Cave Gecko growth?

cassicat4

New member
Hi - I have a concern regarding my Cave gecko and was hoping you guys could help me out. :)

I've had mine since July, and he was estimated (by the supplier) at about 8 months of age (he's WC). I weighed him about a week after he arrived, and he was 17g.

I've continually been weighing him about once a week to monitor his growth (or lack thereof).

About a month ago, I had a fecal done on him to rule out parasites, and that came back negative.

He will only eat crickets, even though mealworms, waxworms, butterworms, and silkworms have all been offered.

He's not a big eater, only eating about 5-7 crickets every 2 days.

As of last night, he still weighs 17g!

Is it normal for this species to be slow growing?

Or does his lack of weight gain indicate a problem of sorts?

He appears normal in every regard, active, alert, etc.

His food is dusted at every feeding with calcium w/ D3, and about once/wk with multivitamin. He also has a dish of plain calcium in his enclosure.

The enclosure is a 20g long, with numerous climbing vines and fake foliage and hides (a warm hide, moist hide, cool hide). Half the enclosure is covered in sphagnum moss, the other half (the feeding half) in reptile carpet. Humidity ranges from 60-80%. The warm side is about 80F, cool side 76F, and drops slightly at night. I also have a UTH on the warm side. I use just plain incandescent lighting on a 12 hour light cycle.

If there's anything I can/should be doing differently, please let me know!

Otherwise, I'm stumped as to what could be wrong, so any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
 

Felinus

New member
Hi Cassi !

Cave geckos are growing slowly, so I guess there's no problem with yours.
But maybe you can post some pics...

A picture is worth a thousand words ;)

cheers,
Caro
 

cassicat4

New member
Hi :)

Thanks for responding.

Here are some pics (sorry for the poor quality, taken on cell phone in poor lighting). All taken yesterday, and my gecko was re-weighed and still coming in at 17g.
 

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Felinus

New member
Hi Cassi !

Don't worry about your cave gecko. I think he's in good condition and looks well nourished, as far as I can judge from the pictures ;)

Maybe you should check his weight only once a month. Every handling means stress to your cave gecko.


Cheers,
Caro
 

cassicat4

New member
Ok, thanks very much! It's very reassuring to hear that he looks fine to you.

I'll limit how often I weigh him and just leave him be, and hopefully he'll get bigger in time. :)

Thanks,
Cassi
 
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