Runt club

[Trillian]

First rule of Runt Club... er, I forget.

Anyway, I know a few of us have runts, I know I worry about mine a lot, thought it would be helpful to share experiences and husbandry ideas.

Mine is an Ambilobe panther female, she's. 5 ½ months old, and about 3 inches snout-to-vent. I've had her for a few weeks and she's shed once in that time. At the moment she's having small dubia, butterworms, phoenix worms, silkworms and hornworms. She loves crickets though, might get some more of those this week.

How much does the amount she eats affect her growth? If I fed her bigger/more/different feeders would it help her grow quicker? I assume she'll never reach typical full-grown female size, but I want to make sure she's at her optimal size and health.

 

[Olimpia]

I had one tiny Nosy Be male that stayed so tiny for so long, he barely grew from about 2.5 months to about 9-10 months old. Just a very small panther. Then coincidentally I changed everyone's set-ups to free range instead of cages, moved a lot of them outside for days of sun, and provided just one big feeding container where everyone could go to eat their fill whenever they wanted. Since everyone was young this worked out beautifully.

Well, very quickly after making these changes he went from his measly 30 or so grams to 100g within the next 2 months. I have a feeling that it was a mix of a lot of sunlight and the added exercise of a free range that stimulated his metabolism.

Now, I'm not saying free range her necessarily, but definitely put her outside if you can as often as you can. And if you have the means to have her in the largest cage you can (a 4' x 2' is more than enough for her size) do it, and between one thing and another she may start growing more.

You have yours on a great diet, so I don't think that's necessarily what needs to be changed, but you'd be surprised how much sunlight cures what ails them.

 

[Trillian]

Thank you Olimpia! She's currently in a 2x2x4, and loves being able to thoroughly hide herself! I hadn't realised that sunlight could make that sort of difference, I think I'll look into getting an outdoor enclosure for her to play in while the weather is so nice.

 

[Trillian]

What are other people's experiences with runts? Not sure how much or how often to feed her, usually put a few non-crickets in her cup per day, and let a few crickets free-roam to be hunted down.

 

[Trillian]

Do small panther girls lay eggs dependant on age or weight? Found Ivy wandering about low in her enclosure today.

 

[chameleoman]

i had a baby boy veiled runt who was the size of a 2 month old when he was 1 year old i still have him today he hit his growth spurt after the year passed

 

[chameleoman]

hes actually my profile pic thats how big he was

 

[pssh]

I had a beautiful little sambava male who was very tiny for the longest time. He didn't grow much until he was 9-10 months old, and even after that his adult size was about 110 grams (at 2 years old.) He was the nicest, friendliest chameleon I have ever owned. I fed him as much as he would eat and free ranged him. I also got another female who was very small (40 grams or so at 18 months old.) She put on weight after I bred the two (with the advice of many respected breeders. The reason I mention it is because some people didn't agree with the decision.) Eventually she became about 60 grams but died because of an infection that hid itself until it was too late. She was small until about 9-10 months old too.

I free fed them both as much as they would eat their whole lives since they were small. The female never even laid a retained clutch even though she ate like a whale. So I would recommend feeding her as much as she will eat until she becomes a more normal size or you are concerned about egg laying.

 

[HolyToledo]

I nominate Crayola as a member of the 'runt club'. He is about 10 mos old and is only about the size of my 3.5 mo old female! Every time Courtney posts a pic of him people ask if she is sure he is that old because he is so small. Otherwise, the vet says he is healthy-just small.

And, I think that natural sunshine is good for just about everything that ails a cham. With our goofy weather here in the Pacific Northwest, I could even see the difference in Twister's attitude when he didn't get any sun. And, his colors got better after getting real sun for a few days too.

 

[Trillian]

Runt Club welcomes all!

I was worried about over-feeding in case she got too chubby and it put too much strain on her small frame, but it sounds like they just grow and only get fat once they are fully grown? Ivy can really put it away, easily noms 5 adult crickets in a day and is still looking for more.

 

[Trillian]

Ivy says 'Nom'!

 

[laurie]

My ever so sweet Rah must qualify for the club. Rah is a one year old mellers who now tops the scale at around 50 grams. He is a perfect miniature. As Long as he is healthy and happy, he can stay any size he wants.

 

[blackened]

Lol, Ivy's such a cutie! Awesome pic

 

[pssh]

I don't think mine could even eat adult crickets at that age. Your little girl sounds bigger than mine were.

 

[Trillian]

I measured her today, she's 5 inches s/v. What's average for a 6 month old panther girl? Hoping she's catching up.

 

[pssh]

Wow. My male, as an adult, was only 13-14 inches long including tail. She sounds pretty big compared to him.

 

[Trillian]

So do you think she might end up more of an average panther size?

 

[pssh]

It sounds like it to me, but I can't exactly hold her or see her in person.

 

[Kmw]

Mine may not be a frail baby, but i'm pretty sure my nosy be is on the itty bitty side. Does he count?

 

[Benton1576]

Im joining runt club! I had an entire clutch of Faly that are small, theyre coming up to 5 months old and around 4 inches total. They do appear to be going through a growth spurt now though, well, from what the new owners say and looking at my holback female!

Here she is