Lichen still not gaining weight...

[genevieve]

So I have had Lichen (my little Island E) for over a month now, and he is still at the same six grams he was when he arrived. I thought at one point he had gained a gram, but I guess the scale must have just been off that day. I rarely see evidence that he has eaten his GGD, though if I take him out and put his snout in it he will chow down on it. He is active, and his body condition looks good.

Does anyone have some thoughts on normal weight gain rates for young Leachies? Grams per months, etc? Is it seasonally variable? Should I try gut loading him some crickets (I don't have a pinky source, and I am not feeding him my hatchling ciliatus)? I don't want to make a picky Leachie, but I do want him to be getting the nutrition that he needs to grow, not merely to just stay alive.

Thanks!

Genevieve

[Allen Repashy]

Genevieve,

It is the time of year that most geckos slow down significantly. As long as he is not loosing weight and looks healthy, don't worry about it. Your little guy will get a growth spurt sooner or later and take off......



Allen

[genevieve]

Allen,

Thanks again... all my ciliatus are still growing... its driving me nuts not knowing what I should be expecting of him...

Back to vet school exam related panic...

Gen

[genevieve]

11 grams today! He is eating like a monster as long as I handfeed him... these guys can't over eat, right?

Genevieve

[genevieve]

The latest update on Lichen: 19 chunky little grams!

He is FINALLY eating on his own. I had a long day on Tuesday and just wanted to get to bed, so instead of his usual nightly handfeeding I put some dry LGD powder in his cage... and BAM! lick marks in the AM!

All these months of trying to get him to eat various wet mixes of CGD, GGD and LGD, bby food, homemade mixes, etc and the little bugger goes for a dish of dry LGD... go figure. I am just happy he is finally eating on his own!

Genevieve

[mike]

LOL, another Gecko converted! good job Genevieve.

As far as them eating my male Island E has slowed down significantly. In summer he will eat his entire bowl of food in one sitting and licks it so clean you can't even tell there was ever food in it. However, over these past few winter months I am surprised if he eats half of what I offer him. He hasn't shown any weight loss and is still quite active at night and well hydrated, but as far as feeding he doesn't show much interest.

My Cresteds on the other hand are still eating well, and have eaten well all winter. They did seem to lose interest in crickets though, in summer they nail them right when they hit the bottom of the cage, but lately they show very little interest and my Gargoyles are even worse about it.

I guess this time of year just really slows them down. Anyhow, I'm glad to hear that worked out for you, I know how it goes when I first got my Leachi I paniced because he never seemed to eat anything and slowly but surely he came around and has been doing really well for me the last couple of years.

Now I just need to find him a mate!

[genevieve]

Well, once Lichen got going he never looked back... 87 grams as of last night!





Genevieve

[chahoua]

Great photos. Nice to see he's gaining weight steadily for you.

[ExoticPet]

Nice Leachies..., we feed mealworm to gecko everytime and we notice my gecko grow very fast....

[genevieve]

Thank you for the compliment.

I have not tried mealworms due to their low activity, high chitin and general ickiness.

Genevieve