DragnDrop
11-14-04, 02:10 PM
This is a new one for me.... twin cresties hatched late Friday night. Unfortunately, it's not all good news.
One clutch, two perfectly good looking eggs in the delicup, 3 cresties hatched. Two were walking around, the 3rd just had his nose out the egg.
One gecko is normal size, perfectly formed, hopping around like any crestie hatchling.
This is the 'single' crestie with a Canadian Twoonie for scale.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321ocronpn.jpg
The picture isn't too great, the little sucker wouldn't sit still, so I had to settle for a slightly out of focus picture. You can get an idea of how big he is even though he's not sitting on the twoonie.
The other egg had the twins, only one this one survived.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronpn2bkhd.jpg
The arrow is pointing to one of two lumps on his skull, the other one is just behind it and smaller. This gaffer is about half the size of a normal crestie, but is acting normal in every way. He's licked some mango and water off a spoon, he moves around and jumps, licks his eyes and walks around like nothing's strange about him. I have no idea what the lumps on his skull will lead to, but for now he's 'normal'.
The other twin hatched with what I think was only a partially formed skull, there seemed to be a gap on the top of the skull, covered with skin, in the same place the other twin has the lumps. It was obvious he wasn't in good shape when I found him, he barely stuck his nose out of the egg. I saw the skull problem right off, and he didn't move a muscle when I put him in the deli-cup that would have been his ICU, he stayed curled up. At first I thought he was dead, but his tail twitched when I touched it, so he was alive. I'd put the other two into individual critter keepers, maybe took 20 minutes at most, and when I got back to the problem twin, I noticed there was a swelling in the gap where his skull didn't close up. Instead of a dip, it was now raised. His tail had been moved a bit from where I remembered it, so he had some muscle control, or at least some reflex action which suggested his nervous system was developed down the length of the spine. I phoned a vet tech friend for some ideas, but we couldn't think of anything to do for him this late at night, not likely any way I could get him any medical aid. By the time I got off the phone, he'd been out of the egg for at most an hour, and was dead. However, the lump on his skull had expanded, the skin popped open, like his head exploded. For obvious reasons I didn't take pictures.
So, my questions are.... does anyone have a clue or guess what might have gone on with him? Any guesses what would make his skull/brain explode? Has anyone else had twin cresties?
This is my first set of crestie twins that at least made it to hatching. The same mom has produced 4 other eggs with one gecko and an odd mass of something that resembled a half-formed gecko. I've had twin anoles hatch (perfectly healthy) years ago.
Some more pictures of the surviving twin.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronpn.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronlfpn-med.jpg
One clutch, two perfectly good looking eggs in the delicup, 3 cresties hatched. Two were walking around, the 3rd just had his nose out the egg.
One gecko is normal size, perfectly formed, hopping around like any crestie hatchling.
This is the 'single' crestie with a Canadian Twoonie for scale.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321ocronpn.jpg
The picture isn't too great, the little sucker wouldn't sit still, so I had to settle for a slightly out of focus picture. You can get an idea of how big he is even though he's not sitting on the twoonie.
The other egg had the twins, only one this one survived.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronpn2bkhd.jpg
The arrow is pointing to one of two lumps on his skull, the other one is just behind it and smaller. This gaffer is about half the size of a normal crestie, but is acting normal in every way. He's licked some mango and water off a spoon, he moves around and jumps, licks his eyes and walks around like nothing's strange about him. I have no idea what the lumps on his skull will lead to, but for now he's 'normal'.
The other twin hatched with what I think was only a partially formed skull, there seemed to be a gap on the top of the skull, covered with skin, in the same place the other twin has the lumps. It was obvious he wasn't in good shape when I found him, he barely stuck his nose out of the egg. I saw the skull problem right off, and he didn't move a muscle when I put him in the deli-cup that would have been his ICU, he stayed curled up. At first I thought he was dead, but his tail twitched when I touched it, so he was alive. I'd put the other two into individual critter keepers, maybe took 20 minutes at most, and when I got back to the problem twin, I noticed there was a swelling in the gap where his skull didn't close up. Instead of a dip, it was now raised. His tail had been moved a bit from where I remembered it, so he had some muscle control, or at least some reflex action which suggested his nervous system was developed down the length of the spine. I phoned a vet tech friend for some ideas, but we couldn't think of anything to do for him this late at night, not likely any way I could get him any medical aid. By the time I got off the phone, he'd been out of the egg for at most an hour, and was dead. However, the lump on his skull had expanded, the skin popped open, like his head exploded. For obvious reasons I didn't take pictures.
So, my questions are.... does anyone have a clue or guess what might have gone on with him? Any guesses what would make his skull/brain explode? Has anyone else had twin cresties?
This is my first set of crestie twins that at least made it to hatching. The same mom has produced 4 other eggs with one gecko and an odd mass of something that resembled a half-formed gecko. I've had twin anoles hatch (perfectly healthy) years ago.
Some more pictures of the surviving twin.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronpn.jpg
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321cronlfpn-med.jpg