Dead Gecko

[Nash1990]

Hi guys

I just found one of our little Thick-tailed Geckos dead
It was lying with its head bent backwards....

I was wondering if we had done something wrong?
It seemed to be feeding well.
Temps are between 23*C and 27*C, as described by the breeder and books ive got.
Last night it was looking really white but i took this as it getting ready to shed.

Any ideas? Or a case of "just life".
Mums upset, thinking shes killed it somehow, i don't want anything to happen to the other one if i can help it..

Thanks

 

[Bushman]

It would help if you gave us some more information. e.g how old was it? How are they hydrated? Could direct sun have hit their enclosure?

Can you tell us more about how you have their set-up? Pics would help too, if possible.

27 is a bit high for Thick-tails imo, which don't like too much heat.

 

[Nash1990]

They'd be about 2 months old.
For hydration they had a shallow water bowl and were misted.
No they're out of direct sunlight.
They were fed small crickets every second day.
They live in a small reptile one glass enclosure (will try and get pics later) with a hide, a curved piece of bark, and had red dessert sand as the substrate (no i never saw either of them ingest any while hunting and their was no sign of impaction)

 

[Bushman]

Ah, so they are/were just hatchlings. They're more susceptible to dehydration and heat stress at this age, as you probably know by the sound of your reply. Hydration sounds good anyway. In fact, everything sounds good to me, except for the red desert sand. I'm not a big fan of this as a substrate, especially for such young geckoes.

Have you checked the underside of the geckos, both living and deceased? Are there any signs of blistering or fungal infections on the ventral surfaces?

Where did you find the dead gecko? Under an object or out in the open?
Is there any loose and/or heavy cover (e.g rocks) that may have shifted when the enclosure was moved or bumped? (as hatchlings are extremely delicate).

How long have you had the geckos for? If they were recently transported then the cause of the fatality may have been in transit.

Correction: the temps actually sound O.K to me.

 

[Nash1990]

There didnt appear to be any marks of any kind on its body.

Its been quite cool here lately so i cant imagine heat stress being a cause. I guess its possible it wasn't drinking as much water as i thought..

 

[Bushman]

O.K.
Where did you find the dead gecko? Under an object or out in the open?
Is there any loose and/or heavy cover (e.g rocks) that may have shifted when the enclosure was moved or bumped? (as hatchlings are extremely delicate).

How long have you had the geckos for? If they were recently transported then the cause of the fatality may have been in transit.

 

[Nash1990]

It was half in half out from under the bark (its a tunnel shape), the bark itself wasnt touching the gecko.
We got the geckos on the 1st of may at the sydney expo.