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

[Dimidiata]

My first time seeing a leo yawn... wow. But i saw the twitches.

 

[reps4life]

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

So cute to watch them exploring. If it was me I would keep her regardless. I would hate to put her through more stress of rehoming. The question is if after a few weeks the jerks continue, would you take her to the vet?

 

[reps4life]

She was definately thirsty. Maybe try some crickets instead since they move more.

 

[TylerDurden]

yea if I keep her I'll have to take her to the vet. The breeder did say though they'd take her in for treatment the 1st 2 weeks if something was wrong, they do in-house vet care apparently

we're only about 10 minutes from the show, it's running again tomorrow so my wife may go and run over to talk to the breeder in person and see if they were aware of the problem, or have any more insight into history that could point to anything like MBD that would have to be corrected a lot sooner than something like just some stress from moving.

My main concern i guess is that since she's stressed, and isn't eating (which I know is pretty normal when they 1st move), if it IS MBD, that's going to exacerbate it.

I'd definitely rather stick it out and wait to see if she improves because I'd feel terrible relocating her again, and there's still a chance this could be something that goes away when she settles down.

I'll also definitely be picking up crickets, maybe the movement will get her to eat sooner.

 

[reps4life]

yea if I keep her I'll have to take her to the vet. The breeder did say though they'd take her in for treatment the 1st 2 weeks if something was wrong, they do in-house vet care apparently

we're only about 10 minutes from the show, it's running again tomorrow so my wife may go and run over to talk to the breeder in person and see if they were aware of the problem, or have any more insight into history that could point to anything like MBD that would have to be corrected a lot sooner than something like just some stress from moving.

My main concern i guess is that since she's stressed, and isn't eating (which I know is pretty normal when they 1st move), if it IS MBD, that's going to exacerbate it.

I'd definitely rather stick it out and wait to see if she improves because I'd feel terrible relocating her again, and there's still a chance this could be something that goes away when she settles down.

I'll also definitely be picking up crickets, maybe the movement will get her to eat sooner.

yeah, I would wait it out for a few weeks. She is very active and I think she will do well. Some won't even dare leave their hides for a few days. She is lively I like her set-up and I think she would be very happy there.

 

[andrew5859]

She is very nice!! I would honestly just give her some time to settle in. She's obviously not going to eat right away (as most dont after you get them) so I wouldnt stress her out any more with crickets running all over the place. Since you dont plan on breeding her and she really doesnt look like shes showing any signs of MBD (walking normally and limbs look healthy) as long as you dont mind a few quirks she should be fine.

 

[reps4life]

She is very nice!! I would honestly just give her some time to settle in. She's obviously not going to eat right away (as most dont after you get them) so I wouldnt stress her out any more with crickets running all over the place. Since you dont plan on breeding her and she really doesnt look like shes showing any signs of MBD (walking normally and limbs look healthy) as long as you dont mind a few quirks she should be fine.

The reason he wanted her to eat as soon as possible is because he is concerned that her calcium is low.

 

[reps4life]

Have you noticed if she has licked up any of the calcium?

 

[GeckoDude31]

This is an interesting video. I, too, have three geckos that do the same thing. Does your gecko make a sneezing sound, too? I will try and post a video of mine doing this. I was worried also, but they are eating just fine and pooping a lot more You also will get to know your leo more and get more accustomed to their habbits and patterns. For now, just relax and enjoy the show! I was the same way when I first got my girl. It's good you care, though!

 

[TylerDurden]

Hey everyone thought I'd just post an update if anyone was interested.

So she hasn't come out of her wet hide since last night, today I turned the lights off a few hours ago and she poked her head out once, then went back to sleep. I'm assuming she's stressed and is just hiding out for now

Breeder got back to me, pretty much said to watch out for the same things I suspected already - enigma and low calcium.

I'm a bit surprised that she said enigma, as she listed the genetics as "tremper raptor"....enigma from what I've read is a dominant trait, so it would exhibit the physical traits of enigma as well, which from what people here have said doesn't seem to be the case. She said to just put calcium on her nose and try and get her to eat some of it, said she never noticed any twitching before.

I'm avoiding going back in there though for now, I left 3 mealworms in a bowl dusted with some calcium and a calcium powder bowl as well, so if she does come out she has some food, water and calcium ready to go.

I'll just keep waiting it out. Not sure if she's actually gone into the calcium or not, there are some dents in it but 1 of the mealworms escaped yesterday and might have walked through the calcium before I caught it, so I'm not sure.

Anyway thanks again everyone for the help, just going to hope she calms down enough to come out of the hide again lol

 

[TylerDurden]

This is an interesting video. I, too, have three geckos that do the same thing. Does your gecko make a sneezing sound, too? I will try and post a video of mine doing this. I was worried also, but they are eating just fine and pooping a lot more You also will get to know your leo more and get more accustomed to their habbits and patterns. For now, just relax and enjoy the show! I was the same way when I first got my girl. It's good you care, though!

oh that's interesting lol maybe i'll be lucky and it's just normal

she doesn't make a sneezing sound, at least not that I've heard. I haven't really seen her more than a few hours though because she's been hiding for the last 24 hours now and I only got her yesterday morning lol. I'll post some videos if she does any quirky stuff when she eventually comes out of hiding

 

[Dimidiata]

Well i would hope the breeder would be able to tell you if she had any enigma in ehr point blank.

 

[TylerDurden]

Well i would hope the breeder would be able to tell you if she had any enigma in ehr point blank.

Yea you'd think....

The breeder was from dragonfortress.com (they were at repticon), I don't know if they breed a lot of leopard geckos or not, but she seemed really knowledgeable when I spoke with her. so far though it seems she's been off with the genetics. It doesn't look like a raptor OR enigma, so she's 0/2 lol

 

[BrightReptiles]

I saw a twitch around 40 seconds that reminds me of when a cricket bites them. Maybe she has a scratch or cut somewhere and thinks she is being bitten still occasionally?

 

[artes]

I would guess she either a) has an itchy, or b) has a silly. Mine do that whenever they have a head itchy, and I take them out and rub their head for them, and put them back. Since yours is stressing right now, I wouldn't recommend doing that, but when she calms down try rubbing her head or giving her a short bath. My room is a bit dry, so I think they just get the occasional dry skin spot and think "oh darn this itchy!"

Edit: My reptiles seem to prefer baby talk, and it seems my reptile baby talk has infiltrated my just talking about geckos. -_-

 

[TylerDurden]

Just a quick question: since she hasn't eaten in 2 days is it normal she's not pooping? Or do they usually still go after not eating?

 

[BrightReptiles]

No in, no out

 

[artes]

Its normal for them not to eat while stressed. Sometimes they skip meals even when not stressed - no hungry, no eaty. Just keep offering worms and eventually she'll eat. I would avoid crickets for now just until she stops being stressed. Crickets are pains in the butts, no matter what species you are.

 

[reps4life]

Just a quick question: since she hasn't eaten in 2 days is it normal she's not pooping? Or do they usually still go after not eating?

Your dying to see some fecal matter aren't you

Well I think it's time to think outside the box. Has anyone ever had a leo who would not eat mealworms? I have. That's why throwing in one cricket will not hurt. You can rip off a leg or 2 to slow them down if you wish. Imagine that is the reason for not eating, then she will never eat. Most of my reptiles ate the same day, although I am aware they are all different. I think it's worth a try.

Also if you do not see a urate at least by tomorrow morning, since you mentioned she has been drinking lots of water, dehydration can also be the reason for lack of appetite.

 

[artes]

Reps4Life does have a point. Throw a couple in there and see what happens! If the gecko glares at you and starts writing your name down on a hit list, you know she didn't approve.