Very Small Leo

[brandy101010]

Last year I hatched out a normal from a SHTCT Het Bell X SHCT.
She is 6 months old. She is in great health, one of my really good eaters, never turns down anything you offer her, very active, not skinny, parasite free, but is extremely small! she is so small that she is still being housed in a hatchling tub! another thing about her is that she has the biggest attitude I have ever seen! when she was a hatchling I just figured she was just being feisty like most hatchlings are but she never grew out of it. When I feed and water her she jumps up and tries to bite me! lol The hatchlings from the same pairing are growing big and are at the size they should be for their age. they also turned out being SHTCt and SHTCTB's. her bands are gone and have all turned to spots, she just looks like a little hatchling with spots.
Anyone ever have a similar experience?
I'm wondering if she is just a really slow grower or if she is going to stay this small.

I would love to show a pic but my batteries for my camera are dead but as soon as I get some I will show off my little demon!

 

[nightseer00]

ill wait on pics

 

[Val]

We received a gecko when she was around 8-10 grams or so, and by the time we sold her a year and a half later she hadn't even broken 40grams. She's small, but was always a great eater (always gained a little weight and never lost any) and was otherwise healthy same as yours. We recently sold her to Derek (GeckoStud) where she will surely live out a healthy life with him, but I don't expect her to get too much bigger.

 

[brandy101010]

I borrowed my sisters camera real quick to snap a pic. This pic actually makes her look bigger then she is. She is 6 months old and is only 19 grams.

 

[KiKi]

shes pretty

 

[MichaelJ]

I remember seeing a classified posted awhile back by I think Steve Skyes for a female he just couldn't get to grow so he was selling her cheap. I think that some just come out small sometimes. Like human beings some people are just tall or short. Maybe you have a new morph.. A dwarf leopard gecko.. or a MINI LEO LOL

 

[brandy101010]

lol! Thanks guys! She is a cutie! I named her Little. I'm going to keep her. I want to see how big she is when she is a year old.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

There are already dwarf leos...but it is a defect, not a morph

She needs that attitude to make up for her lack of size That is really interesting though...

 

[Malibu Barbie]

I had a full-grown normal female ( who unfortunately died a while ago) who was 31g - She never grew any bigger for some reason - She was about 4 when i got her!

I read somewhere that their development can be slowed or even stoped of bred to early !

 

[ReptileMan27]

She is cute , just a runt lol

 

[Scott&Nikki]

You should have named her Babe.

 

[Double LY]

I remember seeing a classified posted awhile back by I think Steve Skyes for a female he just couldn't get to grow so he was selling her cheap. I think that some just come out small sometimes. Like human beings some people are just tall or short. Maybe you have a new morph.. A dwarf leopard gecko.. or a MINI LEO LOL

It wasn't Steve Skyes. It was Paul Sage and he was offering her for adoption, not for sale. I am the person who adopted the little gal from him. Attached is a picture. She hatched in June of '06 and holds at the whopping weight of 22 grams. She is definitely not a dwarf. Her proportions are perfect, she's just little. She is housed alone (will always be since she is so tiny) and will obviously never be bred. We named her "Clementine" because she's my darling She is by far the most active and social leo we have - loves to climb and comes out whenever we are in the room. Big is beautiful, but so is little

 

[brandy101010]

I had a full-grown normal female ( who unfortunately died a while ago) who was 31g - She never grew any bigger for some reason - She was about 4 when i got her!

I read somewhere that their development can be slowed or even stoped of bred to early !

Oh Don't worry, she will never be bred.

 

[brandy101010]

She is so cute Kelly!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess it is more common then I thought.
I hope she grows a little bigger so she is easer to catch LOL! that girl can run!

 

[Double LY]

I hope she grows a little bigger so she is easer to catch LOL! that girl can run!

Or you can just wait until she's biting you real good and pick her up that way

 

[StinaKSU]

It is actually entirely possible that these little ones ARE dwarfs.....just not the same type of dwarf as the ones being thought of. If they have some sort of growth hormone problem (they may not be producing enough, they may have defective receptors, or they may a low number of receptors) they will be properly (or close to it) proportioned, but won't grow to a full adult size....they should be otherwise generally healthy...unless producing no GH or they have no receptors at all.

 

[brandy101010]

It is actually entirely possible that these little ones ARE dwarfs.....just not the same type of dwarf as the ones being thought of. If they have some sort of growth hormone problem (they may not be producing enough, they may have defective receptors, or they may a low number of receptors) they will be properly (or close to it) proportioned, but won't grow to a full adult size....they should be otherwise generally healthy...unless producing no GH or they have no receptors at all.

Interesting theory. Thanks!

 

[eyelids]

Brandy she's gorgeous! I have a Blizzard that was 6-8 months old when I got it and was only 22 grams. She quickly got up to 49 grams, but did not grow any bigger for an entire year. Since I really wanted to breed her (I like my females to be at least 65 grams for breeding) I put a male in with her thinking she might spunk up a bit. Well she got nasty right away so I removed the male before he even tried to court her. From the next day on she's been eating like a pig! She weighed in at 49 grams every week since March '06, but since her exposure to a male (about one month ago) she has gained 10 grams! I'm not suggesting you put her with a male... Just wanted to share my experience... :main_thumbsup:

 

[Double LY]

Brandy she's gorgeous! I have a Blizzard that was 6-8 months old when I got it and was only 22 grams. She quickly got up to 49 grams, but did not grow any bigger for an entire year.

I can hardly believe you had a small leo. Your gals (and guys) always have a nice amount of "junk in the trunk" - hee hee. I was starting to think you had them on an illegal "supplement"

 

[eyelids]

I can hardly believe you had a small leo. Your gals (and guys) always have a nice amount of "junk in the trunk" - hee hee. I was starting to think you had them on an illegal "supplement"

LOL! Yeah I haven't showed this one off, but I'll be sure to get a pic before she starts her season in a month or so.