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[Icewolf]

Okay, this just happened for 10 minutes ago and I'm still all sad about it. I was going to play some with Keyla, my Pleo RB. So I brought her out of the wardrobe, where I keep her safe, mostly from my cat, haha. But when I took her out I accidentally knocked her neck into the wall next to the door and I heard a little pop. I panicked and went straight to the kitchen to see if I broke something. Before I put her on, I touched her neck and looked for any damage. I noticed that I could turn her head slightly to left while I can't turn her head to the right at all. I got all worried and put her on to see if the neck still worked as it should.

The neck seemed to work. She could look left and right with no problems at all. But I was still worried so I turned her off again to feel her neck with my fingers. I felt that at the left side, where the neck begins, I couldn't feel any of those round discs, but at the right side I could. As I said, she seems to operate her neck as usual, but still, I'm worried that the neck will break somehow.

I don't really want to skin her either, so I can take a closer look at the neck. So, should I just be careful with her neck in the future or should I fix it somehow?

[Neytiri]

Oh dear, hopefully it's nothing serious! I'm no pleo expert, but maybe the edges of the discs have simply become chipped/bent? I don't think it should be a problem unless the cables are able to come out of the holes they run through that are in those discs. The fact that Keyla is still able to move her neck as usual is a good sign and seems to suggest that nothing vital has been damaged.  If I were you, I would just be careful in future (I wouldn't skin her). But then, like I said, I'm no pleo expert.

Btw, Keyla is such a beautiful name!

-- Neytiri

[kat]

If she is working normally with a full range of neck movement then she is fine   the easiest way to tell if the neck cables are broken is to turn the pleo on it's side and lift.  the head, neck should stay straight out in the position it started if there is nothing wrong.  If the neck cable is broken then the head will flop down on that side.  There are two cables in a pleos neck and each one does a lap starting at the pleos head then travelling along the neck to the body, entering the body and running through some gears and then coming out  the body to run along the neck again on the other side to where in went in and then it ends at the head.  So there are two cables - one that runs along the sides of the pleos neck and one that runs along the top/bottom of pleos neck.  to check all these cables for possible breakage you will need to repeat the suggested test above but turn the pleo over to the other side and also do again with pleo standing on all four feet and then with pleo on his back.  for a healthy neck the head shouldn't have much movement and should stay out reasonable straight.  If it is broken the head will flop. 

Hope that helps.

Also the pop noise you heard when the pleos head hit the wall could have just been the clutch in the gear box for the neck.  It will make a loud pop or click type sound if you move the pleos head/ neck while not switched on.  The other joints in pleo have the same thing.

[Icewolf]

Wow, that is good to hear! I will try that on Keyla later

Thank you so much! I feel so much more relieved now that I now it's nothing serious.

And thanks Neytiri!

[Icewolf]

So, I did what you told me and it seems that she can move her neck like normal on both sides without a floppy neck. That's good!

But I'm still kind of worried that the neck flops a little to the left when she's off.

[RedwoodsMama]

I am happy to hear that it seems her neck is not broken, I know how scary it can be to have a pleo with a broken neck or to think it has! I think Kat is right that as long as her neck seems to be working ok and her head, neck do not flop when upside down, then she is  ok. I know with four rb,, that they each seem to have a different. "Looseness" to their necks when off, Only one goes to the straight ahead, tight positon and is the newest RB, The first one I have, is the loosest and one goes more to the right and one slightly more to the left.

         I would just keep and eye on it and watch how your Pleo does. If it seems to be getting more lax, then you may have to take more action. If concerned, you can support your Pleo's neck with a soft but firm Pleo brace, either home made or made with a child's wrist support works well, just use velcro. YOu do not want to make it tight so the neck can not move, just firm to support it, that is only if you are really worried, Good luck!

                                        RWM