Just got back with new gecko, it's head twitches

[TylerDurden]

Hey I just got back from repticon baltimore, with a tremper raptor leopard gecko. It's walking around and exploring it's new home, but I'm noticing every once in a while she twitches her head.

Is this a sign of any problems I should be worried about?

 

[Dimidiata]

Enigma? Pics and eye pics i belive would help id that.

 

[TylerDurden]

I'll try and get some pics but shes sleeping right now, already stressed and trying not to move her around again right away.

What would the eyes look like if it was enigma? From what I recall, they're basically slits, sort of with a reddish tint

 

[Dimidiata]

I have no clue, but i always here the eyes come up in Identification threads. And from what i know enigma is a sort of color enhancing gene so body pics work too. http://www.leopardgeckowiki.com/index.php?title=Enigma

 

[TylerDurden]

managed to get a video, uploading now (camera shots were not working lol)

 

[TylerDurden]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFJxKeQQYM

It'll be finished in a few minutes it's just processing

 

[TylerDurden]

sorry it's not very clear I didn't want to lift up the hide, she's already stressed out.

 

[reps4life]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFJxKeQQYM

It'll be finished in a few minutes it's just processing

Congrats! she's cute. I am guessing you were not provided with any history?

 

[TylerDurden]

the breeder there just told me it's a tremper raptor, 1 year old, and has been bred once. Otherwise she said she's been healthy and has had no medical problems. Never said anything about enigma

if it is one should I take her back? Is this a degenerative condition? I'm new to leos so I figure I shouldn't be dealing with something like that on my first...

EDIT: if it isn't degenerative or fatal I really wouldn't mind her being a bit quirky. All I know about enigmas is they are easily stressed and that could bring out signs (if this is an enigma), if the condition doesn't end up slowly killing them or something I wouldn't have a problem

I know metabolic bone disease could cause twitching too, but she looks nice and plump lol a decent fat tail and the breeder said she always puts out calcium for them

 

[reps4life]

the breeder there just told me it's a tremper raptor, 1 year old, and has been bred once. Otherwise she said she's been healthy and has had no medical problems. Never said anything about enigma

if it is one should I take her back? Is this a degenerative condition? I'm new to leos so I figure I shouldn't be dealing with something like that on my first...

When it comes to identifying morphs I have very little knowledge. There can be several reasons for neurological symptoms. This is when your medical knowledge will come in play. Only you know your limits. It's difficult just going by what your describing since this is your first one. Maybe this happened for a reason. Maybe she fell in the right hands Besides enigma syndrome there can be other reasons: ear infection, low calcium level, dehydration, ect.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Before you start worrying about a lot of stuff, let the gecko de-stress and just observe. You'd be surprised how many issues are stress related. Plus, if she just finished laying, she's likely not quite back to her usual self yet.

 

[reps4life]

I have faith in you for some reason. I would bring the water dish and calcium dish close to her hide so that she has easy access while she settles in.

 

[grboxa]

I was going to say basically what Laney said...those geckos move alot for shows...my bell female was incredibly stressed when we brought her home....it could just be high amountt of stress...your doing the right thing by not disturbing her thats what I did with my bell for about a week now shes calm but still very shy...really cute. Very nice raptor I must say though, post pictures when its comfortable!

 

[reps4life]

I agree with fl_orchidslave stress can bring out the worst in us all. Just observe and give her time to get comfortable.

 

[TylerDurden]

ok thanks everyone! I think I need to de-stress as well haha I'll wait a few days and post back here

 

[reps4life]

I like the tiles. Was it hard to get them to fit snug? Where they cut at the store?

 

[LZRDGRL]

You were told that she's a Tremper Raptor? She has pupils, so she cannot be a Raptor (unless she has a solid eye or a snake eye in the left eye which we couldn't see in your movie!).

Raptors either have solid red eyes without a pupil, or they have snake eyes (half/half). You might have a Tremper het Raptor. She also looks like she has a striped tail; very nice!

Definitely not an Enigma, so either she was just itching or nervous from the move and stress. She looks healthy otherwise. Nice cave and cage, too!

Good luck with her :main_yes:

Chrissy

 

[TylerDurden]

I like the tiles. Was it hard to get them to fit snug? Where they cut at the store?

lol thanks yea the store cut them, they definitely did not fit snug though, slate tiles are apparently really hard to cut perfectly straight. I filled in the cracks with play-sand (not calci-sand).

 

[TylerDurden]

You were told that she's a Tremper Raptor? She has pupils, so she cannot be a Raptor (unless she has a solid eye or a snake eye in the left eye which we couldn't see in your movie!).

Raptors either have solid red eyes without a pupil, or they have snake eyes (half/half). You might have a Tremper het Raptor. She also looks like she has a striped tail; very nice!

Definitely not an Enigma, so either she was just itching or nervous from the move and stress. She looks healthy otherwise. Nice cave and cage, too!

Good luck with her :main_yes:

Chrissy

yea I was looking at raptor pictures when I got back and I was thinking "hey these don't really look the same". I'm not planning on breeding anyway so I guess it's no big deal. Thanks for the ID though at least I can stop watching for enigma signs

 

[TylerDurden]

Updated Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YItg9BSEdjA

Hey everyone so she finally woke up a few hours ago, walked around for about 2 hours and is now sleeping in a different hide. She doesn't seem lethargic at all, was climbing all over everything, burrowing into the wet hide, walking all over the tops of the hides and across the food and water bowls (completely ignoring the 2 mealworms I threw into the food bowl to see if she wanted to eat)

I decided to videotape a bit from afar (because when I walk over she goes in the hide, and since I opened the top to put food in she hasn't come back out lol), and I caught some twitching on the video, I figured I might as well post it here just so you can see what I'm referring to.

1st twitch is around 0:23, in between the camera bobbing a little
2nd, and probably the most noticeable one I caught was just after 0:33
3rd around 1:00

Also she drank for a long time when she woke up. Pretty much nonstop for about 2-3 minutes. I was hoping she was just dehydrated and the twitches would go away but they've still been occurring pretty regularly when she walks around, sometimes the head snaps back and forth, sometimes it's more of just a random jerk.

I'm still going to hope it's just stress from moving, the breeder that was at repticon does work a reasonable distance from me so if I HAD to I could drive it over there if something was really wrong, it's not like after repticon ends tomorrow I won't be able to contact them again or something so I'm not in a rush.


However, from reading it seems the next most likely disorder would be metabolic bone disease. So just to cover my bases, what would be some good high calcium stuff to gut load mealworms with? I dropped in some collard greens and a little potato with the mealworms, is there any food they definitely like to eat that's extra high in calcium? I already left a bowl of calcium and D3 out in the terrarium, and monday I'll change it to just calcium with no D3 for a while.

Thanks again for the help, hopefully it's still just stress and goes away soon, she's such a nice looking gecko and very active I REALLY don't want to give her up! lol