I got my leo over 2 months ago, if not longer, and she really hasn't grown since I've got it. I normally buy three dozen small crickets and throw most of them in the tank with her then put the rets in my empty 20 gallon long. Once I notice they are all missing I take the rets from the 20 gallon long and put them in the tank with her. She dosn't appear to be getting any bigger than she was when I first got her. I am used to fish so I don't want to throw all the crickets in there at once cause I get all freaked out that I may be over feeding her. I am just wandering why she hasn't grown that much. That tank is always 70-80 degrees. At night I turn off heat lights and temp drops to near 70 but I have a heat rock that I catch her sleeping near when I turn the light on in the morning. Then during the day the temp goes back up to around 80. I turn the heat rock off every other day to let it cool down during the day when it won't be cold in the tank. I'm just not sure why she hasn't got any bigger. I would think by now she would have got more fat and longer. She kind of looks like these only less color. http://www.herpcenter.com/gallery/sh...ts&searchid=12

Any clue as to why she isn't growing.

I would suggest the removal of the heat rock, as they can cause severe burns to your leo. http://www.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=6982 thats our Leo Caresheet, it has all the info you need to know about temps and such Also, what type of substrate do you keep her on?

I agree with Savannah, ditch the heat rock and get a Under Tank Heater (undertank heater)..much safer. Do you have a moist and dry hide for her?

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

How often do you buy the 3 dozen crix? And usually its not advisable to just leave a bunch in with the leopard gecko....they could bite the poor baby and there is also the factor that you should gutload the crix before feeding them to the leopard gecko and within 24 hrs the gutload would be gone....so the crix left after a day are basically worthless food items. Have you tried mealworms? I keep a dish of mealies in my leopard geckos cages at all times...its glass and they cant escape and I can feed the mealies that are waiting to become a meal very easily...I also agree with the heat rock info. an undertank heater or a domelamp with a red bulb or ceramic heater will also do for heat......good luck with your leo....got any pics of it? Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

I buy 3 dozen crickets twice a week. If I only buy 2 they are gone almost instantly and with three there is always a few hanging around. So I just keep putting then in untill she stops eating then put the rest in my 20 gallon long untill later.

Now see I was told that a heat rock would be good, but knowing petshops and how they lie about fish I should have guessed I didn't. I have a red light bulb lamp that is on during the day but during winter I bought the heat rock because the temperature never seemed to be high enough.

I use a calcium based sand. I've heard it isn't good but all of the online pictures I've seen of geckos they were in a sand substrate. I have wood chips since I have a box turtle to but like I said all the pictures I've seem online are sand substrate. They tell you not to use it then they show pictures of them useing it, makes so much sense, huh?

I've used moist coconut fiber before but she never seemed to like it.

I have feed mealworms, moist flies, can o' crickets, live crickets etc.

My petshopt odl me they always have food in the crickets cages so they should normally be gutloaded when I buy them. I've tried gutloading on oats and other things but they always seem to die.

I will try to get some pictures of it some time.

Your night time temp is fine but you need to raise your daytime to 85-90, put a higher watt bulb in. Like the others said, get rid of the heat rock and use a Under Tank Heater, leave it on all the time. When you buy your crickets, put them all in the 20 gallon and give them fish flake food with a slice of orange or potato for moisture. Let them eat til the next day before feeding your Leo. Too many crickets in his cage could be stressing him, try just giving him about 5-6 crickets a day. A week of higher temps and the new feeding schedule should show some improvement. If he still doesn't appear to be putting on weight, get a fecal done, parasites can cause the lack of weight gain.
Good luck.

Ok I will work on it. I don't think my local pet shop has an undertank heater, would you know of any online sites that sell them? Also what do you think about the cocanut fiber and sand substrate? I've though about getting a cave with a small plastic bowl under it and wetting some paper towls and putting them int here for moisture. How does that sound?

The wet paper towel in a container is perfect, just mist it once a day to keep it moist. Sand is fine but the coconut fiber shouldn't be used. Don't use calci-sand, it's larger than playground sand and it can cut them up inside if ingested. Most pet shops carry under tank heaters but I'm in Canada, ask around the different shops.