigma there.

Temps are babsically room temperature on the cool end, a 90 deg warm end (heat tape), rack type system. Paper towel substrate, one hide is a moist hide (tupperware with a good hole in the side with moist sphagnum moss) other is an upside down white deli cup with a hole in the side.

 

[pmkent1]

It is also possible the baby could have underlying issues you haven't observed or noticed until this point, maybe it could be having seizure episodes which could have caused the spasm in the tail to occur in the first place.QUOTE]

That was my thought. Some kind of other neurological issues possibly concerning the enigma gene, but possibly not, causing a spasm. I wasnt sure if anyone else had run into the same issue and there was a commonly known answer that I just hadnt come across yet.

 

[pmkent1]

Well I took a look this morning and everything seems 100% fine. No curl, no kink, nothing. Im 95% sure its was a spasm of some kind. What caused it I still dont know. Weird

Thanks for all the info and help. You guys are great:main_thumbsup:

 

[sausage]

could just be that he slept in a hide strangely. iv seen some of mine sleeping with their tails up the wall. lol
might have just got some kind of cramp. glad its okay now