Leg Turned at Strange Angle

[Neon Aurora]

One of my leopard geckos has her leg turned at a weird angle. It isn't always like that. It's just that it slides into that position as she walks. She has just been in her tub like normal, so I can't imagine how she could have injured herself.

She is eating normally and doesn't object to having the leg manipulated or touched.

Any ideas?

 

[Eavlynn]

Do you dust insects with calcium or provide a small dish of calcium with vitamin D? It appears at though she may have the beginnings of metabolic bone disease. Not a huge issue if corrected promptly, but any damage done is irreversible.

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[Neon Aurora]

Oh yes, all of my geckos are supplemented with Repashy Calcium Plus every feeding and the younger ones (including this one) and laying females have calcium bowls to lick from.

From what I have read, the beginning of MBD usually manifest as trembling and anorexia. I highly doubt this gecko has MBD.

To me it looks more like the leg is "loose" in the socket. The problem to me seems like it is at the base where the leg attaches to the body, not in the bones themselves. The leg shifts into this upturned position when she pushes off with it to take a step, but I'm not sure what would cause that. Weird thing is that it doesn't actually seem to hurt her or impair her movement.

 

[acpart]

I have seen this a lot and in varying situations:
--"loose" looking back legs from hatch time that got worse as the gecko matured
--"loose" looking back legs from hatch time that resolved as the gecko matured (this happened once)
--mild loose looking back legs in an adult gecko that I've had for years who is otherwise healthy and continues to be supplemented regularly

I had this happen more with hatchlings when my incubator fluctuated a little more. I have no idea why it develops but it does look to me like loose ligaments or something. Sorry I can't be more informative; it's a mystery to me.

Aliza

 

[Neon Aurora]

That's too bad. To the best of my memory, I don't think she hatched this way. I just noticed this a few days ago. Loose ligaments sound accurate. She does seem otherwise healthy. Growing at a normal rate and eating fine.

It's worth mentioning that I didn't have a very stable season. My family and I had to evacuate our home due to fire last July, so many of these eggs were moved. I did have quite a few defects (although one gecko that has a defect, a short tail, hatched before the fire started). Perhaps this is just another one. I had a short tail, an under bite, one hatched with major defects (cleft lip, different sized eyes, extra/missing toes, she is 7 months old now and still hardly bigger than a hatchling).

I hope this season is better for me.

 

[Eavlynn]

It didn't even register to me that you were the poster Neon, haha. Had I paid more attention, I'd have known it couldn't be calcium related.

Knowing that your incubation temps fluctuated, I think Aliza is spot on. A loose joint is pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, with any luck, it won't progress further. It's likely similar to people with hypermobility issues due to overly stretchy ligaments and tendons, where certain joints can sublux partially out of place in the socket at certain angles or under small weight load.

She's otherwise healthy and acting normally, I wouldn't stress to much about it, just keep an eye out for any changes. I hope your next season goes off without a hitch and you don't have to deal with any more emergencies. Were your circumstances isolated, or were you part of the massive evacuation efforts in the western states last year?

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[Neon Aurora]

It's cool. =P I'll just be selling this one as pet only, I suppose.

This fire was pretty isolated. I live in a pretty rural place in the Rocky Mountains. The fire started about 10 miles away from me and burned something like 18,000 acres. It was a big deal for us. We have horses, sheep, dogs, a cat, all the reptiles. They all had to be moved in a single day. I had leopard geckos hatching literally as I moved my incubators to the car. It was insanity.

But yeah, my hope is there my incubators will be able to stay in one place this season and I hopefully won't have so many defects.

 

[Eavlynn]

That little gecko will make a fantastic pet for someone.

I can't imagine evacuating in the event of a large wild fire. I'm over on the east coast, so that's not much of a worry for us. Mostly we just get piles if snow and the occasional power outage.

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[Neon Aurora]

Fleeing the fire is definitely not something I want to repeat! It took us 10 hours, no breaks, to move all the animals. Our animals ended up spread across 3 different towns around 40 minutes-1 hour apart and we had to go take care of them all every day. We were also still grieving the loss of one of our young horses a week before the evacuation started. It was a rough time for sure.

I'm looking forward to this summer and this breeding season as a hopefully peaceful time filled with healthy baby leopard geckos, no fires, and no horses dying. Fingers crossed.