will he get bigger?

[EchoPet]

I have a little male leopard gecko named Emilio who was given to me by an acquaintance when he was a juvie... so I thought.

Emilio isn't really skinny-skinny (as in, I don't think he looks sickly). He just overall has a very small frame/body structure. Hope this makes sense. He looks like a juvie but hasn't really grown in the time that I've had him. I've had him for awhile and just thought maybe he was a late bloomer or something, plus I just wasn't really sure how fast geckos grow to full size. Seeing pictures of others' juvies here on the forum has made me really wonder about Emilio's size. I weighed him the other day and he's only 28 grams.

The acquaintance now tells me that she'd actually had him since the beginning of 2007! So he's actually about 2 years old. Is he small because of improper care when he was young, or what? Will he ever get bigger? I offer food to him every day but he's usually only interested in eating every other day. He mostly eats crickets and mealworms. Should I try feeding him something else?

 

[zbsadler]

I'm no expert but he looks younger than 2 yrs judging by the tail size. Crickets and mealworms are a good diet if they are properly gutloaded. You can also feed him superworms to fatten him up but not on a daily basis. What kind of set up do you have him in?

 

[DLS Reptile]

If you do not properly gutload your feeders they will stay small. If you start now he will put on some size but will probably not retain the size of a full grown male that was properly fed from hatchling to adult. The average male should be 70-80 grams at that age. in other words, he will thicken up but will not attain the true length.

 

[EchoPet]

I'm no expert but he looks younger than 2 yrs judging by the tail size. Crickets and mealworms are a good diet if they are properly gutloaded. You can also feed him superworms to fatten him up but not on a daily basis. What kind of set up do you have him in?

That's why I thought he was younger too. But turns out he's over 2. :/

I'll try introducing some superworms to his diet as well.

As for set up, he's in a 10 gallon tank by himself.

If you do not properly gutload your feeders they will stay small. If you start now he will put on some size but will probably not retain the size of a full grown male that was properly fed from hatchling to adult. The average male should be 70-80 grams at that age. in other words, he will thicken up but will not attain the true length.

I've been gutloading my crickets and mealworms, but please tell me if I'm doing something wrong. I keep them in tubs with the mealworms on bran and oats. The crickets I keep in a tub with no substrate just egg crate - I only keep them a few days at a time since I start gut loading them at the pet store where I work, and just add some more nutrients for a few days at home. I feed them dog food kibble (a little bit of whatever my dogs are currently eating, so either Nature's Variety, Wellness, or Evo) as well as leafy greens, a bit of carrot, a bit of potato, a bit of apple, and a slice of orange. If I have other fruits and vegetables in the house, they'll get some of those as well. I dust all the foods with Rep Cal and Herpivite mixed up and also keep a dish of it in the tub.

 

[zbsadler]

IMO he looks healthy and you seem to be doing everything right as far as I know. A 10 gal is fine for one, that's what mine is in (for now lol). Like David said he will put on some weight with the right diet. He looks healthy and as long as he has an appetite I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[herpencounter]

Babies that are very improperly cared for meaning…

They fed him but only enough to keep him alive will not grow.

Babies need food to live and food to grow, first comes keeping them alive, and then growing. For the most part leopard geckos grow the most at birth (hatching) to 6 months. So if they do not get enough food to grow during the first few months, they will be unable to grow any further, if he really is 2 years old he probably will not grow any further.

Good luck,
J!

 

[EchoPet]

Babies that are very improperly cared for meaning…

They fed him but only enough to keep him alive will not grow.

Babies need food to live and food to grow, first comes keeping them alive, and then growing. For the most part leopard geckos grow the most at birth (hatching) to 6 months. So if they do not get enough food to grow during the first few months, they will be unable to grow any further, if he really is 2 years old he probably will not grow any further.

Good luck,
J!

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. I think he basically was fed crickets once a week in his old home so he's lucky he ever got even enough to stay alive as a little baby. Poor little guy. At least I'm hopefully doing everything right for him now.

 

[DLS Reptile]

Your gutload sounds pretty good. I use blended high quality dog food (all natural from a feed store) oats mixed in with carrots,potatoes and apples.

 

[EchoPet]

Thanks.

By the way, can anyone tell from the picture what morph he is? Sorry it's not the best shot, I can try to get some more once I get some new batteries for my camera. I'm still confused about the morphs and everything, so if someone could identify him for me, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Baoh]

Good luck with him. I have a supposed Super Giant female who likely underwent a similar experience of suboptimal feeding. I also have a male Blazing Blizzard that I rescued from my girlfriend's relative that is likely stunted from oscillating interest on the part of his previous keeper. He actually has grown some, but he's still undersized.

What are your surface temperatures at the hot and cool ends? If he's too cool, he may not be properly metabolizing everything he consumes.

Now, I would not be too quick to judge. It's possible that you have a runt, although the proportions say otherwise, and he may have received adequate care before you got him. Probably not, though. Just keep him in the proper temperature range and keep feeding him, leaving a dish of dusted mealworms in a dish to browse upon as a regularly available item and offer him as many crickets/superworms/roaches as he'll eat each day.

He may yet come around. Do what you can and he'll do what he can.

 

[EchoPet]

Thanks for your comment, Baoh. His floor temp on the hot end is around 92-95°F throughout the day and night. During the day, his cool end is around 79-82°F depending, and at night I just let it cool down naturally. I'm hoping to get a thermostat for his tank soon, so I don't have to worry about the weather here (or the temp our house is at) affecting the geckos' temps.

I'll start leaving him some mealworms in his tank instead of just doing all of his feeding in a separate bin. I just worry about them crawling out of the calcium dish I have for him now (it's just a plastic bottle lid) and getting lost in the tiles, so I might have to get him a deeper dish first. Right now I feed him every day by hand until he's full. I usually feed him mealworms every day and crickets a couple times a week, but I got him some wax worms yesterday, and I'll pick up some superworms when we get out next shipment in at work. I'm thinking about starting a roach colony as well.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Superior]

About your morph question, he looks like a normal or maybe high yellow.

 

[AloneAsAlways]

He deffinatly looks like a High Yellow to me if that answers your morph question.

 

[EchoPet]

Thanks guys! I actually posted another thread on him in the morph section of the forum cause I wasn't sure if anyone saw me ask here. :x So I've had the question answered doubly now lol.