C
Cory
Guest
I had a leo hatch out last night that was perfect in every way EXPECT for one very important thing, its front legs were vestigle at best. At first I thought they were actually fussed together but there are two distinct legs, just not fully formed.
A little background...
The other eggs this one leopard laid were "problem" eggs, one clutch hatched out undersized, one clutch didn't really hatch out at all but needed to be helped and two clutchs just didn't hatch out period. All other eggs from all other breeders hatched out fine, well, the ones that did hatch hatched out fine, I have around a 90% hatch success rate. All my geckos are supplemented the same, all were incubated the same etc. etc.
I don't know much about the female, it was obtained locally from a person who was selling their leopard collection. The male is the same, though I don't think the issue was with him.
Any thoughts or suggestions as to what might have caused this? There was a slight remp. fluc. in my incubator for one day, my son twisted the gauge and it cooled down to around 76 degrees, as I say, for one day maybe less, and that was around a week ago, I don't think this kind of deformity could have occured due to a temp fluc. so late in development.
Also, the baby can get around pretty quick on its back legs and what it does have for front legs, I don't know if it will be able to hunt and catch food though. At what point should I consider quality of life for this leo and make a decision on its future. I mean obviously it will be a pet only, prolly staying here with us should it survive, but is there a point where it might be better to euthanize? Something I would not do lightly...
Thanks for any and all input... if interested, I can try and get some pics tonight....
Thanks again
A little background...
The other eggs this one leopard laid were "problem" eggs, one clutch hatched out undersized, one clutch didn't really hatch out at all but needed to be helped and two clutchs just didn't hatch out period. All other eggs from all other breeders hatched out fine, well, the ones that did hatch hatched out fine, I have around a 90% hatch success rate. All my geckos are supplemented the same, all were incubated the same etc. etc.
I don't know much about the female, it was obtained locally from a person who was selling their leopard collection. The male is the same, though I don't think the issue was with him.
Any thoughts or suggestions as to what might have caused this? There was a slight remp. fluc. in my incubator for one day, my son twisted the gauge and it cooled down to around 76 degrees, as I say, for one day maybe less, and that was around a week ago, I don't think this kind of deformity could have occured due to a temp fluc. so late in development.
Also, the baby can get around pretty quick on its back legs and what it does have for front legs, I don't know if it will be able to hunt and catch food though. At what point should I consider quality of life for this leo and make a decision on its future. I mean obviously it will be a pet only, prolly staying here with us should it survive, but is there a point where it might be better to euthanize? Something I would not do lightly...
Thanks for any and all input... if interested, I can try and get some pics tonight....
Thanks again