Can my leo eat TOO much?!?!

[Ozy]

Seriously, I got a blizzard leopard gecko, not sure how old since I got him (?) at Petco. He was pretty little when I got him. Fast forward a few weeks and I am hand feeding him (because he's a spoiled brat) sometimes if I feel lazy, i'll just snap the back legs of the crickets, dust and put in his food bowl, and I also keep dusted and gutloaded mealworms in a dish for him at all times. He eats like a HORSE! He can EASILY eat a dozen or more smallish crickets plus 6 or more mealworms in a day. He is an eating MACHINE! He is gaining weight nicely and his tail is starting to fatten up. He's SUPER alert, bright eyed and bushy tailed and all that. Sooo.. what kind of feeding schedule should I have him on to make sure he doesn't gain TOO much weight, but that is enough to keep him nice and healthy? I'm cool on supplements by the way, gutload with Fluker's high calcium cricket food and the gel water cubes with calcium and dust at every feeding with Repashy Superfoods Calcium plus for Leopard Geckos.

 

[geckos galore]

i feed my leos a staple diet of super worms which are more fattening than meal worms and mine are not over weight so i think you're good lol...i have a four inch leo that ate three large supers today plus a few small supers and mealies..i've read a few differnt times that you should let your gecko eat as much as it wants in a 10-15 min period!!!

 

[Ozy]

Should I just feed him once a day or in the morning and night?

 

[Crewdog00]

Fees them once a day until they stop wanting to eat and then wait 24 hours.

 

[geckos galore]

at night is better but in feed mines at night and in the day time sometimes

 

[justindh1]

There's this idea that is prevalent in many leopard gecko keepers that feeding your geckos as much as he can in a certain amount of time is the right thing to do. My belief is that you shouldn't feed your gecko as much as it can eat in 10-15 minutes or whatever time frame. It is better to feed your gecko a consistent amount regularly based on it's age/size. Does it have to be the exact amount every time, no.

My hatchlings and juveniles regularly get 5-8 mealworms once a day. My adults get 8-14 mealworms at every feeding 2-4 times a week. This is all dependent on time of year, amount left in dish, whether they are breeding or not, and etc. All my geckos get fed around 6-10pm based on the time that I have available. Most of my geckos eat what they want within a few minutes of the feeders being placed in their dish.

I find this idea of power feeding your gecko, feeding as much as they will eat, wrong but it is my opinion. I want my geckos to gain weight and grow consistently and not as fast as I can get them to either sell, breed, or whatever.

I hope this helps ya!

 

[Cesar_Da_KIng]

I got him (?) at Petco.

The reason he might be eating so much is because hes a baby from petco. I have a leo from petco and he did the same thing for awhile until he fattened up and then he kinda slowed down and dosent even eat every day somtimes. its simply do to the fact that petco does not always have the most fantastic housing conditions so they dont always eat and are usually pretty hungry when you get them. When i first got Cesar he ate 5 crikets and 15 supers in a day.

 

[katie_]

There's this idea that is prevalent in many leopard gecko keepers that feeding your geckos as much as he can in a certain amount of time is the right thing to do. My belief is that you shouldn't feed your gecko as much as it can eat in 10-15 minutes or whatever time frame. It is better to feed your gecko a consistent amount regularly based on it's age/size. Does it have to be the exact amount every time, no.

My hatchlings and juveniles regularly get 5-8 mealworms once a day. My adults get 8-14 mealworms at every feeding 2-4 times a week. This is all dependent on time of year, amount left in dish, whether they are breeding or not, and etc. All my geckos get fed around 6-10pm based on the time that I have available. Most of my geckos eat what they want within a few minutes of the feeders being placed in their dish.

I find this idea of power feeding your gecko, feeding as much as they will eat, wrong but it is my opinion. I want my geckos to gain weight and grow consistently and not as fast as I can get them to either sell, breed, or whatever.

I hope this helps ya!

Agreed.
I would never feed my cat or dog as much as they would like to eat, nor do I eat that way myself.
Portion sized meals are best.

 

[Crewdog00]

My cat is fed with a full bowl and she eats when she wants and never over eats nor is she fat.

 

[Ozy]

Good point Cesar. He was OBVIOUSLY the least dominant, because he was the smallest and all of the others were laying on top of him.. He was pretty skinny when I got him.. He's starting to plump up really nicely now though. I can tell his tail has gotten significantly fatter and his stomach and body have plumped up nice and healthy.. I got home from the Roller Derby and he was like.. FEED MEEEE!!! RAWR!!! hahahaha

 

[Crewdog00]

I placed 9 crickets in the tank and she ate 8 of them in 15 minutes. An hour or so later she ate a few mealworms when I wasn't looking.

I know when she's done eating because she goes into her warm hide and lays on the heated ground. Doesn't come out for a little bit while digesting.