Sticky gecko paws

[Bettina]

There's was a marable gecko that came through the feed store I work at recently that seems to have lost its ability to stick to the glass walls of its terrarium. Anyone have any idea what may have caused this? He seems healthy otherwise, as far as I can tell, but I'll be the first to admit that I know almost less than nothing about geckos.

Bettina
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[najaboy]

This seems to happen from time to time with marble geckos. After a short time, they regain the ability to climb the sides of their enclosures.
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[Bettina]

Huh. That sounds like a mystery. Is there any research or anything about why this happens? Could it have to do with their shed?

Bettina
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[pretty-leo]

your marbled probably has dust or fine sand under his feet you could try washing them with water I used to have Golden geckos which are pretty much the same thing and this happened to them all the time also misring the tank helps to keep their feet clean
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[Bry]

Wow, that must be pretty frustrating for them. One minute they're walking around at vertical or upside-down angles, and next thing they know, they find themselves on the floor.

But this brings my question about the wild geckos. It's not exactly spotless out there, they have nobody to mist their environment for them (well except for rain, but I doubt that helps much) and they have no glass walls to walk on either.

Bry
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[eddie]

If I recall corectly, I do believe that 3M, the post it note people, make marbled gecko bootys for the odd times they have probs.
Most Vets carry them, just call yours and ask about them and how to size them.







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[addsig]

Well, I watched Discovery about 2 weeks ago (see thread below this one) and it showed the mechanics of geckos feet.

Basically, on a cellular level, their feet have all these little hooks. And their pads are folds of skin with all these little hooks. They pump blood into their feet and the hooks stick to the surface.

I would think of all possible surfaces, glass would have the least rough imperfections and therefore clean off the least amount of debris on the feet.

That is just a theory based on watching how their feet work on discovery...
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[gecko_paws]

I have a cape striped gecko that has pads like the marbled gecko. you should spray water on the surface of the glass to make water spots. Then the glass surface is a little less smooth and your gecko will probably be able to walk up the walls again.
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[Seany]

yup, I find that the best and easiest way to solve the problem is to just keep simple bedding like a newspaper, paper towel... something that doesn't get too dusty. a small piece of driftwood inside the tank normaly helps them clean up their feet when it does happen.
However, I find that misting the glass makes it worse and not better... even if you clean the tank very often, the glass will still have a thin oily resedue from the gecko's feet and stomachs. That with the water gives you the same slippery effect of a street after rain while driving.
Just my .02
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[Bettina]

Wow. Well, we had aspen supreme pellet bedding in the gecko cages, which gets really dusty. I'll keep that in mind.

Bettina
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[gecko_paws]

Aspen bedding for geckos is really really bad I thought!!
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