Question about a gecko I'm fostering

[acpart]

This evening I saw an ad on craigslist from someone in my town looking for help with 2 adult geckos that were put on antibiotics because they weren't eating. One had dropped her tail for no obvious reason this morning and the owner had to leave town for 10 days. I made some inquiries, because I wasn't going to take in geckos that were contagious or that had major problems. It turns out, the geckos had been seen by my reptile vet (who had perscribed antibiotics because one had a mouth inflamation and who determined that the fecal was negative), were on a low dose of an antibiotic I'm familiar with, and were being kept correctly except for a wood chip type of substrate which was going to be changed to paper towels. The geckos look healthy and well-developed. I have them together (they have been together for the past 3 years, are the same size, there are no bullying marks like scratches and I don't have room right now to separate them) in a 20 long with lots of hide choices.

So here's my question: the one that lost her tail has been making occasional jerking movements, sometimes just a whole body jerk and sometimes with her head jerking to the side. I'd almost say they are like seizures. I don't know if she was having problems which led to tail loss or if she is acting this way because she just lost her tail right up to her vent just about and is uncomfortable. I'm still mystified about why she lost it to begin with. At this point, they are in the cage in a darkened room and are out and exploring.

Anyone with any thoughts about why she may have lost her tail and/or what her current behavior is due to would be helpful.

Aliza

 

[acpart]

I now have a theory about what may have happened to the tail. This morning I found a runny poo (not surprising because they've been on baby food) and near it were 2 pieces of a particulate substrate. I think the gecko without the tail ingested some of the substrate and because it's sharp, when she started to pass it, it hurt so much near the vent area that she ended up taking off her own tail (there was some dried blood near her vent). At the moment, she's still calm and I hope she's passed it all. That's just my theory, but it's the only one that seems to fit the facts.

Aliza