Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wrote a private breeder in search of a particular leo. He emailed me pic's of an absolutely striking little girl. His offer was - 1/2 price to the perfect home due to 1 problem. She was his best looking, but she would not eat. She hatched the end of April, but only weighed 22grams. In his opinion she was absolutely normal except for lack of appetite. He was over run with leo's and did not have the time to give her what she needed. We spoke in length about her, and ended the deal on - get her up to par- or if she didn't grow to breeding size, exchange her for another. Upon receiving her on Friday, I noticed something wrong with her left eye. I emailed him about it - told him I'd watch her over the next 24hrs (hasn't been discussed though - haven't heard back from him yet). That night I hand fed her 10 waxworms - she gobbled them up. SAturday and Sunday handfed her another 5-10 daily. This morning I attempted to hand feed her from the left.. she was completely unresponsive.. until the waxie touched her face - she squealed bloody murder and high tailed it to the other end of her box. I re-offered it from the right, she ate it right up. All day today I've been testing her, and I'm pretty sure that she is blind in that eye. Her right eye is yellow with little red veins (she's albino), the left eye the more of a yellow-Grey with large purple veins - and the pupil stays dialated all of the time. HEr left eyelid seems a bit deformed also. SOOOO - I've read the net, searched the forums about blind leo's. I've read blind leo's can have shorter life spans and that some do not grow much more than the size of a hatchling. The breeder told me she was 22g... I weighed her on Friday at 14.2grams. I love her - am totally smitten, but I'm concerned. Does anyone have any personal experiences similar to this? My question is... (and yes I know time will tell..) - with tlc CAN she grow to full size (40+grams) - remember, she is already 6mo old - ? Am I getting myself into a lose lose situation? I haven't yet heard from the breeder, so I don't know if he noticed this prior, but it would definately explain her 'lack of appetite' - wouldn't you think?*Sighs*

Best Regards,
Hailey

22 grams seems pretty big for a baby, but she might of been that big when you got her. i think the reason why the blind leos don't live as long is maybe because most people don't care enough to give it as much attention. plus you gotta remember theur eyes are to the side of their face and not directly in the front, if it was in the wild that would mean one side of her is suspectable to being snuck up on. i'd take her to the vet if you're really worried but as long as you take the time to give her care, she might pull through. you might want to call a vet, maybe this is soemthing treatable if you catch it early.

My question is more veered towards - can she grow to full breedable size? 14 grams for a 6 month old leo is very small - I have a dozen leo's that weighed 45 grams by 4 months of age. She weighs about the size of a 1-2month old right now. I don't think the eye is fixable, this was probably a birth defect as the breeder said she has never eaten for him like a normal leo should. And none of the vets in my area are smart about leo's - NONE of them. I'm just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience where a growth stunted leo has bounced back? I wondered if blind leo's in general just have problems. I have the TLC to feed her, I just want to know if she'll grow to full potential. THanks for your advice

Regards,
hailey