Giant leo how to spot?

[Twizzy]

Hey there I was wondering is there any way for me to be able to tell if a leo is truly a giant leo.. Im going into a store tomorrow who says there giants but I do not know how to tell if im being ripped off or not ( at lest not till there older)

Any one know of a way to tell?

 

[Poppy243]

I think the only true way to tell is by tracking their weight based on age. If they hit certain weight markers by the time they are a year old, they are classified as normal, giant, or super giant. You'd know if you knew how old they were... Or by seeing the parents. Giants and Super Giants are MASSIVE geckos. If they claim their geckos are giants, hopefully they'd know what the hatch date was so they can prove it.

 

[LIZARDLOVER]

+1 to what Poppy said.

 

[Twizzy]

So I should take a digital scale with me? I seen them a few weeks ago and they were massive at that time they seemed bigger then the reg geckos they had? they said they were about 8 months and already larger then my hand

 

[Poppy243]

I have a gecko that is approx 8 mos who is longer than my hand, and she is not a giant. She is normal, weighing in in the 45-50g range currently. To be honest, I wouldn't trust what they say unless they are known to be reputable and/or can show you the parents. Personally, I'd want to see the parents with a gene like this, as there are no real good visual markers like any other morph, even though this isn't a color morph but a size morph. A dishonest sales person, or even someone who doesn't know better, could say older geckos are the same age as younger geckos and that they are giants. If they are going to make you pay the price for a giant, I'd want to be pretty sure if it were me.

 

[KashMoneyExotics]

Yeah just because the gecko is big doesn’t mean it’s a giant. I have a 55 gram female who is only 7 months

 

[lisa127]

I don't think you can call a gecko a giant unless you know the genetics for sure. I have a 1.5 year old leo that has been holding his weight at about 123 grams for months now (and 11 inches long). He hatched in the summer of 2012 and hit the 100 gram mark in February of 2013 (so maybe around 8 months of age). I do not call him a giant though, because I do not know his genetics.

 

[Poppy243]

I don't think you can call a gecko a giant unless you know the genetics for sure. I have a 1.5 year old leo that has been holding his weight at about 123 grams for months now (and 11 inches long). He hatched in the summer of 2012 and hit the 100 gram mark in February of 2013 (so maybe around 8 months of age). I do not call him a giant though, because I do not know his genetics.

I feel like it would be pretty safe to call him a giant lol. He definitely qualifies. But since you don't know the genetics for sure, that's probably smart. I think it's really more of a size/weight relationship that qualifies a gecko as a giant, but most (if not all) giants come from other giants or super giants, so the genetics are important.

 

[christian]

weight does not matter. its more about length, and body structure. you must not confuse fat geckos for giants and supergiants. sometimes a giant will not look much different from a normal sized gecko, but will have the potential to produce significantly larger geckos as supergiants are unmistakeable

genetics are very important as well

 

[stager]

Most giants even when young have larger heads and longer tails.