My gecko is having twitches and turning different colors, does anyone know what I could be wrong?

Question

I mean what could be wrong with him.

Answer 1

Usually when reptiles twitch it's because of spinal damage due to metabolic bone disease caused by not enough calcium/vitamin D3 (assuming it wasn't fed food that was too large which is the other common cause and almost always results in death).  Vitamin D3 is needed to bind calcium to bones.  Without an adequate calcium intake, reptiles will draw it out of their bones to keep the levels in their blood high enough, dangerously thinning bones or replacing the calcium with cartilage.  Soft spongy/rubbery or extremely brittle bones can break easily and it is not unusual for reptiles with MBD to develope compound fractures or break their spines in mutlitple locations.  Rubbery jaws can't move or bite at food.  A rubbery spine can't protect the spinal cord either and paralysis is common.  Most of the time MBD results in a very long and drawn out-and very painful-death of the reptile.

You need to take your gecko to a herp vet immediately.  Even if it turns out that it isn't MBD, anything that causes twitching is serious and only a vet has any hope of helping.  The herp vet can give injections of calcium and D3 to help start the healing process but even then it is too late to undo a lot of the damage.  In many cases the best option is euthenasia, especially if the spine is badly damaged or if it's to the point where any movement just causes more fractures.

There have also been cases of MBD from *over* supplementation or when the light level (for diurnal reptiles) is not very bright all over the enclosure.  Even with adequate supplementation, if it isn't bright enough, diurnal lizards don't eat enough to take in enough calcium.  Temperatures that are even a little low can also cause feeding to stop or be severely reduced.

Ways to *prevent* MBD (won't help much if it already has MBD):

All reptiles need calcium supplementation.  Not only do they need it to build their bones like us, but they also require a minimum level of it in their blood.  Make sure that you are providing plenty of calcium in your lizard's diet but dusting the food with at least calcium powder (in the reptile section of the petstore or from pet supply websites) at the very least.

I'm not sure whether or not geckos are one of the groups of reptiles that require UVB to produce vitamin D3-those that need the UVB (including turtles and bearded dragons) should have a tube style UVB bulb such as reptisun 10.0 (good for beardies) or 5.0 for non desert animals placed within about 12" of the reptile.  Any of the UVB bulbs only produce adequate UVB for about 6 months before they need to be replaced even though they won't burn out until long after that.

MBD is completely preventable, but is FAR too common.  It is a painful and dehabilitating disease that requires vet intervention far before most pet owners begin to notice something is wrong.

Answer 2

When you are seeking help - you need to give us enough details to answer a question.  Good places to start are: 1.) what kind of gecko is it?  2.)  how old is it?  3.) how long have you had it?  4.) what do you feed it? 5.) did you google the animal and its needs, and are you providing correct diet/heat/lighting? 6.) was it healthy to start with?  7.) how long has this been going on?

I have NO clue.  I have nothing to base an informed guess on.

Please go to your additional section, and tell us a bit more about the reptile, and it's problem.

I'll post a few links below which you can look at, and search for symptoms, as well.

The only way I can answer this question as it stand is - it's not normal behavior for any gecko I'm familiar with, and you should get it to a qualified reptile vet immediately.

In general:

"Twitching is a sign of metabolic bone disease (MBD), which occurs when the reptile is not receiving enough calcium in its diet OR is receiving calcium but cannot convert it due to inadequate UVB exposure."

I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, and I hope this has been of help.  The animal is in trouble.  Provide more information, so we can help you, or take it to the vet.

Answer 3

Are you feeding him enough, is the temperature right and is he getting his supplements? If one of those is no then that's probably the answer. If not then bring him to a vet.

Answer 4

Geckos never change colour its only lizards or a cameleon or other reptiles but not crocodiles