Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I saw the smallest baby I've ever seen in my local large chain petsore. He was so thirsty that he was trying to drink the substrate, I had to take him home. They only had a large deep bowl of water that he probably would have drowned in. Anyway, he was grey and shed that night (after having his fill of water, he was sooooo thirsty when I got him home.)

He was this beautiful dark chocolate brown for a few days. Now he is tan (both day and evening). He is patternless or possibly bicolor. How come he changed colors like that, practically overnight?

check out the color change coolness at www.acreptiles.com

why would a baby not drink from or have problems with a deep water bowl?
-julie

OH! This baby was even younger than I thought. Yes, it looked just like the hatchling in his picture--a deep redish brown. Thank you so much for pointing me to it. I've looked at Anthony's website plenty of times, but I always just go to look at the available geckos.

Now I am really glad I got this baby. The water dish was really large and deep, and the gecko was really small. I think it would have fallen in if it tried to get a drink. It was also very dry in there. As soon as I got it home, I sprayed the sides and he licked the glass. He drank ALOT, he was really thirsty. I have a shallow water dish for my adult, but he always licks the glass when I mist, I'm not sure if he drinks from his bowl at all. Also, they give them mealworms to eat and they just looked too large for such as small thing anyway. BTW, I got a discount because I told them that he was too small, but I didn't realize that he was just a hatchling. Is it ok for breeders to send such a little guy out to a petstore or is that somewhat irresponsible? I'm just curious.

Although I liked his color, I don't really care what color he turns out to be anyway, I'll be surprized. But I wonder, does a hatchling show a pattern? He's patternless now, that won't change will it?

A lot of chain pet stores hatch their own common reptiles. And they usually don't take good care of them. Combine those teo factors and having a newborn in a dry enclosure isn't that surprising. But if the conditions were so bad, you shouldn't buy from the store. You're better off talking to the manager or reptile person about improving the situation, but buying them only means theyll stick another one in the same conditions and thell have made money.
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Corn Snakes: Eden, Mars, Sierra, Lavendar, The Tweedle Twins
Crested Geckos: Parker, Emily Dickinson, Bonnie, Benz, Jude, Cali
Leopard Geckos: Paris, Helen, Annabelle, Artemis, Vesta
Jambea Dwarf Retic: Montague

Actually, I gave the manager hell. Not the manager of the reptiles, but the manager of the store. I told them that it was too dry in there and that they had to mist, etc. I told them that this one was too small, the others with him were a little larger. Then I insisted on a discount. Sure they sold one, but didn't make much of a profit from me.

I'm in the store twice a week buying crickets, it's really my only source. Usually the animals are well kept, and I point out mistakes when I find them. Some they fix, some they don't. Also, the animals don't stay in the store long anyway, they've cornered the market where I live.

My heart couldn't leave this baby there, it was love at first sight, oh those eyes, those big lavendar eyes.....

Cresties can change a lot as they grow, patterning is a little different. Things like flame and harly pattern may get more intense over time, but i believe they have it from the start (?) At least things like pin stripes don't change. Patterns like dalmation and bicolour can manifest as the crested grows.
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- Melanie

2.1.0 cats
3.3.5 crested geckos
0.0.2 giant day geckos
0.0.1 whites tree frog
5.0.0 dwarf hamsters
1.0.0 Bernese mountain dog
1.1.1 red ear sliders
0.0.1 emperor scorpion
0.0.1 chilean rose tarantula
1 planted tank with dwarf cichlids and platies