Dwarf?

[Coils]

Ok, here is the deal....basically I have a healthy little gecko named Gizmo at the age of about 6 months who is weighing in at 28-30 grams. Is this normal?

I bought her from a pet store at the end of August and weighed her a while after. She was the biggest baby IN the tank and was about 15 grams then. She eats good and has a nice fat tail, but is a bit odd looking compared to my other geckos. Her body is stubby and all one length. She doesn't seem to have that pear shape most other leos do in the abdomen region.

Could she be a dwarf? Can geckos have stunted growth issues? (She ate very well with me, but I am wondering if in her very early years she didn't get enough to start developing right) Any ideas or thoughts?

 

[ngrdawg]

I wouldn't sweat it I see that shape through-out my collection in a few specimens. I think it is genetic and just not dramatic enough to be considered a morph. I had a high yellow female like that I bred her for a year with a hypo carrot tail tang and she was fine. She ate like a champ laid some honker eggs good hatch rate. She just wasn't doing it for me morph-wise so she was phased out. She was never my prettiest lizard though which is why I named her Ugly Betty. My sister has her now with a high yellow male I gave her when I got my dog Fu Long. I call him my dog because he's so tame. He is still my favorite for that reason there are lots of pics of him on my site. I also have a "stubby"? enigma which is stunning and did her work last year turning out some very nice copies of herself and some other bonuses. You might feed her some super worms to give her more weight but both Ugly Betty and Daddy's Girl the enigma have great appetites and still remain stubby.

 

[Baoh]

Her proportions look well enough, health-wise. She may just be a runt or otherwise stunted. I have a "runt" Super Giant female that seems to have only been supplied with just enough food for bare minimum sustenance before she was sold to me. She stopped growing right before last year's breeding season, but then started to experience moderate catch-up growth once that ceased. Still not proper Super Giant size, but she's way better than she used to be. Like your animal, she had healthy looking proportions despite her inferior growth rate.

If you did find that it was a genetic trait, there would be a market for it.

 

[Coils]

Her proportions look well enough, health-wise. She may just be a runt or otherwise stunted. I have a "runt" Super Giant female that seems to have only been supplied with just enough food for bare minimum sustenance before she was sold to me. She stopped growing right before last year's breeding season, but then started to experience moderate catch-up growth once that ceased. Still not proper Super Giant size, but she's way better than she used to be. Like your animal, she had healthy looking proportions despite her inferior growth rate.

If you did find that it was a genetic trait, there would be a market for it.

So you think it would be okay to breed her later on? When do you think she would be healthy enough to do this if she never reaches a certain weight?

 

[MiamiLeos]

i think she looks pretty good. a little small but not dwarf sized. her pet store existance may have stunted her just a little but if she reaches about 45 grams and is healthy she should be fine to breed provided she is in normal proportions, which she looks to be from the photos

 

[Coils]

i think she looks pretty good. a little small but not dwarf sized. her pet store existance may have stunted her just a little but if she reaches about 45 grams and is healthy she should be fine to breed provided she is in normal proportions, which she looks to be from the photos

That's good to know, I was hoping she could breed later on, but didn't want to do anything that would maybe hurt her.

 

[Baoh]

So you think it would be okay to breed her later on? When do you think she would be healthy enough to do this if she never reaches a certain weight?

Maybe. It's your call. I would see what weight she tops out at after a year of ownership and ad libitum feeding. Then I would consider breeding her if I wanted to.

 

[Coils]

Maybe. It's your call. I would see what weight she tops out at after a year of ownership and ad libitum feeding. Then I would consider breeding her if I wanted to.

?

 

[Tony C]

?

Let her eat as much as she wants.

 

[Coils]

lol

 

[Tony C]

ad libitum is Latin, meaning at pleasure or at will.

 

[MiamiLeos]

i have a little dwarf girl and i know a few other people who have them. you can usually always tell by looking at their body porportions and they sometimes if not always come with other difficulties. your little girl looks normal to me, just on the petite side

 

[Whitey]

Yeah, there was a thread on here a while back... someone had posted up a picture of a "dwarf" and even from the pics you could tell it was a dwarf. It was very.... "dwarfish"... I don't mean to offend when I say that, but that's the only way I can describe it. I wish I could find that thread. Anwho, Your little girl is fine, she looks good!

 

[MiamiLeos]

Yeah, there was a thread on here a while back... someone had posted up a picture of a "dwarf" and even from the pics you could tell it was a dwarf. It was very.... "dwarfish"... I don't mean to offend when I say that, but that's the only way I can describe it. I wish I could find that thread. Anwho, Your little girl is fine, she looks good!

lol i doubt anyone would get offended. i know myself and others adore our special little leos

 

[Whitey]

lol i doubt anyone would get offended. i know myself and others adore our special little leos

Well, I don't know if anyone has a relative that is a "dwarf"... that is what I meant by that.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Geckos, Ahhh YES.

Ok, I have a healthy little gecko named Gizmo at the age of about 6 months who is weighing in at 28-30 grams. Is this normal? Could she be a dwarf? Can geckos have stunted growth issues? (She ate very well with me, but I am wondering if in her very early years she didn't get enough to start developing right) Any ideas or thoughts?

Hi Chelsea.
All of your comments are a Yes.
There are different kinds of dwarfs.
Then there is normal Tiny ones.
And as you said just not enough food
by the previous owner.
But she is not a stubby genetic defect dwarf.
Here is mine. (Spider)
Take care. HJ

***BABY PHOTO***2008

*** ADULT Spider with Small Friend (TS) PHOTO ***

***Spider's Clutch Sister(Bumble) that is just a Tiny.
****(38 grams, eats good)
Also lives with Spider and TS (tiny snow)

 

[Coils]

Well, I don't know if anyone has a relative that is a "dwarf"... that is what I meant by that.

Lol, I am sry but that is funny

 

[Coils]

Hi Chelsea.
All of your comments are a Yes.
There are different kinds of dwarfs.
Then there is normal Tiny ones.
And as you said just not enough food
by the previous owner.
But she is not a stubby genetic defect dwarf.
Here is mine. (Spider)
Take care. HJ


I have seen your dwarf, I love her! I know that is a very dwarfy gecko, lol but I was wondering if their were maybe varying degrees. Guess my poor little Gizmo is just puny though. Does your girl have any severe complications being the way she is?

 

[GeckoGathering]

Very Dwarfy

I have seen your dwarf, I love her! I know that is a very dwarfy gecko, lol but I was wondering if their were maybe varying degrees. Guess my poor little Gizmo is just puny though. Does your girl have any severe complications being the way she is?

LOL ..love your comment.
Very Dwarfy. LOL

Gizmo looks fine in the photo.
At six months you can most likely still
get size from her,
with a normal feeding routine which
she may not have received.

As far as Spider and severe complications,
would that include, eating like a Pig and
looking like a Pocket Watch?
See you got a nice Snow.
Take care. Hj

 

[Landen]

I had a mack snow that was very stubby and I'd suspected she may be a dwarf. She has a very short tail and her head structure is much smaller. She produced a hatchling last year that was only 1 gram when hatched, full yoke obsorbed and fully developed. That hatchling is 10 months old now and half the size of the others her own age (weighs about 30 grams). Her mother has never been heavier than 55 grams. She had alot of trouble with the eggs and will not be bred again. She retained the last set of eggs for several months and finally absorbed them about 2 months ago.

Yours in my opinion looks to be regular proportional size and is probably just a little behind due to the previous care. Keep feeding her and she should be just fine.