Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need serious help. My 3 leos are about 9 mths old. They weigh under 20 grams,and are 6 inches in size. By reading about other leos whih are over 60 grams. I find that my leos are extremely under weighted I will post pics in an hour. Pls help and send info back ASAP!!!

Thanx

Here is a pic had a bit of trouble resizing it!

here is a pic

You should probably start feeding them around 4 wax worms and then the rest mealworms until they are full every day.

are you dusting? With what and how often? How much are they eating?
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~25
Holdbacks: 1.0 SHCTB- nice surprise! and 0.1 jungle
Available:
1.0 SHCT, 0.0.1 aberrant m?, 0.0.1 pastel F?, 7 month male circleback tang

Before anyone can give you any GOOD advice we need some information from you.

1. What do you keep them in?
2. What kind of substrate do you use in the bottom of their cage?
3. What and how often have you been feeding them?
4. Have you been giving them Calcium and vitamin supplements?
5. What are their temperatures in the cage?
6. Do they have several hides to choose from?
7. Do they have a moist hide where they can go to shed and hydrate?

Those are the critical questions we need answered before any good advice can be given on how to help your geckos. They should be well over at least 40 grams by now if female.... if male probably closer to 60. So.. answer the above questions and then maybe we can all give you some idea of what to do...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

I am feeding them 2 crix a day and dusting them with reptivite. I live in HK so i can not buy meal worms, but I have ordered some superworms. Is that enough info???

No wonder they are so light, 2 crickets a day is 1/6 of what they should be getting. Feed them until they don't want any more. And give them some waxies if you can get them.

I knew I wasn't feeding them enough but the shopkeeper I bought them from told me they would die if they ate to much LOL. I was feeding them more for a while and then went bak to two, seeing they're completely healthy I stayed that way. I'm gonna try to get ahold of waxies but I always heard they were too youg to give them those.

Thanx for your help and can you tell me approximaetly how much they should weigh at 9-9.5 mths of age

My leos have always been around 60 grams

Mealworms are easy to find in Hong Kong. Just ask any reptile owner or even the reptile shop, they sure can tell you where to buy mealworms.

I keep them in a 15-17 gallon tank. I use reptibark as a substrate. I feed them crix every day 2 crix. I use reptivite but i do not give them extra calcium. They have two hides and one moist hide.

Thanx for the help I'm trying my best and they do seem very healthy not fat but healthy.

They need more food, first. Waxies are great, there is no age minimum. I've fed waxies to 3 month olds. I doubt they are big enough for supers, though. Food items should be no longer than the skull and less than 1/2 or 1/3 width of the neck. Supers are best for full grown leos. You also need lots more calcium. Try to get some calcium only, without vit D, and keep it available all the time. Tho I'm not familiar with reptivite, I use something else, but I strongly recommend you re-examine their nutritional supplements. Are you feeding them the crix on the bark? Big no no!
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1.0 Hypo stripe, Het Rainwater from JL (BJ)
1.0 HypoTang from Crested (Apricot)
1.0 Tremper Albino (Cloud)
0.2 Hi-Yellow Leopard gecko (Beatrice, Pepper)
0.1 Normal (Freckles)
0.1 SHCT Leopard Gecko (Brite)
0.1 Tangy Mutt Leopard Gecko (Rainbow)
0.1 Tremper Albino (Leucy)
RIP Peaches, Ghost, Bill
Hatched: ~25
Holdbacks: 1.0 SHCTB- nice surprise! and 0.1 jungle
Available:
1.0 SHCT, 0.0.1 aberrant m?, 0.0.1 pastel F?, 7 month male circleback tang

No i'm not feeding them on the bark, and it is very hard to find mealies in HK. It would work to chop the worm in half and feed it to him be4 it stops moving.

Thanx, for the help.

I have found a herp vet in Hk (took me hours) I will go there for a checkup soon and maybe he can give me some information on how much I should feed them.

Actually, mealworms aren't that hard to find in Hong Kong. If you were able to get superworm, you'll probably be able to get mealies from the same place. Search the aquarium shops in [Fish Street], several of these shops sell mealies.

Another thing is, you need to gutload your feeders; chicken mash and a piece of carrot is not enough.

Are you going to the vet in Tai Wai? Dr Tiger and Dr Morgan are both very nice people. I think it would be better if you can bring along a fresh stool sample too.

Thank you so much, I didn't know you could but mealies in Hk and I ordered my supers off the internet. Do you live in Hk if so can you tell me what kind of reptiles you have. I would also like to know if there are any rep shows in HK maybe you can help me. I know where fish street is as I got my leos there, you might know the shop it's called reptileparadise.

THANX FOR YOUR HELP

Your post really concerns me. It seems like you are relying on the information given to you by "The Shopkeeper". They're wrong, and if they didn't tell you that they need to be supplemented with vitamins and calcium, then I would just forget everything that they have ever told you. I wouldn't trust anything that they have said to this point. So, here we go on my rant.

Feeding:
You need to feed these animals more than 2 crickets a day. That stunned me, I'm surprised that they are still holding on. They need to be fed as many crickets/mealworms/superworms as they will eat within 15-20 minutes, then all the uneaten insects need to be taken from the enclosure.

Supplements:
They NEED calcium supplements in addition to the vitamin supplements! They NEED Calcium with D3 and without D3. I recommend Rep-Cal. Supplement calcium with D3 once a week using the Shake'n'Bake Method (putting the insects in a bag along with the powder and shake). Supplement calcium without D3 once a week using the same method. Supplement vitamins once-twice a week, same method. Also, a shallow dish of Calcium WITHOUT D3 needs to be left in the enclosure at all times.

Substrate:
I would not use "bark" as a substrate. They are not from the forest, nor do they live on bark in the wild. Without starting a flame war, I would suggest using papertowels. I use them, have used them for years without a problem. They're easy to clena and sanitary. If it were me, the bark would be in the trash.

Heat:
I don't see anywhere that you mention heat. Just incase, you need to have undertank heaters to place underneath the tank to create a warm side of about 93 (give or take a few degrees).

Humid Hide:
I didn't see anywhere that you mention a humid hide. These are a priority to have due to the fact that these animals shed, and need a higher level of humidity to slough the skin off. A humid hide is easy to make. A tupperware container, cut a hole in the side, put papertowels in the bottom and mist it; place it on the warm side and voila! A humid hide!

WAX WORMS:
Wac worms are to NEVER be a part of a regular daily feeding schedule. They are far too high in fat. Maybe two-to-three wsxworms a month are great. Do not feed them wax worms daily.

Gut Load:
What do you gutload with? Your crickets/mealworms/superworms need to be fed and kept healthy themselves. "You are what you eat". At least feed them high-protein dog/cat food as well as a water source (lettuce, celery, orange, apple, potato).

I hope this helps.
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Josh Ellis
My Email
Geckophiles.com
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Thanx for the help. I would like to know if they will take time to get adapted to the papertowels or not. Also I do have a humid hide but I use a coconut cave, that still works right? I do have an UTH but I only leave this half of the year(right now) as I live in Hk and it gets quite hot. Thanx

I will go see a vet for better Information and a checkup.

They shouldn't take that much time to get adapted to them. The first pair I purchased were kept on crushed walnut shells. It took them less then a week to get used to walking on the paper towels. The coconut cave should work, just make sure that it stays moist.
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Josh Ellis
My Email
Geckophiles.com
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Thanx for the help. I changed to papertowels yesterday and am feeding them mealworms so everythng should be perfect now LOL.