Questions!!!

tbwilliams00

New member
Hi! I got my leopard gecko Mira back in April. I currently have her in a 20 gallon long tank in a bioactive setup. The breeder I got her from was new and didn't really know what he was doing. When I got her, she was very underweight, scared of handling, and had MBD.

I've been feeding her regularly every three days with dusted mealworms and occasionally a wax worm or two. She refuses to eat crickets no matter the size (I've tried smaller). I dust my feeders in either calcium (with or without D3) and multivitamin swapping each day. They are all gutloaded and she seems to enjoy feeding time. I just weighed her today, and she is only 34 grams. I'm not too familiar with reptiles as she is my first, but I'm pretty sure that is VERY underweight at her age. She was one year old in July, so right now she's 14 months. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong. I honestly just want the best for her.

I searched google looking for answers and saw something about stunted geckos. I don't know if thats a possibility or not but I thought I'd put that out there. I've also noticed that she does NOT like being handled. I try to handle her every couple days, but I always have to wait on her to get on my hand because she bites me if I try to pick her up.

I don't think any of her problems have anything to do with her setup. I keep her warm side around 85-90 degrees and her cool side around 75 degrees. She has a moist hide for sheds and plenty of enrichment.

Any help would be appreciated. Also, there is an exotic vet in my area, but I thought I'd try here before spending the money if it was something simple I'm missing. Thank y'all so much!!
 

acpart

Well-known member
The most important thing is that she is well proportioned for her weight. If you can post a picture it would be helpful. There are some leopard geckos that are just small and nothing's wrong. There are also dwarf leopard geckos but that's pretty rare. Dwarf leopard geckos will have normal sized heads and shortened squat bodies. It wouldn't hurt to see if she will occasionally eat a different feeder for variety such as silkworms, hornworms, super worms or dubia roaches. I'm assuming the temperatures you cite are floor temps not air temps. Everything looks pretty good, she just may be a small gecko.

Aliza
 
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