So I’ve got a quick question for those of y’all who’ve been in the breeding business for a bit.
I’ve got one of my females who ever since she was a juvenile has let her tail droop downward. Welp lo and behold she’s got FTS now. So after this season is over Ive been doing a bit of thinking and I’m heavily leaning towards a force tail drop. I really don’t want to but she isn’t showing signs of her hips having a dip yet and I don’t want to get to that point. Any advice on how to go about making this happen and keeping her as comfy as possible afterwards?
Not an expert here, but I can’t imagine any instance where forcing an animal to go through the traumatic process of dropping their tail could be beneficial. You likely need to change up the enclosure to prevent them having the ability to worsen the FTS, instead of trying to get the tail to drop.
My female actually will not lay on her branches that’s why I came here to ask for help. She won’t even use her cave hide coconut hide or her cork bark hides unless it nighttime.
So recently her bella palms have grown out and upwards and so has her rattle snake plant so she’s been laying on those but her favorite spot is the cork bark “cave” a slightly rounded cork bark flat that we wedged between the two larger cork bark pieces in the backdrop. Which unfortunately she loves to face snoot down near the dirt.
It doesn’t look to me like she has many horizontal perching opportunities like branches criss crossing or horizontal bars? This would allow her to rest without gravity pulling her tail over (I could have totally missed the presence of these perches due to the camera angles)
So she doesn’t have a large amount that is my fault… and the fact that the branches we have around here for sale are all Red Manzanita and ghostwood at large sizes which are really nice but really expensive. The photo that has Ebony doing a Yoga pose that wiggly branch goes all the way to the top of her tank. There is another branch (our only cork bark branch since we can’t find any more)
That goes all the way to the other side of her tank on the left.
Please excuse my water stains we use spring water for our plants and I haven’t been able to scrub the stains off the top yet
Based on this I would say since her main horizontal climbing opportunties are on the ground, she doesn’t have many horizontal areas that are stable (plants wiggle), so she may be uncomfy sleeping there, leading to the acrobatics and FTS.
If you bake/cure sticks from outside you can make free perches for her, but however you do it I’d say that’s your issue and you can work on preventing further FTS progression
Note: it is a wonderfully planted tank tho, and with some more horizontal climbing space she’ll have a crestie mansion!
Hmmm I’d wait for input on others who have tried it themselves, but safely cured wood can be used in aquariums without rotting very much fully submerged under water, so I THINK if you use a safe wood type (not spruce I think?) and cure it safely (baking), it should hold up well even in a humid enclosure!
Okay! Thank you so much I really appreciate the help!
Definitely will wait for more input but if any native woods are safe to use that would but a BIG dent in any additional costs for her tank current tanks and future!! So this is something I’m highly interested in!
So the reason I would say she’s gotten FTS is because you don’t have many branches in there.
I would add in more cork branches, cork tubes also, there’s nothing really for her to sit on or hide in which is why she’s chosen the glass her her place.
I wouldn’t force tail drop myself, a lot of stress involved and I’ve seen some awful videos where the gecko doesn’t want to drop its tail and is freaking out when the persons trying to get it to drop its tail, and she’s not horrendous judging by the pictures. But adding more branches in and tubes, will stop it from getting worse. X
All of the cork bark on the upper section is hollow it isn’t shown that much in the photo I just wanted to get the small amount of branches in the photo I had in the tank. But I’ve already added 4 cork bark branches from the Bio Dude will be done within this next week when the paycheck hits I’ll definitely try my hardest to get some update photos of it as well when they’re here and set up!
I would add more horizontal spaces for her to sleep on, and then wait and see - FTS is only potentially a problem if it’s really really bad; though some big breeders swear that it’s only cosmetic no matter what. Not sure what the truth is tbh, but there is a lot of hearsay in the hobby that people regurtitate If it does get to a point where you feel like you need her to drop it, all you have to do is hold on to the tail and wait, the gecko will eventually walk it off/freak out and drop it - it is not a fun experience for anyone involved though, you’ll likely have to start over when it comes to handling and such. The one female i did it with a few years back before i knew better never became comfortable with handling again. At least not while i still had her. So avoid it unless absolutely necessary
That’s what I’m planning. So I’ve got a property out closer north that pretty frequently I find bones on.
Now I’ve been doing a large amount of thinking and was wondering if cured deer antlers are okay to put in with cresties. I know my isopods would love me is it plausible though?
I’ll definitely try my hardest to get some update photos of it as well when they’re here and set up!
If it does get to a point where you feel like you need her to drop it, all you have to do is hold on to the tail and wait, the gecko will eventually walk it off/freak out and drop it - it is not a fun experience for anyone involved though, you’ll likely have to start over when it comes to handling and such. The one female i did it with a few years back before i knew better never became comfortable with handling again. At least not while i still had her. So avoid it unless absolutely necessary