Check this little guy out!

[LukaTisus]

I 'adopted' this guy from some people in town. They'd bought it a year or so ago for their son, whom lost interest in it, sadly. I wouldn't call him a rescue, because he seems quite well taken care of, despite a few missing toe-tips, and a bit of stuck on shed.

I am going to change some things in his enclosure tomorrow when I have time.. but anyway, just wondering how he looks to you guys, overall. He seems a tiny bit underweight to me, not entirely sure, but figure one of you guys on here would know for sure:

He just doesn't look like he's got a lot of fatty stores in his tail, and his skin's a bit loose, but I'm not overly familiar with how a leopard gecko should look at perfect weight.

He's got a good appetite, I've given him some calcium in a little dish, and a humid-hide so he can shed the rest of his skin off a little easier, and tomorrow I'm going to probably switch his current substrate. They have him on that red sand, not sure if that's such a good thing to have him on.

What do you guys think? I'm flipping through a few books, and some caresheets, just to make sure that my basic knowledge I've got of these little guys already, is on par. Any suggestions, feel free to provide them!


A few more pics, for good measure:

[leoares27]

awww, he's cute...
we have ours on playsand...he does look a tad on the small side (skinny) but we have 2 and our female has a big fat tail and our little one (who is a little over a year old) his tail isn't nearly as fat as the females...so, I probably wouldn't worry. But, thats just my opinion

[not venomous]

To give him only playsand includes a little rest of risk. Leopard geckos sometimes eat this sand. Maybe by the intension to regulate his calcium-need. A mistake from the animal. But if this happen, the gecko gets a blue belly and costiveness. Mostly the pet-doctor comes too late then. Some owners have lost there Eublepharis macularius therefore. It is better (safer) to use red or yellow desert sand, which become hard after gone dry.

[LukaTisus]

Originally Posted by leoares27

awww, he's cute...
we have ours on playsand...he does look a tad on the small side (skinny) but we have 2 and our female has a big fat tail and our little one (who is a little over a year old) his tail isn't nearly as fat as the females...so, I probably wouldn't worry. But, thats just my opinion

I just took a better look at 'him', and it turns out he's a female I believe! She had no evidence of femoral pores, or a hemipenal bulge and pretty sure she's old enough to tell.

That said, I'm pretty sure she'll need to gain a bit more weight. She's a real little sweetie, doesn't struggle at all when handled, which is nice and it was fun watching her wander around on the desk for a while, there.

I'm gonna pick up some waxworms and possibly some butterworms when I head to the City in a few days. Give her a couple of waxies every other feeding, along with her crickets to help her plump up just a bit. Butterworms just 'cuz they're high in calcium and a good bit of variety, considering she's been fed nothing but crickets it seems, and not gutloaded at all by the looks of it, either.

[_Sam_]

Awww, what a cute little girl. Yes, she looks old enough to sex with some certainty, so if there's no pores or bulges, I think you're safe thinking female.
So, that being said, she looks good. Maybe a itty bit underweight, but not as bad as some i've seen.
Personally, I dont like sand. I've never been a fan of it and It's only ever given me trouble and caused way too many problems. Paper towel is an easy to clean, simple substrate, it just isnt very pretty.

I say give her a good soak, see if you can get the stuck shed off her especially her toes, because if you wait 'till her next shed, more might get stuck, then you might end up with some lost digits, which is never fun
Waxworms will be okay to help bulk her back up, but dont feed them too often after that, they're pretty high in fat.

just my advice for now congrats and good luck with your little leo, they are great geckos.

[jtmoney]

Very nice, it does seem a little underweight because the tail is really small. Youll know when its a good weight because the tail will get really fat. I dont like sand eithier and would use tile/carpet/pt or something like that.

[LukaTisus]

Originally Posted by _Sam_

Awww, what a cute little girl. Yes, she looks old enough to sex with some certainty, so if there's no pores or bulges, I think you're safe thinking female.
So, that being said, she looks good. Maybe a itty bit underweight, but not as bad as some i've seen.
Personally, I dont like sand. I've never been a fan of it and It's only ever given me trouble and caused way too many problems. Paper towel is an easy to clean, simple substrate, it just isnt very pretty.
I say give her a good soak, see if you can get the stuck shed off her especially her toes, because if you wait 'till her next shed, more might get stuck, then you might end up with some lost digits, which is never fun
Waxworms will be okay to help bulk her back up, but dont feed them too often after that, they're pretty high in fat.
just my advice for now congrats and good luck with your little leo, they are great geckos.

Yep, she's definetely a female.. She's put on about five grams since I got her, she's eating more crickets, with more enthusiasm and better accuracy already.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get ahold of any waxies. I wanted to offer one or two of them to her every third feeding or so, but the people who own the store own breed beardies and leopard geckos of their own, and said that the superworms I have would be just as good.. just a little harder to digest 'cuz of the exo-skeleton.

She's doing good so far, I've been quite tentative to make sure she's eating all the crickets that're offered and I'm pretty pleased with the pickup in energy she's displaying lately.

[SherriX2]

She does a little underweight,but not to much.I keep mine on calium sand.For a long time my cage setup,I had half sand and half reptile carpet.I have my gecko for 6 years now.

[jtmoney]

Mealworms are said to be the best for leo's, if you use superworms eithier crush the head or cut it off just to be safe. The fact that shes eating crickets already is a very good thing