Are We Killing Our Friends?

[FelanMoira]

I can't remember off hand right now.

Smegal is shorter than Gollum though. I'll have to find a ruler tomorrow and measure!

 

[downthebeatenpath]

I said yes, although it truly depends on the owner. Some people just spoil their animals. Alot of people leave dishes with mealies in tanks (not saying it's a bad thing) however in the wild they aren't always going to have insects readily available. Depending on the conditions, they could go days without getting something to eat. Also you have to consider some of the high fat treats given to leos, ie pinkys and wax worms, things leos wouldn't come into contact with in the wild. There is also a lot more competition for food, it's not just one leo in an enclosed area with an endless supply of food, they have to hunt for their food and deal with other animals eating the same food source. I personally think that adult leos should only be fed once or twice a week, this is just my opinion, I know a lot of people like to feed them every other day or every day. I think twice a week is more than enough. My female who I have had for about 4 years now (got her as a sub-adult) is 72 g very healthy in my opinion, and I only feed her 6 crickets twice a week, and even then she doesn't eat them all sometimes. It's all about moderation, reptiles in general don't need to eat everyday (except for babies). They are just built that way, to be able to go extended periods without food, so when they have constant access to food, especially if it is food high in fat, like pinkys or waxies more than once a month, that's when the problem occurs. I think anything above 90g is probably an obeese gecko, that's taking length into consideration though, because it's is just like humans, a 5ft. tall person that is 150 lbs. is probably obeese where a 6ft. person the same weight is not even close to being obeese. So obviously the giant trait and just geckos longer than the norm are an exception.

 

[Isis]

I have a male that's pretty big, but weights about 62 grams and I think he is perfectly healthy- the tail is very big and he's shiny and active! I am sometimes shocked that some males the size of mine are exceeding 100g!

I think females that are supposed to lay get a bit obese- they are not so devastated by the egg production, but common sense should guide us in this matter too

 

[Gecko Ranch]

I said yes, although it truly depends on the owner. Some people just spoil their animals. Alot of people leave dishes with mealies in tanks (not saying it's a bad thing) however in the wild they aren't always going to have insects readily available. Depending on the conditions, they could go days without getting something to eat. Also you have to consider some of the high fat treats given to leos, ie pinkys and wax worms, things leos wouldn't come into contact with in the wild. There is also a lot more competition for food, it's not just one leo in an enclosed area with an endless supply of food, they have to hunt for their food and deal with other animals eating the same food source. I personally think that adult leos should only be fed once or twice a week, this is just my opinion, I know a lot of people like to feed them every other day or every day. I think twice a week is more than enough. My female who I have had for about 4 years now (got her as a sub-adult) is 72 g very healthy in my opinion, and I only feed her 6 crickets twice a week, and even then she doesn't eat them all sometimes. It's all about moderation, reptiles in general don't need to eat everyday (except for babies). They are just built that way, to be able to go extended periods without food, so when they have constant access to food, especially if it is food high in fat, like pinkys or waxies more than once a month, that's when the problem occurs. I think anything above 90g is probably an obeese gecko, that's taking length into consideration though, because it's is just like humans, a 5ft. tall person that is 150 lbs. is probably obeese where a 6ft. person the same weight is not even close to being obeese. So obviously the giant trait and just geckos longer than the norm are an exception.

Great comments, I think if you keep a large collection of geckos of different kinds you learn their metabolism, and indeed, it is not mammalian when it comes to food. I have some adult geckos that need to be stuffed with small meals all the time (every other day), cases in point would be Teratolepis fasciata Viper geckos, Pachydactylus rangei Webfoots , Pareodura androyensis Small Madagascar Ground gecko and various small Coleonyx. These guys are pretty small and don't have the fat storage of larger geckos. Leopards definitely don't belong to that club at all! They have fat storing tails and have the body mass to store even more fat within their main body cavity. In really obese leos you can see fat globules ventrally (from their belly side).

I find the geckos are your guide to how often to feed. If they don't want to eat, chances are, if they are healthy, they don't need to. No worries! Add another day in between feedings until they do get hungry.

 

[downthebeatenpath]

Great comments, I think if you keep a large collection of geckos of different kinds you learn their metabolism, and indeed, it is not mammalian when it comes to food. I have some adult geckos that need to be stuffed with small meals all the time (every other day), cases in point would be Teratolepis fasciata Viper geckos, Pachydactylus rangei Webfoots , Pareodura androyensis Small Madagascar Ground gecko and various small Coleonyx. These guys are pretty small and don't have the fat storage of larger geckos. Leopards definitely don't belong to that club at all! They have fat storing tails and have the body mass to store even more fat within their main body cavity. In really obese leos you can see fat globules ventrally (from their belly side).

I find the geckos are your guide to how often to feed. If they don't want to eat, chances are, if they are healthy, they don't need to. No worries! Add another day in between feedings until they do get hungry.

Exactly. Most people not in the hobby might think oh a bigger gecko species need more food then a smaller species, because that is what it is generally true in mammals, the bigger the animal the more food it needs, which is not true for all reptiles. As I stated my leo only gets 6-12 crickets per week depending on how much she wants to eat (lately she has only been eating 3 twice a week), where as my lined day gecko on the other hand eats 3 crickets every other day.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Exactly. Most people not in the hobby might think oh a bigger gecko species need more food then a smaller species, because that is what it is generally true in mammals, the bigger the animal the more food it needs, which is not true for all reptiles. As I stated my leo only gets 6-12 crickets per week depending on how much she wants to eat (lately she has only been eating 3 twice a week), where as my lined day gecko on the other hand eats 3 crickets every other day.

The key is that the amount of food is not that different between different sized species, but the size of the food is bigger or smaller. If you stick to the 90-95% of head size for insect food selection as your guide then this will hold true. This will also maximize growth and result in robust size.

 

[geckoqueen]

Geck0's weight

I figured I would bring up a touchy but much needed subject. After the death of Moose, it got me thinking about weight issues with geckos. I know that all of us, including me, want to "plumpin" up our leos, but at what cost. I know gram weight is very important to breeding and sale, but I am starting to think that maybe our geckos should not exceed 100 grams for a male and 80 grams for a female. I'm not sure with the giant deal; but I know that with humans, giants usually are shorter than normal people due to overgrowth in the early years. Humans are just starting to understand the problems of obesity, maybe the symptoms are the same. I was just wondering you guys and gals thoughts.
Brent and Julie

I do not feed my gecko's until they won't eat anymore food. If I did my one gecko would eat 30 crickets or more. I feed 3 small worms to my 4 month old gecko and dude he looks fat. And trust me he could keep on eating. They say feed until the gecko stops eating. I myself do not go by that. I am thinking of feeding 2 worms, instead of 3, just the baby worms, not the big ones. I will get pics up soon so you can see my piggy. I mean my gecko.