"Scoliosis" in reptiles?

[Olimpia]

I do plan on taking him to the vet, but I just want to chat about it with people who won't just grunt "I dunno" as their playing PS3.

I purchased this crestie in May when it was only a month old, along with a sibling. And as they both grew they were under the exact same conditions of diet and enclosure. But as they grew, one grew normally and the other always seemed shorter in the torso area. But it was hard to tell if there was anything wrong because he was so little, and it's hard to tell your reptile to stand straight.

But now there's a definite problem with his back. He's eating and acting completely normally, no weakness or lethargy, but there are several "displaced" bumps on his spine (along with the kink on his tail that I've always known he had.) I included a photo, but it's hard to tell in 2D and with his paterning. All his other bones seem fine, so I'm leaning towards just a spinal deformity? He's recieving ample calcium and is on a good diet of crickets and silk worms. And his sibling is fine... so I highly doubt MBD.

Again, I'm taking him to the vet. But he seems completely fine and active except for the deformities in his back. Would anyone still lean towards MBD?

 

[jojackson]

Could well be spinal deformity from issue during incubation (if kinks were noticble when it hatched). I dont how much an xray might cost there but it's probly the only the way to know for sure.
MBD is not so common in nocturnal geckos, though still possible if the diet is deficient in some way. Dusting its food with calcium from time to time is good, but its been my prefrence for years to use a product that contains D3 since it wont get natural UV.

Alot of keepers, myself included, keep a shallow bowl of fresh D3 calcium and vitamins in the cage at all times. I have often witnessed my geckos licking it, and have never had an animal develope such a problem that did not hatch that that way.

I think your concern should be to determin if the deformity is becoming worse and its probable effect on your lizard in the future.
Cheers

 

[prettykttkat]

I have seen this before in a gecko I purchased as a baby. It IS MBD. Make no mistake! Usually in crested geckos the tail kinks first as a sign of MBD but with the baby gecko I had it did not and that is what threw me off. First it's rib cage looked funny being bigger at the beginning and then tapering off instead of being more uniformed, this is how it was when I got it. I thought well it's little so maybe it will fill out. Then a month later it's back bone did the same thing yours is doing and so I got on the crested gecko forum and posted pics and asked if it was MBD. They all told me the gecko looked normal and that maybe it was going to develop floppy tail. I knew something was not right and thought like you it had a genetic deformity or something but none the less I started using a UV light just in case it was MBD. Shortly after it's tail started to kink and then I knew for sure it was MBD. It was too little to get it's blood drawn at the vet's office to check calcium levels. This is why I did not start treating it for MBD until I was sure that was what was wrong with it. By the time I started treating her she got worse before she started getting better and now looks deformed even though she is now fully cured. She now is an adult but not as big as she should be and is healthy despite how she looks. I wish I would have known earlier that she had MBD so I could have treated her sooner. It takes months of being calcium deficient to start showing MBD. My gecko had the start of it before I got her and I didn't even know it. The supplementing also threw me off like it is you. I gave this gecko the same supplements as I do my other 8 geckos and they are all fine. Like I said though she had MBD before I got her so I would have had to give her extra calcium instead of normal amounts of calcium if I had known and that's why she continued to get worse. What you need to do is get your gecko on liquid calcium right away to prevent more deformities. Your vet is not going to be able to draw blood on your gecko to see if it has it or not so you must go and tell your vet it does so he/she can weigh your gecko and prescribe liquid calcium. Your gecko will need prob around .3cc or .4cc(depending on weight) of this taken orally every day for a month until it is cured. Deformities will never go away though. Once they are there they stay permanently. The best of luck, keep us updated!

 

[Olimpia]

Uh Oh. When I got both babies they were about the same size, so there wasn't much of a difference between them except for the kink in this one's tail. And then his sibling has gotten longer and bigger while this one has also grown, but always with a shorter torso.

I will be taking them to the vet immediately then, and meanwhile will be giving him a much more significant amount of calcium in his diet.

 

[prettykttkat]

Sounds good but don't over do it on calcium because that can make them sick too. That's why you have to take your gecko to the vet and get it weighed and get the proper dosage.