What Should An Adult Meruake Weigh?

[melonhelmet]

Hello all,

I was doing my monthly wiegh-ins on all the reptiles and I was wondering what my Meruake should weigh. He's full grown, nearly a full two feet STT length (23.5 inches). He doesn't appear overweight or underweight looking at him, he's 805 grams right now.

He was very underweight when I got him at 420 grams at 21 inches long (he was a rescue), now at 23.5 inches and 805 grams I just want to make sure he hasnt hit the other end of the spectrum and become overweight.

Thanks

[Katrina]

There is no correct weight for an adult - it varies depending on sex and genetics. Gigas species put on weight in the jowel area so that is a good indicator, but your best bet is to post some pictured for people to see.

[Jeff]

Just to give you an idea of how much it can vary, these are two healthy adult meraukes I keep:

Female
22 1/2" (57cm) long
958 grams

Male
21" (53 1/2cm) long
497 grams

In my experience, meraukes vary in size more than any other species I keep. Some people try to draw a line somewhere so they can say any skink shorter than "this" is an indo, and any skink longer than "this" is a merauke, but from what I can tell both meraukes and indos seem to vary a lot.

[Iceman]

My smallest Adult Merauke is 700 grams, and the largest I have ever had was 26.5 inches and 1100 grams. Like others have said, there is definitely a range in size exhibited in this subspecies (or whatever you would like to call Meraukes).