#floppy tail

[tser]

Hi, my rescue crestie is about a year old and has what i think is severe floppy tail. i noticed about a month after bringing her home, and took her to the vet immediately. After telling me this is the first crested gecko he's seen in years (contrary to what his site and tech said when we called to make an appointment) he told me to get her a UVB and dose pure calcium. it's been a while now and it just seems to be getting worse. i can send pics if you need but id really appreciate your help 😔

Hey, I’m sorry to hear that.

Floppy tail is not only caused by MBD. Since crested geckos didn’t really evolve to keep their tails into adulthood, they don’t have the muscles in the pelvic region to support them. This means that unless there is support for them, they may develop floppy tail. 

Floppy tail can become so severe it deforms the pelvis. If at all possible, I’d really suggest finding a new, more reptile-savvy vet who can check your gecko, and see if further treatment for MBD is needed and whether your gecko needs a tail amputation (only in very severe cases and should be done by a reptile vet).

You might start by looking on these sites:

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/http://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

One of the main care issues that contribute to floppy tail is lack of support in their vivs. They often sleep on the glass sides, head down, and their tails may arch over their backs. Alternately, they sometimes sleep on the top, with their tail hanging down.

To help prevent this, absolutely fill the enclosure with fake plants and other decor, top to bottom. There should essentially be enough leaves that even if he’s on the wall, the plants “press” his tail against the glass so it can’t hang out.

In addition provide a lot of horizontal perches. That means ledges (such as Magnaturals or the ones from Pangea), spring-loaded bamboo poles with suction cups, wedged in pipe insulation (like this; but put more cover and decor and plants!), hammocks (such as ReptiHammocks or handmade ones off Etsy), wedged and stacked cork bark and cork tubes, bird perches, and bendable vines arranged as horizontal bridges.

Essentially you want to give your gecko as many places to rest as possible that are NOT the side of the enclosure or hanging from the roof.

Provide plenty of cover over these perches so that they feel safe.

Finally, I highly suggest at least in the short term that you move the gecko to a tub instead of a glass terrarium. Rubbermaid, Sterlite, Homz, and similar brands make 30 gallon-ish tubs that can be altered into crested gecko enclosures. You use a drill or soldering iron to poke holes in it.

Crested geckos find it harder to stick to tub walls than to glass, so they’re less likely to fall asleep in a position that’s bad for their tail, and they can’t hang from the lid. You can still cut out a part of the lid and hot glue mesh over it to provide the UV light (wide mesh is better to let through more light). With a gecko with floppy tail, I would try to avoid access to it though (locating it in the middle of the lid and through careful decor placement) so the gecko doesn’t try to hang upside down from the mesh. 

The final advice I have is to do tail exercises with the gecko to try to strengthen the muscles. However, if the floppy tail is extreme I wouldn’t do this. I don’t know how severe is severe in your gecko’s case. In cases that aren’t as bad, you would let the gecko climb from hand to hand, encouraging it to engage tail muscles by using the tail to hold onto your hand while it reaches for the next one. Gently encourage it to use its tail more and more over time while keeping them safe and not over-working a weak tail. Never pull on or hold a gecko by the tail of course. You want the gecko to engage the muscles and use its tail on its own. I would talk to your vet before doing this, since your case is described as “severe”. 

Please do try to find a better vet though, who can give you ideas for diet and treatment options and see if the floppy tail is serious enough to warrant other interventions.

[one-geck-to-rule-us-all]

do you use UVB lighting with nimrod? my girl isn't getting enough calcium (she won't eat her Pangea when I put it in) and I'm guessing a low wattage UVB would be the way to go? what're your thoughts. she's probably around nine months and from petco. I'm 99% sure she has floppy tail :(

I do use UVB, the 13W 3.0 or 5.0 bulbs are good for cresties! You can try mixing calcium with food on a spoon and feeding her that way (that’s what I do with Nim to make sure she gets it) or maybe leave a calcium dish in there, it can get messy, but maybe she will use it. If she isn’t eating just make sure her temperature and humidity are good and that she has enough cover in her tank to feel secure! Could be something off with your husbandry, or is she just new and stressed?

If she has floppy tail the best thing you can do is add some horizontal perches in there that have some cover so she will feel more inclined to rest there than on the glass. Those green mesh hammocks are fairly cheap and great! You can cover them with some leaves to make a little cave/hide. tser also had an ask on flopppy tail and had some good pointers http://tser.tumblr.com/post/156520268519/i-have-a-crested-gecko-that-refuses-to-sleep-on

[tser]

I have a crested gecko that refuses to sleep on one of the several horizontal perches I've given them. There are a variety of types, from cork logs, to mag ledges, big leaves, and even a shower dish full of soft moss, all with a ton of cover over them. Still refuses to use them, and clings to the glass for sleeping. I worry about them getting floppy tail and I don't know what to do about my stubborn child. Any tips? :(

First, make sure every perch has lots of cover, such as fake vines draped over them. The geck may feel too exposed to sleep on them. 

Also try moving them around. Some geckos will choose the highest ledge to sleep on, or the one furthest back in the enclosure.

If those things don’t work and your gecko still isn’t using the horizontal ledges, then just keep an eye on his tail.  A lot of decor like vines will help them keep their tail engaged even when against the glass (as when they are squished between the glass and decor).

If he seems to be sleeping upside down a lot with his tail hanging away from him into space, that is what is most likely to cause floppy tail syndrome. I have a friend who calls it “lazy tail” because it is the result of crested geckos not engaging those muscles, since the geckos haven’t evolved to keep their tails into adulthood. 

If a gecko is developing floppy tail and is comfortable with handling (and you are comfortable doing the handling) you can do some exercises to help them strengthen their tail. Niji was starting to develop it and I worked with him and he doesn’t show it anymore. To do so very gently have them hang from their tails from your hand, without grabbing or pulling the tail, a little bit every day. 

Moving Niji to a tub also helped because it’s harder to stick to the plastic than to glass, so he needs to use his vines and ledges.

In cases of very severe floppy tail, the tail may need to be amputated by a vet to prevent stress on the hip bones, so it’s best to catch it early!

[tser]

So I literally know nothing about cresties and I'm curious as to why I see so many cresties without a tail? Is their tail falling off just something that happens with the species?

It is very common for crested geckos to lose their tails as adults, compared to other geckos. Also, most other geckos grow their tails back, albeit looking slightly different, while cresties don’t, so it’s far more noticeable of course. 

I have one frogbutt (crested gecko without a tail) and two with tails.

In the wild, crested geckos do not keep their tails to adulthood! Researchers hardly ever find an adult gecko with a tail. 

In fact, one of the reasons “floppy tail”/”lazy tail” seems so common is that the muscles used to hold their tails are not really strong enough to support their tails into adulthood (in addition to perching upside-down on glass which is not natural). 

This is one reason it’s so important to provide a lot of cover and platforms and perches for crested geckos, beyond that it makes them more comfortable. Even doing this, however, lazy tail does happen... especially with some geckos who just really really like sleeping with their tails arched over their backs. Haha. (Floppy tail as a sign of MBD is a whole different matter!! It also involves tail kinks or waves and is a result of a bad diet.) Niji has very mild floppy tail (you can see in some of his pictures he holds it a bit like a hook) which seems to have gotten somewhat better with some gentle tail exercises. 

We like our geckos to keep their tails (because tail loss is a source of stress, an open wound, as well as aesthetics), so we do everything we can to prevent their loss. We treat them very gently, don’t hold them by their tails, try not to startle them, and don’t cohabitate them. 

However, crested gecko tail loss does happen. It’s important when they do to keep their habitats (and them) extra clean, feed them lots of nutritious food to help them heal, and keep an eye on the open wound. Most heal into adorable frogbutts with no problem.