Help with Weight of my Leo please?

[CWilson13]

Elizabeth, life is good, just busy and hectic. Believe me I have a hard time keeping up too!

As promised, a more in depth update on the big guy. Apollo weighed in this morning at 66g and rough measurement puts him at 8.5in (give or take a bit) He has slowed down his eating a great deal, which I figure is a good sign. For those not fully familiar with my little buddy, he was rescued from a local pet store who had him in a tiny little 10g with a much larger male. The obvious domination occured and Apollo was left with little to eat and a nasty bite on the top of his head. He was maybe 40g or so and roughly 8in when I first brought him home. That being said, when he first came home, he would eat nearly nonstop. Now he eats a few (3-5) medium sized dubias or superworms and he is done.
He has also taken very well to having his own 20gL tank and really utilizes all 3 hides equally it seems. His "tough guy" attitude has mellowed a lot and he actually enjoys his interactions with my wife and me. When we bring him out we give him near free roam on the bed. He climbs all over the blankets and pillows and even has burrowed in the comforter once or twice. Lately he has shown great interest in the window as well.
As some of you know his Morph has been hard to pinpoint since his pattern looks like one version of Albino, yet other aspects are common signs of another. He recently has shown one more quirk though, he has two bands of faint orange on the base of his tail. I have pretty much given up on finding out the exact morph term for him. Pretty sure all of you will agree that he is a very handsome fellow though
Since he is such a turd when the camera comes out I have only one photo of him to add, but it is one of the best:

 

[JessJohnson87]

He looks so much better and happier! Glad he finally quit being a turd for the camera :biggrin:

 

[CWilson13]

Yeah, that pose was perfect his improvement since I got him home is stunning. I'm just glad this guy has a good home now.

 

[CWilson13]

Some more photos of Apollo. The first one is just too darn cute not to share, and the 3rd definitely gives an example of what I mean by camera shy. The 4th is to show the most noticeable orange that he has started showing. He has other areas with some very light orange, but none stand out too well on camera, not like on his tail in that picture at least. The last two are more to show how big he is/has gotten since he came home back in September.

 

[amsdadtodd]

His bumps look very peaked, AC has similar ones, my others all have very rounded little dots.
Love the camera attitude, he really does hate it!

 

[CWilson13]

Yeah, he feels like he constantly has goosebumps. Is that a normal thing? Aryas are less pronounced than his.
When he lets me, his pictures turn out great

 

[amsdadtodd]

I don't think it's a sign of anything wrong, or anything like that. It's probably just one more trait that varies between individuals. I wonder if it's genetic?

 

[CWilson13]

Could be. AC and Apollo both seem to be in great health so I'm thinking you're right, just some genetic trait. Kind of like a color morph.
Have your Leos slowed down, and stayed that way, for winter yet? I remember when Apollo first started to, you mentioned yours doing it before too. Just curious because if left alone he tends to stick to his hides, at least when I am awake. I know he moves around a bit after dark though.

 

[amsdadtodd]

yes, mine are definitely moving slower and eating less. Only one of mine seems to want to reduce body temperature though.

Definitely NOT the case for the snakes, in fact they are both going through shed right now, about a month quicker than I expected. They are both growing steadily, and, when not in shed are as active as ever.

 

[CWilson13]

Ok good. Was still a little worried because Arya stays out of her hides, except during shed times. Guess it's just personal preference mostly. Though I think Apollo is more sensitive to light too.
Pandora is doing the same thing, spends maybe an hour a day in her hide. The rest she is all over her tank.

 

[CWilson13]

Well Apollo definitely didn't forget Hornworms lol he came right out of his hide for them. Only ate 2 so the last one went back to the cooler for later.

 

[CWilson13]

So, after watching Apollo lately I am noticing that he is most active in darker areas. Makes me think perhaps he is more sensitive to light than Arya is. Has anybody else noticed anything similar with their Leos? Also, no I don't mean lights directed at him or his tank, just the general lighting in the room. None of my Herps have direct light in/on their enclosures.

 

[amsdadtodd]

absolutely yes. Some of mine won't show their faces in too much light, others don't seem to care. Puff and Hopper will both eat and come out regardless of lighting. Poppy and Berry both need it darker, and AC hangs out in the light, but will only socialize in the dark.

Todd

 

[CWilson13]

Ok good, didnt want to be doing something wrong. Looks like I have some rearranging to do, Apollo is the closest to the lamp so I will switch placements tomorrow.
Does anybody use the so called "natural light" bulbs in the same room as their Leos? I am wondering if that would be a better option since the room they are in gets so little light aside from the lamp. Sucks when you need real sunlight but have a North facing window

 

[amsdadtodd]

Actually my herp room also only has a north window. The overhead lighting is a LED daylight spot (65 watt equivalent) and a two foot T8 fluorescent, with a natural bulb. I really don't think the color temperature is so critical, since their natural time of day is when the light is at it's most filtered.

 

[CWilson13]

Wish I had overhead lighting. Old crappy buildings of MA lol True with them being crepuscular the light tends to be dulled down some, but a standard incandescent bulbs is fairly harsh from what I can tell. A softer light might go over better. I feel bad every time I see Apollo with tiny slitted pupils, especially when I take him out and see his activity jump once he is in a shady part of the room.

Also, being that it is Christmas eve, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and let you all know how much I appreciate all the support and advice you all have given me and my babies

 

[CWilson13]

I went ahead and changed from a standard incandescent light bulb to an LED "Natural Daylight" bulb and I have to admit, as long as it is not turned up fully, Apollo does come out more often than before. In fact, up until I went to feed him tonight, he spent a good 3 hours hanging out on top of his humid hide.
He only took 3 of the hornworms tonight but I will try again in a couple days. Also try again to get a video of him chomping down on them. His face after eating one is usually pretty fun to see.

 

[CWilson13]

Shhhh.... We can't see him :coverlaugh:

This has been his new hangout lately. Always behind and under the leaves too.

 

[CWilson13]

Since Apollo has not been eating much as of late, I decided to run a check on all housing/husbandry for him over the past week.
His warm side ground temperatures measured both through the thermostat and a separate infrared thermometer have ranged between 89 and 92.3F air temperatures have been 83-86F. Cool side air temperature has been 72-76F. I have cleaned everything and replaced the substrate in both the tank and humid hides. The only thing I have not been able to do is observe as much as I would like due to his main hours of activity being very early morning or when I am busy with everything else in the house. Still weighing in at 65 grams as of two days ago also.
The only real changes to his environment have been the switching of locations of his water dish, switching out the eco-earth for sphagnum moss in his humid hide, and then switching him to paper towels from the repticarpet. Also, though I wonder if it is just my worrisome nature, Arya arrived shortly after he first started to slow down on eating.
After reading many different things, including Kyles very helpful post about Geckos not eating, I decided to hold off on even offering food to him for a few days. Well, three days without food seemed like a good time to try again, so today I offered some hornworms and he only took one after I held it directly in front of him. Ate it very quickly, yet was not interested in the others I offered.
I know some others have experienced similar situations and I was hoping to gain some possible insight as to what his current disinterest in food could be caused by. I do hope that I am just worrying because of my overall inexperience but if need be I will take him in to the vet first chance I have.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Don't worry! Ziggy has been like that for a few weeks now, I'm still banking on it being this crazy weather and with a nasty arctic cold front coming tomorrow, I would not be surprised if we see more about other's leo's not eating. I offered some mealworms and wax worms last night and Ziggy picked at all of them. I had to literally spoon feed him roaches last week because he was just not interested in hunting them himself.

If his poops are normal, he's not acting lethargic or vomiting up the food, he should be fine. It's still funny how Ziggy is almost going completely off food but Axel will lap up half a bowl of his CGD.