Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I recently purchased an "adult female" AFT. Upon bringing "her" home I noticed that she was a he. I'm guessing he's a juvenile becuase he's only about 6 inches long and was being kept in a terrarium with other AFTs at the pet shop. I don't know much about juvenile geckos, I have only raised snakes in the past, but I did call the pet shop and tell them to stop advising their customers to keep baby lizards on calci-sand substrate (according to the Petsmart care sheet "calci sand is the ideal substrate for all geckos). They didn't even know the geckos were juveniles and could not give me any advice about special care that juveniles might require. I have had him for a week and he has yet to eat. My set up is a 10 gallon terrarium with two dry hides with moss in them (one at the cool end and one at the hot end)and a humid hide. The cool end of the tank statys at 80*F to 83*F, the hot end stays around 90*F, 95* directly under the lamp. Temps drop to 70*F on the cool end to 75*F at the warm end at night. I am using cage carpet for substrate, with damp paper towel substrate in the humid hide. I can email anyone a picture of my tank if you need to see it. Other than not eating, he seems to be okay (not active but they are nocturnal so I'm not sure what "normal" activity levels for AFTs are during the day). Should I be doing anything else for him? I've tried feeding calcium dusted crickets and mealworms.
Thanks!

6 inches is a good start on growth. You dont need to treat it different then an adult. Its probably close to a year old, give or take.

AFT Care sheet

No way he's a year old. Mine isn't even a year old and it is 8 inches. It was 5 inches at 6 months, 6" at 7-8 months, and 7
" at about 9 months old.

Does he look malnourished/skinny. Prolly would be a good idea to try to give him some crickets.

He hasn't eaten crickets any night this week (I've put them in at night and removed them in the a.m.), but I'll try again. He looks like he's in good shape to me, but I'm not a gecko expert. I can email you a picture, I don't know how to post images on this forum.

Does the tail have some "meat on it"?

I have had a few AFT's that have slowed down on eating over the last few weeks, It's breeding season. If the tail looks good, don’t worry, yet.
If you have a scale, weigh it now, so you can verify it is gaining or not gaining weight later.
Is it wild caught or captive bred? I’m guessing wild caught, paid 40 dollars (or so?)
Wild caught can take a little longer to acclimate. Plus, sometimes they have "bugs".

He was captive bred, I called the breeder the pet store got him from (I paid almost $100 for him). The breeder confirmed that he wasn't fully grown yet and guarunteed his health. His tail is nice and fat (as big around as his head), I was just worried that he wasn't eating due to improper conditions or some other thing I was doing wrong.

He may just be settling in. With a tail that big, he is probably very healthy.

It depends on genetics. I think 1 year give or take is a good SWAG. =P

This one is just about 1 year old. (7 inches)

This was is also about 1 year old (6 1/4 inches)

This one is almost 2 years old

How do you post pictures? I'd like to post a picture of him for you to see. Or you can email me at isis220@hotmail.com and I'll replay with a picture.

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