puffy or swollen neck area?

[cookreptiles]

i'm concerned about one of my juvies. it looks like the area around her neck is puffy and/or swollen. it looks a lot like the fat deposits that leos have in their armpit area, except this is on both sides of her neck and a little more fleshy than those usually are. is this anything to worry about? it also seems that she isn't gaining weight as fast as she should be--not sure if that is anything related or if she is just a slow grower.

here are some pics--it's not terribly obvious here but you can see how her neck appears kind of puffy... any thoughts?

http://mlededee.com/herps/leos/leo_neck01.jpg

http://mlededee.com/herps/leos/leo_neck02.jpg

[KelliH]

EMily-

I've had a few like that over the years. I'm not sure what causes it, possibly something during incubation of the egg. Anyway, I don't think it is serious and I don't remember any of mine being slower growers or anything like that. Hope this eases your mind a bit :-)

[cookreptiles]

thanks kelli, that does ease my mind. i'm usually a little overly dramatic when i notice anything out of the ordinary with one of my children. :)

[KelliH]

Ah, I don't blame you at all for being worried about her. That just means you're a good gecko mom. I'm pretty much a worrywart too when it comes to my geckos. I still freak out sometimes if they stop eating for a few days LOL.

[HerpAddict]

I have an adult that looks similar. My thought was that it was fat pockets. In your first pic I can see she has some fat pockets in her arm pits. Mine only has a fat neck when she has those armpit fat pockets.

It was just my assumption, I could be wrong.

[cookreptiles]

that seems to make sense. this girl doesn't seem to carry as much fat in her tail as my other leos so maybe she just carries it in her neck like that instead?