Tail drop pics (Warning)

[CDN-Cresties]

Well I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later but im still bummed about it. After slaving at my computer typing up an essay I went to my room to get some shut eye. I quickly took a look at my cresties and noticed that one male decided to drop his tail for some unknown reason. He lives by himself and no one was in my room to spook him out. I had to move a few egg crates to find his tail. Anyway here are some pics I took, although some may not be the best quality it gives you an idea of what it looks like. I will continue to post pics on this thread as the healing process continues.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/IMG_0818.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/IMG_0817.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/taildrop4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/taildrop3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/taildrop2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/taildrop1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v727/futebolsteven/taildrop5.jpg

[bistrobob85]

Wow Steven, its the first time i've seen a crestie do this!! I have to say your lizard looks AWESOME but it looks kinda strange without the tail... Whats always funny about lizards losing their tail is how you get to see their muscles and bones tail strutures, which is really interesting... Now lets just hope you'll provide us with nice pics of recovery!!

phil.

[crucified]

cresteds tails dont regrow..

[CDN-Cresties]

Yes crestie tails dont regrow, the pcitures I will be posting in the future will be his little nub.

[babysweet]

Makes me wonder about the theory that adults are not meant to keep their tails... with him being alone with no apparant cause... it certainly supports the theory...

I think they're adorable, tail or no tail.

And that is definitely a nice looking cresty!

[Asian Jon]

Its weird how it looks like a star at the end, but definitely neat to see.

[little_dragon_]

Very good pictures Steve. Sad event but there has to be a logical explanation to why he dropped his tail? On a conscious level maybe your crested gecko realized he no longer needed his tail. Sounds strange but he would no longer have a use for it living amoung egg cartons. He could move much easier through the crates without having it drag behind. Or maybe he got really excited while being alone and while he was releasing sperm he triggered a tail drop? What do you guys think?

[ATBlover]

MY leaf tail dropped his tail for no apparent reason either....i think that when he was eating, he got his tail stuck inbetween two logs i had in there but he didn't drop the tail then....What i think is that the tail was dropped but the skin didn't break, therefore the tail was just waiting to drop off and it just happened out of the blue....Also i wanted to know if a geckos tail falling off, could result in death because just a few weeks after my guy dropped his tail he died:(....Sry about your loss..but your gecko looks realy good!:D....Connor

[CDN-Cresties]

I dont think it was because of living amongst egg cartons. If that were the case I would expect to see more tailless geckos from keepers who use cartons. I just thought of this right now. Maybe the sound of another gecko jumping around in there own enclosure startled him causing him to drop the tail. I dont think I'll ever truly know why though.

[little_dragon_]

I meant general living condition. Egg cartons are a good example of hides in nature like a tree hallow, shedding bark. In the rhac book it was stated they like thin branches. and more appeared to be tailless gorillas then monkeys.. A tail might be more of a nuisance then a tool while fleeing from predators or hunting prey. What I'm getting at is could it be possible crested geckos can deliberately shed their tails with the purpose of more efficient mobility? Something along those lines...Maybe it’s not fear at all in some cases but a natural occurrence.

Cut and Paste! lol

[CDN-Cresties]

I can see what you are saying . It would seem to me though that something must have startled him and thus causing him to drop his tail. Who knows??? I dont have any experience with dropped tails so Im going on limited info here. I think the answer might be found if we compare cresties to gargoyles. Why does a gargoyles tail regenerate and the cresties does not. After all they are similar and live in a similar environment.

[sara]

Cool pics, it's neat how you can see where the tail was twitching due to the spatter. That's a nice break too... i'm not crazy about the bony-type crested nubs myself, but that one should turn out ok. :p

[pythonmdk]

That really weird. How old was he by the way? I hope none of my older girls start dropping there tails now, I have been sooo careful not to stress them out when I handle them that it would suck to come home and see a few tails laying around the cage.

[babysweet]

I think it might be difficult to compare the habits of any of the Rhacodactylus family to any other lizards, let alone other Rhacs! Very little is known about these creatures, and most of what is... well, it's sketchy at best.

The island visits were more to collect specimens and gain basic knowledge than to actually detail the habits of any of these geckos. There's a point in the Rhac book where they describe finding Rhacs in tree holes by chance only. There's so much that's unknown about Rhacs.

I would suggest the only way we're ever going to really be able to gather information, seeing as how a few of the Rhacs are considered seriously endangered/extinct at this point, is to set them up in a VERY LARGE natural habitat, and study them intensely.

But, let's face it... there's little chance of that happening! The time and money involved in studying an animal (especially a small nocturnal lizard!) is astronomical, and unrealistic.

Although it does make me start to wonder if a large solarium would fit in our new house.... ;)

Of course, the mere fact that Ciliatus tails drop so easily, AND don't grow back, definitely lends to the theory that they are not meant to be retained to adulthood. Or possibly a male who has retained his tail is preferable to females? Like the male peacock with the most plumage? A male who is sans-tail has probably lost a fight to another male, whereas a male WITH a tail would suggest that he's a stronger specimen...

Just a thought.

[CDN-Cresties]

That particular male is around 2 years old.