Noobish general questions and a sexing question.

We just bought a new leo today, a patternless and I have a few questions about it for you experienced people. It looks kind of thin but the tail does not look small. We included it in our feeding line up tonight, and it ate like I have never seen a leo eat. 10 mealworms and ten 3/4" crickets gone in the blink of an eye. Can a gecko gorging itself do any harm to itself? It is missing a few toes, besides the obvious looks factor will this affect it in any way? The tail has a kink at the end of the tail that looks like a hook. It looks like it was damaged and not genetic, is there any way to tell if it was an accident or genetics? Again besides the obvious cosmetic factor is the curled tail anything to worry about?

One more final general question is about sexing. At what age and or size can one be expected to sex them? The geckos I would like to sex are between 6 and seven inches long. Does any one have good side by side photos of the differences in the sexes? I know it has to do with genital bumps in the shape of a V but not real sure exactly what I am looking for. I have seen pictures in the book I have and ALL my geckos look female but that seems unlikely. Thanks for any help any one can provide.

Pictures in case any one can help sex them.

Patti


Kinky


Fatboy


Quiz


These are the biggest. The other two I was told are a male and female but they are much smaller.

I think that Patti and Kinky are definately female, and fatboy looks like he could be a male because of his bulges, Quiz also looks a little like a male...

If a leo overdoes it, it may regurgitate. They can, however, pack in a lot of food without any problems There's really no way to tell just by looking whether the tail kink is congenital or due to an injury. The patternless morph in particular is prone to tail kinks. Tail kinks do not affect the quality of life for the leo. They are, however, considered an undesirable trait. Consequently most breeders designate these guys as "pet only".

At 6 -7 inches, most leos can be reliably sexed. I've attached a sexing pic I made awhile back. The third leo was a female who went through a "change". After laying eggs for six some years, she suddenly stopped laying, developed hemipenes, and started mating with the females. "She" was never fertile as a male.

-Alice

Fatboy, is the only one who looks like he might go male, but it could just be the angle. Right now, they all look pretty much like females to me.

-Alice

OMG, I have never heard of that happening! How much did that surprise you?

I think that it's pretty uncommon. But, Kelli H also had it happen to one of hers.

-Alice

Thanks for the input so far.

Another thing you could try is to get a good magnifying glass and look at the pores. If the pore seems to have a waxy plug in the center, you've got a male. The absense of the plug, however, does not necessarily mean you've got a girl because it takes awhile to develop.

-Alice

I will try that. It is not of paramount importance right now. They are all housed seperatly. I was just wondering so I could plan future purchases accordingly.