worried owner

[Jsmithusar]

I got to female African Fat Tail Geckos ones a reg pattern and the other is a albino tang pattern I got them both at the same time and the same size a year ago and now the regular one is grown much bigger than my albino and the albino is real scrawny. They don't fight and I watch them when I feed them so the bigger one isn't hogging all the food. Any imput please I welcome it.

 

[Jsmithusar]

I also feed them gut loaded crickets dusted with calcium twice a week

 

[LeoLover1]

Do they both eat similar amounts? its hard to judge without more data. Tell us about your enclosure, temps, hides, that sort of thing. Pictures help, too. I'm not well versed on AFTs, but this is a good community, and we'll try to help!

 

[Jsmithusar]

Right now I got them in a exo terra 18x18x24 but I'm setting up a new 24x18x12 exo terra cage that will give them more ground room. I've been haveing problems with keeping the temps were I need it to be (I live in northern wi and its pretty cold up here) the cool side is in the low 70 and the hot in high 70. I mist the tank ever day so the humidity is pretty stable. The bigger one seems to eat a little more than the other one but I can be sure of that.

 

[Jsmithusar]

The new cage I'm adding two new heat pads and an regular basking light 100w and a night heat lamp 100w that I'm going to hook up to thermostats the help me regulate the temps better

 

[Josh2]

The best way to feed them maybe in this particular case is to feed them separately so that the smaller gecko can get his fair share. If he's smaller naturally he is going to get beat out when hunting for food... just my $0.02

 

[Jsmithusar]

 

[Jsmithusar]

My new cage set up.....tell me what u think

 

[Geckomaster743]

What are the genders, With leopard geckos the same thing happens. Females get smaller but they arent ever that far behind.. Maybe the gecko is having a slow growth year. How do you feed them? If you feed them at the same time your self and watch them eat that may help. There is nothing wrong with the gecko being smaller as long as the tail hasnt shrunk.

 

[Jsmithusar]

They both should be female the breeder sexes them for me when I got them

 

[Jsmithusar]

Any suggestions on other things I could feed them besides crickets?

 

[Caleb C]

Roaches work. My aft is what people would call a runt. It grows slowly, but it's what makes it special

 

[Jsmithusar]

How big and how often

 

[Caleb C]

As many as it will eat daily. 2-3 small roaches or medium crickets.

 

[LeoLover1]

Since one is underweight, you can try some wax worms. They're like junk food for reptiles; they're fatty, and usually used only as a treat.

 

[Geckomaster743]

Since one is underweight, you can try some wax worms. They're like junk food for reptiles; they're fatty, and usually used only as a treat.

Just a note, Waxworms are a VERY good source for your geckos but remember its like Cheese Cake. A waxworm barley carries any thing useful and its just a food used for a gecko to gain weight. We dont eat that much in our normal lives so dont over feed them. Last time Athena was sick i kept giving her waxworms on there own and she got addicted and wouldnt take any thing else. If you will feed waxworms i'd prefer 1 Mealworm and 1 Waxworm. If you try to feed her Crickets she will notice they dont look similar to a waxworm but you can try any way.

 

[Jsmithusar]

I've tried wax and meal worms but I wasn't able to get them to eat them

 

[Jsmithusar]

see these are my two aft tell me what you guys think. Should i be concerned about the size diffrence?

 

[LeoLover1]

Wow, that is a big size difference. They both look healthy, but I'm no expert on AFTs. Maybe you just have a runt (or a giant!) I'd still probably feed them separately, just to be safe.

And get yourself a scale. Keeping accurate measurments of their weights will help put your mind at ease!

 

[Caleb C]

My runt has a giant tail, but grows very slowly. Aft's are known to be very picky and not many people can get them to eat mealworms. Geckobabies seem to have all their Aft's eat mealworms. Mine will look at the mealworm, and just look away.