Gecko walking weird eats like crazy but not much growth?

[Rex Zira]

Hello I have a tiny baby that is really weird.  She is about 6 months old but still looks tiny! (she weighed 3.5 grams about a month or so ago) She doesn't have a tail and hasn't for a long while.  I have been hand feeding her CGD and separate her to hunt to monitor her food consumption and she eats! she'll eat about 20-30 small crickets if i have then and still want a 1/4 teaspoon of CGD! I've necer had a gecko that eats more but she just doesn't grow!  She does shed with the others (its interesting how all of mine shed within a week or few days of each other.)  She's wild! I handle her a lot because I am always hand feeding her and she's never calmed down, thats alright but shes so wired that when i open the cage she comes flying out! I have almost lost her a couple times because she just jumps, with no regard to where she's jumping to.  I look for her before I open the cage but sometimes I don't see her. She also, and this is really weird, runs and walks with her butt in the air.  She extends her back legs as tall as they go and puts her head real low and runs, butt up.When she stops she puts her butt down and head up.  All my others just run or walk, well "normal."  I truly am at a loss with this little one.  Has anyone seen or heard of anything like this before?  Any ideas?  I am worried about her because of the eating thing, the running thing is just odd and her wildness I am sure is just that she's a wild animal...Oh and no I don't know if she's a female but I'm hoping so I have been calling her a her.

[samanthajane13]

First of all, it's great that you're feeding CGD, but that should be her MAIN food source.  I'd cut out the crickets fora few weeks to let her get used to her new healthier diet.

After the three week switch-only give her a few crickets for a snack once a week-maybe on clean-up/weigh-in/picture day, and keep her on that schedule. 

You could also try one or two wax worms once a week.  They're a bit fatty, but in small amounts, they can give that calorie boost that geckos sometimes need to start a growth spurt.

What size enclosure is she in?

If she's that tiny, I wouldn't go larger than a medium sized critter keeper or a sterilite shoe box.  She may not be able to find her dish in a larger tank.

What are the temps and humidity like where she's kept?

The best way to make sure she's eating is to keep her on paper towels.  If you see poops, she's eating, and if there's only CGD in the tank, you know WHAT she's eating.

I would also put her CGD in something small-like a Gatorade cap-and only fill it half way.  That way, you can actually see if any is missing.

Get yourself a cheap postal scale that weighs in grams, and only weigh her weekly.

Pictures would be helpful to show how she's walking.

I hope this helps.

[Rex Zira]

Thanks for the ideas.  She's in a ten gallon tank with two other babies(she's not with the dominate female, the dominate female is much much older)
I put CGD on both sides of the tank so they can find it at any time they want.  They are only free fed CGD I feed them crickets once a week, as much as they want.  I change the CGD every day and only put a little in to see if they are eating, and always offer the CGD to her individually every other day and to the others individually at least once a week and we already use gator-aid caps and only a little at a time, they never finish what I give them though(probably cause they have two).  They only eat crickets on their own in a small feeder tank, the sub adults are the ones that hunt together, but they get time alone as well. (I keep wanting to call the big girls juvies but they are definitely sub adults and grew without problems for us they are around 27 grams in that tank)
All my geckos are on paper towels.  And I know everyone is eating because I always offer CGD and crickets to each individual once a week to be sure of this!
I don't have access to wax worms where I am but I'll look into shipping some in. 
I mist the enclosures very well at least three times a day, but we don't have automatic misters yet.  The cold side of her tank is about 70, never under 65 the hot side, 80ish never over 85 and she's almost always on the hot side.
She's about two inches long. Everyone else is at least 3 without tails.  She's not picked on at all, in fact the biggest one follows her around and they love to curl up together, the other is a loner but she's also non-aggressive. 
I'll try and buy a scale, I hadn't just because I wanted to get a good one; we've been weighing using a scale(disinfected and cleaned) from my science lab at my college.
We keep only the males alone just because of fighting, we've only ever had aggression in the one female.  We keep our unsexed and females in small groups, actually after observing I would say they are very social as they are always found in a group in one part of the cage.  Only two I have like to be alone, one babie/juvie(6 months.) Also the aggressive female, who will occasionally separate from her group to hang out at the top of her large branch. Everyone else stays together in the tree or in their den on the floor.

[crazytanak]

the weird walking could be because of the tail. 3 of mine lost tails, they all walked normal before the loss, and after one walks funny still (its been over a month), one is starting to walk normal again (about a week or 2 since the drop) and the third just always walked the same and didnt seem to care about the tail. Ive noticed some geckos use their tail more so then others, and the ones that used the tail more walked funny for longer.

About the growing thing, I have heard that there is a certain point in growth were the geckos grow very little. I cant remember the age, but it was young.
Donna is right about only weighing once a week. Mine sometimes dont seem to grow much, but when i weigh them i see that there is gram gain.

Also pay close attention to the energy levels, stick to the pads, shedding ability, and visiual size. those are all good indications that a gecko is healthy. i had one that was stressed out and you could see her ribs easier then before. She is on the thinner side anyway, but that was a giveaway to me that something was up.

[Rex Zira]

Thank you!  I will try and weigh her once a week.  That sounds like the best plan.  I didn't even think about the loss of a tail being the reason for her walking but it's a great idea!  She's appears to be perfectly healthy other than that: high activity, the stickiest pads of the bunch, sheds perfect, and you has "good weight" on her.  Thank you for the idea though hopefuly she'll grow out of it!

[amcclain1092]

As long as you know she is eating consistently I wouldnt worry so much =]
My very first crestie was a baby and didnt really seem to be growing at all for a couple months then suddenly it was like something clicked and he started a huge, what seemed like a never ending growth spurt!
If all else fails you could put the baby into a small or medium kritter keeper alone to make sure there is consistent food consumption.