Figuring out the age of my leopard gecko

[muffin_song]

I inherited my beloved leo Scooter from my mother in August 2015. My mom had originally bought Scooter as a classroom pet but eventually decided she would better off with her reptile-loving daughter in California. (It's worked out pretty well for everybody IMO. I fuss over Scooter, and my mom remains a devoted grandma - I text pictures regularly!)

Today while visiting home, my mom showed me the following picture. This was taken in October 2013 when she first brought Scooter home**. Supposedly she was four months old then. Unfortunately this is the only picture we could find. I don't have any experience with juvenile geckos - at what point do their bands start to fade? Is four months a good guess for her appearance at this time of this picture?



(Important note: SCOOTER WAS ONLY KEPT ON SAND FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. Thanks to places like this forum, my mom got a lot of great advice and changed her husbandry soon after. Scooter currently rests her chunky butt on tile.)

For reference, this is what she looks like today:



I know leos are hard to age visually, but I thought I would give it a shot. Thanks as always!

 

[Yoshi'smom]

It looks like Scooter was decently young in your first picture. Probably somewhere between 4-6 months or so.
By the way! What a beautiful leopard!!! I love her color and pattern!

 

[CWilson13]

I would guess around 6 months in the first photo also. It really is hard to tell though, just like with people they each tend to grow at their own pace and there is no real rule of thumb for size:age that I have been able to find. Regardless though she is gorgeous and looks very healthy I especially like the big spot behind her eye

 

[muffin_song]

Thanks all! So it sounds like the original estimate was more or less right, give or take a few months. I guess I was just surprised to see her bands had faded that much by our original estimation of her age. That being said, I don't know much about juveniles!

And it makes me a proud mama to hear people saying Scooter is pretty! :biggrin: