Worried

[dinkygecko]

Can anyone help, I have a 3 month old crested gecko who appears to have had a fit, his head went back, mouth open and his legs let go of the leaf he was on, I was able to catch him before he hit the bottom of the viv, has any one else had this sort of experience ?
He is still eating and when he came round seemed bright and his normal self apart from one back leg didn't seem to work right.
I changed his bulB last week anD am concerned I have over heated him, I have now removed the new bulb and am waiting for a green spot to arrive.

[vgorst]

It could be overheating - Do you know what the temperature was in the tank? Did you have a thermostat on the lamp? What watt bulb? Was there a guard around it?

[dinkygecko]

the thermometer was reading 21 centigrade the bulb was sat outside the viv about 1 and half foot from bottom of the tank, we do have a theromstat whcih is linked to a mat under the viv, the probe for the mat thermostat is inside the viv just under half way up, since we have taken the 100w bulb away things have got better and back to sticking to galss and leaves. Any advice would be appreciated.

[vgorst]

A 100w bulb for a crestie is a bit over-kill, especially when it's not attached to a thermostat. What thermometer are you using? Dial/analogue or digital? If you want to keep using a bulb then go for a much lower watt one and get a thermostat for it to prevent overheating

[dinkygecko]

we have removed the 100w bulb as we thought this was the issue, the thermometer is a dial exoterra along with the same for humidity, the only thing different is the bulb and every thing else we have has been used since day 1 without issue we have ordered the same orig bulb which we plan to use which is going to be 40w and green, and right now seems to be as active as he used to be

[vgorst]

Problem with those dial thermometers is that they are complete rubbish (can be 10C+ out) so I reckon overheating was the issue. Get yourself a digital thermometer (can be gotten off ebay cheap) and place it near the bulb as this is your main heat source.

[dinkygecko]

excellent thank you for you adivse i will get a digi thermo for the viv

[catflea]

Hi Dinky.

With modern energy saving bulbs, which put out next to no heat I wouldnt even think of using an old school incandescent bulb as they throw out soooo much heat and if you have a mat already its a bit mad...

why a green bulb btw?

Just another quick check, do you think the little one felt intimidated at all or touched the bulb??

[dinkygecko]

I have ordered a green bulb again as this was what we had when we were given the baby, he was active and happy with the green light so am going back to what I know he likes, the bulb was suspended over the viv outside.

[ChazzieJo]

I would recommend a heatmat for cresties and stick to the outside of their tank to allow them to thermoregulate, they really don't need high temperatures.