# Tiny leuc



## HG555 (Mar 16, 2021)

Hi,

I picked up a few leucs a couple of months back and the breeder asked if I wanted to also take on a smaller one too as he would’ve been the last one left behind. He was being out competed for food and was quite small and skinny.

A couple of months down the road, he’s doing really well, he’s porked out a bit and is very active. He’ll eat the smallest melanagaster I give him and springtails mainly. He’s still very small though, the others are easily 4x his size.

Any advice on bulking him up? Currently he’s in his own little tank so he doesn’t have to compete for food but ideally I want to move him up into the main tank. I have read a paper saying that in common frogs when they are regularly out competed for food they really struggle to get to size later on so I’m guessing it’s the same for darts?

Anyone with experience in a similar scenario weighing in would be much appreciated, the little guys happy but I just know he’d really appreciate the added exploration of the main tank. Especially the height, my leucs love to climb.

Thanks,
Harry


----------



## eMCRay (Mar 24, 2020)

I see you've already separated, that's good.

You could try FF larvae - scoop them out of the cup right before you get that first bloom.

Alternatively extra small soldier fly larvae - that always works wonders and has extra calcium. Just keep them in a dry dish to avoid escapees morphing into flies later (no biggie if it happens, just annoying to catch unless you have geckos).


----------



## HG555 (Mar 16, 2021)

Thank you for your reply, I currently give him a few ff larvae 1-2 times a week - I was wary to give him too many as I don’t want to overload him with fat and not enough calcium. Soldier fly larvae sounds like just the thing, thank you!


----------



## Chris S (Apr 12, 2016)

Are you supplementing as well?


----------



## klc21473 (Jan 13, 2021)

I have no advice - but he sure is cute!


----------



## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

I'd echo everything said here already - you can keep him in isolation and try to give him extra food, and make sure your supplementation schedule is perfect. 

Ultimately though, he may never be able to go in with the other frogs and he may not be keeping pace because there's an underlying problem other than access to food. For example, he could have a congenital abnormality which was preventing him from bulking up in the first place. Or his growth could have been stunted by lack of food, and he won't really catch up now. Or some combination of the two, or some other inciting medical cause. You could consider having him examined by your vet and his feces tested for potential parasites on top of the extra care you're giving him, to see if there is something treatable that could be impacting his weight. 

Hopefully not and he'll catch up, but it's worth considering since if he does/did have an underlying problem he is unlikely to do well if housed with the stronger animals.


----------



## HG555 (Mar 16, 2021)

I am yes, currently just calcium plus with plans to get some vitamin A for them too


----------



## HG555 (Mar 16, 2021)

Sorry my notifications were off so missed these bits of advice, really appreciate it all. I’ll try my best with him, if worst comes to worst and he stays tiny, it’s a good excuse to set up another vivarium!


----------

