Giant or Midget Leos?

[DonMeyer]

Ok....as you know I got 2 leos one month ago(on Sat. it was). Now I'm not sure how old they were but both were the same size. Both are eating the same amount of crickets...but the normal is 3'' & the albino is 5''

So do I have a Giant Albino...or a Midget Normal!?

Just wondering! And abit concerned!

Thanks,

Don Meyer

[Wizill]

don't the males and females differ in size? the chances of you having a midget or a giant are about as good as your burm staying under 8 feet.

[DonMeyer]

Haha...good point...but I got a good explanation from a friend...here it is.

Hi Don
Leos like any other animal, whether or not raised with another animal can grow at different rates. You can buy two puppies, form the same litter, and have two separate growth rates going on. It depends on the eating habits and the animal itself. Doesnt mean you have dwarf or giant going on. I do find though that the albinos do tend to be a faster grower, but in the end all seem to end up the same size. Dont worry and good luck with your gang.

Uhh, you have a baby and a juvenile, lol. They're nowhere near full grown. It usually takes 1-2 years for them to reach their maximum size.

BTW-Crickets aren't the healthiest prey insect. I have found the many available worms on the market (mealworms, waxworms, superworms, silkworms, butterworms) to be a much healthier and easier to use food source.

[Marla]

This is useful info comparing some food items, and this table is also somewhat useful. Grubco has a nice, concise chart. As you can see on these sites, crickets are a better choice than meal worms (and other larvae) because they're lower in fat and just as high or higher in protein and easy to digest, and there's no chance of crickets burrowing out of your herp. The true nutritional value will depend on what you use to gutload the insects, but crickets are generally nutritionally better.

[Kara]

All depends on where you get your crickets. Crix can carry nasty bio-loads of funky critters that can be passed on to your herps.

Also, for the love of all things good & holy, would someone mind proving with a factual account the urban legend of feeder worms/larvae actually burrowing out of the animal they're being fed to? I have talked to hundreds of breeders & keepers, from private individuals to zoological institutions & vets, and not one has been able to validate the claim that mealworms/superworms burrow through the intestines, much less the body, of an animal to which they've been fed. That one is getting really old.

K

[Wizill]

sounds like total bs to me. i can't see a worm being strong enough to withstand the stomach acids of a reptile.

[DonMeyer]

THanks guys....but David they are both the same age....

[Wizill]

don, got a question for you... and im honestly not trying to stir anything up, so feel free to reply in pm if you'd like. but your website.. you claim to be a breeder of ball pythons and geckos, but you don't even know the sex of your leos... and you've never hatched a bp. im confused.

LMFAO......I'll give my whole collection of herps to anyone who can PROVE that mealworms "burrow" out of a lizard's stomach. Thats pure BS. Its physically IMPOSSIBLE folks. First off.....lizards CHEW their food.....they have TEETH......mealworms are not made of steel, LOL. Their food is DEAD by the time they swallow it.....don't forget that they have stomach acids as well. If mealworms ate your lizard from the inside out.....Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster put them up to it. LOL