Really really small leo from Marcia??

[OSUgecko]

Hey guys,

I bought this little reverse stripe from Marcia last summer (he was born in May 2007), and he has just never grown to full size! He has free choice access to mealworms all day and is offered crickets regularly; he will eat but never very much. He has been dewormed and checked by my vet who declared him healthy. The only health issue he has ever experienced was a prolapsed hemepenis about 8 months ago, which resolved within a week of treatment.

I have no clue why he's so little or why he's so light in color. Marcia told me he has absolutely no mack in his background. He is out of her reverse stripe line. I have posted pics of him before but removed them from the posts when my pic box became full.

Let me know what you guys think or if you have any ideas why he might be the way he is??? Thanks!

 

[thekooliest]

cute...dont know if the skinny is bad...but try her slurry recipie

 

[OSUgecko]

Oops, not all of the pictures downloaded. The very first picture below is what he looked like when I received him from Marcia. The other four pics (three below and one in the first post) were taken tonight in natural sunlight.

 

[thekooliest]

Ive heard when the tail gets skinny its not good. but they wont die. i dont think.

 

[OSUgecko]

It's not just the fact that I can't get his tail to fatten up, it's that he is SOOO small! My other leos are about twice as long as he is. He's proportional in size, just tiny. I've tried to fatten him up with waxworms/pinkies too, but he doesn't like either. He's had all the food offered to him he could want, and he doesn't act abnormal... he just doesn't grow.

Oh, forgot to say earlier that his temps are in the high 90s on the hot side and in the mid 70s on the cool side.

 

[shadowx362]

did you give him enough calcium with D3? His arms look fat kinda like maybe MBD at the edge. He is really cute and maybe was stunted of growth from no calcium with d3? I might be getting a stunted female from a breeder on here and her groth she was stunted because she had MBD as a baby. He looks very nice other wise

 

[OSUgecko]

No signs of MBD, that's just the picture angle. He's been fully supplemented with Ca++ and vitamins from day 1.

 

[PacHerp]

maybe his environment is a little stressful for him? Are the temps belly heat, or air temperature?

Can you post photos of his enclosure?

 

[thekooliest]

hopefully not anything bad....maybe the oppisite of a giant

 

[shadowx362]

well I dont think he has anything wrong then, maybe he is just meant to be small......I wish I had one, they look so nice

 

[fallen_angel]

He looks perfectly fine to me, maybe just is smaller than the rest, or maybe your other ones are bigger than average..? how much does he weigh?

 

[RogueMonkey]

well i think yours is just like mine in that my bell is stunted as well, but why yours was stunted i cant say, i believe mine was the calcium with D3 his previous owner did not supply him with any, and he lost his tail at a very young age as well. heres some pix hes almost 1.5 yrs old and only 35 grams ill be opening my own topic about him in a few. as i have some questions

 

[OSUgecko]

I'll try to take pics of his tank later. He is the only gecko in the tank... has a hide on the hot side, one on the cool side, and a humid hide... a log to climb on... and is housed on paper towels. His heat source is an above tank heater, but the floor temps are consistently 90-95 degrees.

I know UTH's are better, but my other leos are housed in the exact same setup and are doing wonderful. I have been planning to switch him soon but was hoping to do that when his current heat lamp burned out (it's a red nighttime bulb, BTW).

I don't have a current weight on him and don't have a scale to weigh him on at home, but I think he was around 30g or so last vet visit.

 

[fallen_angel]

We are the same, we use overhead heating on our cages. Yes, UTHs are better, but we can't buy a bunch of thermostats for them right now and it's just easier to use a light. We will eventually get UTHs though, after we move at the end of the year.. but with the light making the bottom of the tank warm enough, I don't see a problem with it. We have had several geckos grow and thrive just fine. One of our geckos we got when he was 30 grams, and he has grown to be 125.8 grams. Our others are all at a pretty good weight too. So in my personal experience and opinion, overhead heating wouldn't be the cause of stunted growth.

 

[lytlesnake]

It is possible this gecko carries a gene that is the opposite of a giant. That tail is not too skinny, no worries in my opinion. You could try waxworms and superworms. Some geckos don't like phoenix worms, but some do, so that's another option worth trying.

 

[Halley]

I have to agree with Mike & Jess, he really doesn’t seem to be too bad at all. It might just be he is little; there are full grown human males that only reach 5’0”, so it is only logical that some male geckos only reach 30 grams or so.

What did Marcia tell you about his size, I’m assuming she has already been contacted about this situation, as you said earlier that she said he had no mack in him.

 

[liljenn]

I have to agree with Mike & Jess, he really doesn’t seem to be too bad at all. It might just be he is little; there are full grown human males that only reach 5’0”, so it is only logical that some male geckos only reach 30 grams or so. .

Yeah, that would be me ^^ lol :main_laugh: My whole family is "vertically challenged"... it's genetic and not unhealthy.

I have to say, if the gecko is healthy & thriving (according to your vet), and the husbandry has always been proper, then there is no reason to be concerned! In fact, he looks perfectly healthy and from what I have read, males are typically naturally thinner than females. I see no reason to "fatten him up". Over weight is not good for any species! It is probably just genetic, and not a bad thing!

 

[Gecko Euphoria]

Nothing to worry about

I have a mack pair that I breed and they and there offspring never get up past 7 inches long and 45 grams tops they are just geneticly small and I had them checked at first and my vet which is a vet at a zoo told me that runts are possible in all living creatures, kinda like the giant is geneticaly big. The Rules on size are not set in stone. Unless he was thin and his eyes were bugged or snken in then hes not sick. Or he did not eat and had runny stools or very strong oder I wouldn't worry especially since he's been checked, hope this helps you, oh he's very pretty,

Adam

He looks perfectly fine to me, maybe just is smaller than the rest, or maybe your other ones are bigger than average..? how much does he weigh?

 

[OSUgecko]

OK, good to hear. Thanks for the compliments.

From what Marcia told me he has no giant background, but this is actually the first time that I've mentioned the "smallness" factor to anyone on GF... so Marcia, if you read this, please let me know what you think!

Again, I didn't really think he was unhealthy or even too skinny. His behavior has always been normal, he has been on proper husbandry tactics from day 1, etc. I just thought I'd ask you guys to see if anyone had any thoughts on why he was overall so much smaller than my other geckos. The others might just be bigger than "normal"... I'll try to take comparison pics of them vs. him.

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!

 

[Baoh]

I like him a lot. I would not be concerned. I would try to pass on his features, if possible. Attractive little fellow.