Abnormally Small Leo?

[tpm11283]

I got this gecko from a pet store, last week. He was housed separate from the "baby" gecko's with another adult. I was told he is 6-8 months old, by the petstore. He only was 2o grams, weighed him tonight, eats only like 2 crickets a day. I know he is an older gecko, because you can easily sex him as a male, plain as day. Is there something wrong with this gecko? Some grow extremely slow? Looks very healthy, just quite small. I was hoping to breed him with 2 females I have who weigh close to 40 grams. I was going to wait until he got quite a bit bigger though, at least 40 grams. What does everyone think?

 

[Dan K.]

looks pretty healthy nice fat tail

 

[vctkiller]

Looks to me just a juvy. I don't think its probably 6-8 months in my opinion. Looks pretty healthy to me, and dwarfs geckos are a little bigger in the mid area. Somebody in this forum has one called Spider

 

[Zynx_Keekeio]

Looks to me just a juvy. I don't think its probably 6-8 months in my opinion. Looks pretty healthy to me, and dwarfs geckos are a little bigger in the mid area. Somebody in this forum has one called Spider

there are 2 at my work who are like tinier than hatchlings and we've had them for 4-6 ,onths old

 

[tpm11283]

He doesn't eat much, and I know it was in the pet store for atleast 3 months, because I had my eye on it, and it did get a little bigger, but the biggest difference I noticed in it's change during that time was the color.

 

[tpm11283]

Any suggestions on how to fatten him up a little bit, beside crickets? He is not eating meal worms I have in the dish with a little calcium. He doesn't even go nuts on the crickets when I drop them in there, I put 3 in there last night, and there was 2 left this morning.

 

[Zynx_Keekeio]

Any suggestions on how to fatten him up a little bit, beside crickets? He is not eating meal worms I have in the dish with a little calcium. He doesn't even go nuts on the crickets when I drop them in there, I put 3 in there last night, and there was 2 left this morning.

get the tiny crickets, and start with just a few, my guess is they only ged him like 2 a day, so it stunted his growth nutritionally so his body isn't ready to go "CRICKETSSSSS"

 

[2bacop]

get the tiny crickets, and start with just a few, my guess is they only ged him like 2 a day, so it stunted his growth nutritionally so his body isn't ready to go "CRICKETSSSSS"

agreed

 

[Halley]

Looks fine to me. And i doubt he's 6-8 months still with his hatcling pattern.

 

[tpm11283]

Thanks everyone for the replies! What is your take on superworms at this age?

 

[acpart]

I haves a 7 month old gecko that I hatched last summer whose weight these days ranges from 28-30 grams. She's a terrible hunter and I just about hand feed her. She doesn't eat a whole lot. I feed every other day and sometimes that's too often for her. But she's well proportioned with a nice sized tail. I think some of them grow slowly. She had her first superworm when she only weighed 11 grams and scarfed down 2 of them.

Aliza

 

[lpcad]

Looks to me just a juvy. I don't think its probably 6-8 months in my opinion. Looks pretty healthy to me

I agree. That pattern makes me think juvy.
Around here a lot of pet store meal worms are not very active. They are usually kept in a refrigerator. maybe you could try letting them warm up and giving them a piece of carrot to rehydrate them. It might make them more active and in turn let your little leo know he has some food. or you could try getting some mealies from a reptile show.
You could also try little roaches, phoenix worms, small horn worms, silk worms or a wax worm here and there. If your pet store doesn't have any of those you could try a bait shop or the internet is a good source to find bugs.

 

[DLS Reptile]

Geckos seem to do better in smaller enclosures when they are not feeding.. I had 2 geckos given to me by a guy that did not want them anymore. They were obviously not eating as they were very skinny. He had them housed in a 20 gallon. I placed each gecko in its own shoebox enclosure with a hide, meal worms and a water dish. Within a few days of them being left alone ( I only bothered them to clean and feed) they started to become ravenous eaters. Just a few days before these geckos were not eating anything, from mealies to crickets. After 4 days I could not keep the meal worm dishes filled. They were eating like 20 a day. It is all about security with smaller geckos. Now they are gaining weight fast and getting nice thick tails.. Try this method and I can almost guarantee he will eat and grow like a weed.

Oh and buy the way, I would say he is no more than 3 months of age...

 

[GeckoGathering]

Tinys

I was told he is 6-8 months old, by the petstore. He only was 2o grams, weighed him tonight, eats only like 2 crickets a day. I know he is an older gecko, because you can easily sex him as a male, plain as day. Is there something wrong with this gecko? Some grow extremely slow? Looks very healthy, just quite small. I was hoping to breed him with 2 females I have who weigh close to 40 grams. I was going to wait until he got quite a bit bigger though, at least 40 grams. What does everyone think?

You asked.
IMO ...............it looks heathy.
.......................could be 6 --? mo. old.
......................40 grams is rather hard on breeders when they
can average dropping 7 grams on a clutch. And I find
they sometime have less appetite while laying.
Most comments I have read talk 55 grams for min. breeding weight.
After seeing some females weight loss, I have a hard tine
even thinking 55.
Its not a dwarf(doesn't show shorten body from skeletal defect)
Could become a tiny or small as some humans or other animals.
I had two small 2008 hatchings and one was a dwarf.
One hatched 19 days after the dwarf....same parents.
Iit was not a dwarf, but remains a tiny.
Dwarf (Spider) is now 7 months and hits 52 grams.
Her sister (Bumble) is 6 months and is at 27.
So you see it is possible that you also could have a "tiny" and
it will remain tiny or small.

Take care. HJ

 

[Brewster320]

Looks healthy to me. maybe its like my patternless male. i got him as a hatchling and he like just wouldn't grow. He'd eat a ton each feeding but honestly didn't start growing until 6months later. It's been almost a year and hes on 42 grams. He fat and healthy but he was a slow grower. It was odd.