Loaded question. Feeding schedule, tails, and calcium?

Skeletwinn

New Member
Messages
2
Location
United States
Hi there, I apologize for my many questions, I just figured I'd come to a forum and ask instead of driving myself insane trying to figure it out.

First question, I have a leopard gecko and she's about 4 years old. How often should she be eating and how much? She wants to eat every day, and paces until I give her some roaches. She'll eat 15, and still want more. She isn't overly fond of worms, and she has trouble getting crickets unless they're almost dead. So we just feed roaches.

Second question, I've heard a lot of things about the calcium and calcium with d3. Some say the food should be dusted with d3 twice a week, while straight calcium is left in the tank 24/7, someone else said just use the one with d3, others said use multivitamins as well, can anyone clear this up for me?

Last question, one gecko has a semi plump tail, and a pretty big belly. I like to compare her to a fat lazy cat. The other is very skinny and also has a skinny tail. How do I go about plumping up their tails if needed?

(No, I didn't get geckos without knowing anything about them, they were both rescues and I took them because they weren't being fed etc I've been reading everything under the sun for a while now, and I'm still pretty confused.)

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This is Moonstone. The one I referred to as a fat cat.

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This is Cypress, the one that is a little skinnier.
 

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michael.a.wyton

New Member
Messages
70
Location
CA
I feed mine every second day except for when she's laying eggs and that's when I leave 5 a day in a dish. As for the calcium I dust every second to third day but again when she's laying I leave a little dish. My gecko would eat til she explodes so I give just enough to fill her in first few minutes but that's just me

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
Every gecko is really individual, so it's hard for someone to tell you how often/how much exactly to feed. I go off body condition. Moonstone to me looks pretty overweight. Cypress looks good, but it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more.

If Moonstone were my gecko, she would only be getting fed a regular meal 1-2 times a week. Cypress I would feed every 2-3 days until she is the weight I want her.

If these geckos are kept together, there is a fair chance Moonstone is bullying Cypress and getting all the food.
 

Skeletwinn

New Member
Messages
2
Location
United States
Every gecko is really individual, so it's hard for someone to tell you how often/how much exactly to feed. I go off body condition. Moonstone to me looks pretty overweight. Cypress looks good, but it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more.

If Moonstone were my gecko, she would only be getting fed a regular meal 1-2 times a week. Cypress I would feed every 2-3 days until she is the weight I want her.

If these geckos are kept together, there is a fair chance Moonstone is bullying Cypress and getting all the food.

Thank you for your reply. I assumed Moonstone was over weight. She isn't very active and I remember someone recently told me to just feed her however much she wants whenever. I do notice her belly kind of sagging when she walks. It has since I got her. She's lost a little weight since I got her, so I wasn't sure if that was even good or not.

I do know when I got Moonstone especially (my aunt gave her to me since she was my cousin's) he used to feed her constantly and then all of the sudden stopped. I got her in a 10 gallon in terrible condition. Urine and feces everywhere etc, no carpet, paper towels or anything just the glass no lights etc. So I guess she was fat, then he quit taking care of her, and I took her soon after and she lost a bit more.

They aren't kept together. They both have their own 20 long, with different setups as Cypress likes to climb and Moonstone hates even leaving her hide but will occasionally crawl on her log.

I definitely don't want her overweight. Thank you again.
 
Last edited:

Neon Aurora

New Member
Messages
1,376
Location
New Mexico
Oh, the calcium. Forgot about that. Schedules are tough because I change how often my geckos are fed a lot. I recommend an all in one supplement such as Repashy Calcium Plus. You can use that every feeding.

Alternatively, people usually use vitamins 1x a week, calcium with D3 1x a week, and calcium the rest of the time along with leaving a dish of calcium without D3 in the tank all the time.

But yeah, Moonstone could definitely lose some weight. Once they start storing fat on the body as well as the tail, you are bordering on obesity.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
There's more than one way to do things which is why you're getting different answers. It helps to know why people are doing what they are and then you can choose what you want to do:
--hatchlings and juveniles need to eat as much as they can to finish growing. Adults who don't pace themselves and end up becoming overweight need to be controlled
--Years ago the biggest supplementation problem was that people didn't know they needed to supplement. Now, there's a tendency to go overboard. Leopard geckos, being nocturnal, don't need that much vitamin D3 to metabolize their calcium and there are indications that they can end up with too much calcium and/or D3. Since we're not all scientists with research facilities, we have to guess and watch the results.

Here's what I do:
hatchlings get a dish of plain calcium for the first few months (I didn't use to do this but a few of the hatchlings were showing signs of early MBD which stopped as soon as I installed the calcium. This is a good example of trying something and making a change based on results). Adults have their feeders dusted with Repashy Calcium Plus every other feeding. I feed on Tues., Thurs., and Sat. If I have a gecko that isn't really eating, every few weeks I rub a big of Repashy + water paste on the gecko's mouth so it can lick it off.

Aliza
 

DrCarrotTail

Moderator
Messages
3,590
Location
Ridgewood, NJ
Males tend to have skinnier tails than females. I assume the patternless is a female and the other is a male. They both look fat and happy to me. I feed my adults about every 7-14 days when they're not breeding. I skip over those that look too chunky or only feed them a few worms instead of the dozen or so I give everyone else. They're not like dogs or cats and can regulate their metabolism by moving around to cooler or warmer spots in their environment so there are lots of different schedules that all result in healthy chunky geckos :)
 

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