Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There was a topic in the snake community quite some time about animals that would eat rarely, showed little or no weight gain or loss, had no apparent underlying causes, yet failed to thrive in captivity (most were captive bred). Changing diet, habitat, or light cycles showed had no effect. The animals just seemed to not do well. Has anyone ever heard of this in Leopard Geckos? Particularly as it might relate to the amelanistic strains? I am having a devil of a time with Rainwater albinos. Husbandry is exactly the same as all other geckos. Animals were purchased from reputable breeders and dealers. But I seem to not have much luck with the Rainwaters. My largest Rainwater male is slightly over 50 grams whereas my Tremper males are in the 65 - 80 gram range. I've got one female Rainwater who just doesn't seem to want to do much of anything. Eats rarely, yet never drops a substantial ammount of weight (I've tried all sizes of meal worms, crickets and waxworms with nothing making her eat with gusto). Tail is in proportion to her body.

No outward signs of ill health. Just seems like she doesn't want to thrive. Just curious if anyone else has seen this.

Thanks,
Ian

I have a male leo like that as well, this lil bugger hasnt gained much weight if none whatsoever. I have tried a lot of tricks so to speak, and have tried diff. foods. He just wont fatten up like my other leo's he is around 40 grams last weighed, but he looks a lil skinnier since previously being weighed.

Some Rainwater Albinos are small and seem to grow slow. This could be from line breeding. The best way to inprove on their size is to out breed rainwater albinos to a large (over 80 grams) mate.

I have been outbreeding my rainwaters for the last 3 seasons and has helped to produce larger more hardy albinos and even a few stripes and jungles.

The male in the pic is 70 grams and the patternless albino is his offspring. The pic is from last spring and the patternless albino female now weights as much as her father.

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RandyS
R&B Geckos

Hi Ian!!!!

Although I don't have Rainwaters, I have been told by my vet (Kenneth Harkewicz, DVM in Berkeley) that failure to thrive syndrome does indeed affect Leopard Geckos. However, it was my understanding that the symptoms are less subtle than you are describing, and it causes literal wasting and eventual death. Perhaps the term is used loosely as a catch-all for some of the idiopathic or otherwise unexplainable afflictions our reptiles can have. After all, the word 'syndrome' simply means a combination of symptoms that characterize a particular abnormality... or in otherwords, "we just can't our finger on it!"
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

Hi Marcia!!!
Great to hear from you! How is the Tremper Stripe male you had gotten when I was there in October? Yeah my Rainwaters are driving me nuts. I hate having animals that no matter how I tweak things, don't seem to be doing excellent. My male is SLOWLY gaining weight as is my other Female. However the first female just doesn't seem to want to do anything. There is nothing triggering my normal "I've got a sick herp, time to start treatment" reaction. If you recall my background, you'll remember that I've kept some obscure stuff and it makes me crazy when things aren't doing well for no apparent reason.

How are all your little 'uns doing? The Blizzard female and Tremper amel female I got from you are doing great. The Blizzard female just hit 40gr and the Tremper amel is at somewhere between 20 - 25 grams and her tail is looking great!

I just weighed and fed yesterday and don't remember exactly.

Hope all is well with you!

Ian

I have acquired two Leopards, both from the Vet Clinic I used to work at, and both were "failure to thrive". One of the first things to check for are parasites. I hand fed/force fed with canned A/D Dog/Cat food (you can get from most vet clinics). Add enough bottled water to make it easy to give through a syringe. You can add calcium powder and vitamins also. Anorexia is seen in geckos and sometimes you just have to make them eat so their system turns around and they start eating on their own. Both of my Leopard's are doing great now!!

i guess, if you're breeding them and they're not thriving, try separating them for a while, since leos tend to lose weight (especially males) while breeding. i figure you've probably already tried that, though. i've found that housing individually is the best way to go when trying to fatten them up, hehe.

i also have a female snow that is healthy-looking, and even has a nice, rotund tail, but i never see her eat, or leave her favorite hide (except sometimes to switch to the moist hide). she is also so much smaller than her housemate, that i thought her growth was stunted for a while. i have periodically housed her by herself, and figured out that she was eating when i wasn't around. i haven't weighed them yet, but i'd bet myrtle (the snow) is just at the smaller end of the spectrum, and jeeves (my large female, and her housemate) is probably about 80 grams or something. i've never seen an adult female bigger than jeeves (though i'm sure the 'giants' are), so i guess my perspective was skewed, since jeeves was my first leo.
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marla
keeper of: axolotls, catfish, ferrets, leopard geckoes, oriental fire-bellied toads, and sugar gliders

Out of my 4, one has never gained weight like the rest. She's healthy & active, just not nearly as big as everyone else & she's not an albino. I think it's just that different leos grow at different rates. I also think some people have too high expectations. In this thread is a post that one person considers their 50 gram leo to be "failure to thrive". This is a very hearty, healthy weight, & not a failure to thrive at all. It's just animals w/ different bodies, just like us.
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1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn snake Fuzzy
1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

Wow, I had never heard of this before, but it fits my Bell Albine to a T. He ate nothing for months, and now he snaps at a cricket every now and then, but he doesn't gain weight. He is captive-bred from a reputable breeder, and looks great other than the fact that he's skinny. He isn't getting worse, but I wish he were fat. I'd really like to breed him!