A little over a month ago, gecko_keeper's female crested gecko somehow broke her jaw (probably because her calcium stores were sapped from egg-laying). When I first saw her, her jaw was just dangling, with breaks on both sides. It wasn't dislocated from the joint and I asked if I could try to fix her. We weren't sure if she could be fixed, and there was fear that she had some sort of deficiency that would keep her from recovering. Her calcium sacs were sufficiently full, however, and I wanted to give it a try, because the only other option would have been euthanasia.
Rob's son and I went to a nearby Walgreens and bought some eyedroppers for feeding her and some medical tape. Back at the house, we cut the tape into 1/8" or so strips and taped the gecko's mouth shut, crossing the tape between her eyes so that the jaw was held in place. We put her in a small shoebox so that she wouldn't be able to move around and climb much, and I covered her with a towel and took her home.
I began a regimen of swabbing her eyes (since she couldn't lick them) and dropper feeding her Crested Gecko Diet daily. I kept her moist and in the dark all the time.
After a month and a half, I got brave enough to remove her bandage (about 5 days ago I guess) and she is fine! She can use her mouth normally, lick her eyes, and even catch and eat crickets. She's still a little underweight, but not severely, and I'm sure she'll regain it quickly now that she can open her mouth again. She just has a slight opening at the very front of her mouth, but it doesn't seem to hinder her at all. I'm so glad that I was able to save her. She's a young gecko and it would have been a shame to put her down.
Here are pics.
Rob's son and I went to a nearby Walgreens and bought some eyedroppers for feeding her and some medical tape. Back at the house, we cut the tape into 1/8" or so strips and taped the gecko's mouth shut, crossing the tape between her eyes so that the jaw was held in place. We put her in a small shoebox so that she wouldn't be able to move around and climb much, and I covered her with a towel and took her home.
I began a regimen of swabbing her eyes (since she couldn't lick them) and dropper feeding her Crested Gecko Diet daily. I kept her moist and in the dark all the time.
After a month and a half, I got brave enough to remove her bandage (about 5 days ago I guess) and she is fine! She can use her mouth normally, lick her eyes, and even catch and eat crickets. She's still a little underweight, but not severely, and I'm sure she'll regain it quickly now that she can open her mouth again. She just has a slight opening at the very front of her mouth, but it doesn't seem to hinder her at all. I'm so glad that I was able to save her. She's a young gecko and it would have been a shame to put her down.
Here are pics.
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That's awesome.
