New baby mack snow - lots of questions

[myelodiya]

I just bought a new Mack Snow baby, who's about 2 months old or so, I'm not sure if she's a 'hatchling', but to me, she's tiny! My first (and only up till yesterday) was a juvie when he came to me, and at least 5 times bigger than her!

here are the pics of her:

Alright, so here are my questions,
Does she look like she has a bit of MBD? Her limbs/feet seem very 'soft' compared to my bigger leo. But 'babies' bones are always a bit softer?
How many mealworms should she be eating everyday? I fed her today, and she was only willing to eat 4 medium sized mealworms.
Does she look waaay too skinny?
Also, when will she stop being so nervous/tense, and start coming out of her hide once in a while?

I had her in a huge iris tub, which was way too big, and have now moved her to a smaller one, in it I have two hides, one on the hot end, one one the cool end, and a cap of water, a dish of calcium, and also a dish of mealworms. I've put some stray mealies on the floor as well, but she doesn't seem to hunt them down, and I have to place them in front of her for her to be interested in them and actually eating them.
There's a thermostat, etc and I'm about to fashion a moist hide with wet paper towels as well. What else am I missing?

 

[Halley]

Does she look like she has a bit of MBD?

Not from the pics.

How many mealworms should she be eating everyday?

I let mine freed fed. They can eat as much or as little as they want.

Does she look waaay too skinny?

Looks okay to me.

Also, when will she stop being so nervous/tense, and start coming out of her hide once in a while?

If you where just born, taken out of the incubator, put in a tub, then put in a box that was being shipped (keep in mind how much they get thrown around) then taken out, a put into a new cage. Wouldn’t you be a little stressed, and attempt to get away for a while? I would give her about two weeks without any unnecessary handling. Just let her be, and allow her to adjust.

I've put some stray mealies on the floor as well, but she doesn't seem to hunt them down, and I have to place them in front of her for her to be interested in them and actually eating them.

Most likely stress as well. She’ll figure it out, and come around.

There's a thermostat, etc and I'm about to fashion a moist hide with wet paper towels as well. What else am I missing?

Sounds good to me, if you want me to I can PM you, a 10 page care sheet that I wrote, that covers EVERYTHING I can think of. If so just PM me, and I'll send it to you.

 

[Halley]

Oh, and she is a very pretty mack snow!!!!!!!!!! Keep us updated as she grows, I think it is fascinating how much they change.

 

[GeckoEcho]

I feel she looks very good from the pics too. I agree with Nick that shipping is already very stressful for fully grown animals and I can't imagine how stressful it is for a baby. I always try to think of animals in the human sense of age. Would we throw a 6 month old human baby in a box and ship it across the country? Not likely so it would be very stressful either way. Though the animal trade is a little more open to shipping young animals as long as it's done in the proper manner with the animals safety the # 1 priority.

She's a great looking Mack snow and I'm sure she'll start chowing down on the meal worms in no time.

 

[efx*]

Very nice!!! Awesome pattern!!

 

[brad.a.c]

She looks awsome! Mack Snows are one of the coolest morphs to me. And also, from the pics she looks very healthy. I also free feed mine.

 

[myelodiya]

Thanks everyone, I've never had such a tiny leopard gecko before. I'm just afraid she won't see the mealworms in her dish because they're not really that active etc. And my other leopard gecko won't eat unless I throw the mealies one by one in front of him.
I worry about everything even if/when I don't need to!

 

[fallen_angel]

I think she looks GREAT and maybe you are just worrying a bit too much, but there's nothing wrong with that! She is GORGEOUS too, what a beautiful little one! Do you know how much she weighs in grams? Keep in mind that some grow faster than others.. We have a Mack Snow female that stayed pretty small for the longest time, and then finally grew to be a big girl nonetheless. :heart:


For the little ones, we usually just throw mealies into their enclosure so that the worms can crawl around and the gecko can hunt them.. although, I am not sure if we're going to have problems getting these geckos to eat from a container later on because of this.. ? You can also buy some crickets (rip one of the jumper legs off so that they don't hop around like crazy) and they usually love hunting those!