Fat "pockets"

[OSUgecko]

One of mine got a bulge about two months ago under her left armpit. I took her to my vet, and he aspirated them/looked at them under a microscope. All he could find in the fluid was protein that looked completely normal. He removed all of the fluid in that area with the syringe, and the armpit went "flat" again for about a week... and then it was back! She STILL has a single love handle, but is eating and growing great. It hasn't seemed to affect her health adversely at all, so I'm not going to worry about it anymore.

 

[Stitch]

It's been said before that these "storage pockets" are not harmful, if anything it means the gecko is in great health. Nothing to worry about guy and gals. If you are concerned then you can reduce their food intake for a while and they should start to go away.

 

[Inlovewithherps]

Funny, I was just going to ask about the fat pockets on my Leo. Thanks for bumping this thread back up. Great timing! :main_thumbsup:

 

[aaronawol]

Thanks for the info everyone!!! I was really wondering why my lady leo had these... It seems like everyones leo with pockets were females... does anyone have a male/s with these?

 

[supperl]

This is a realy realy good thread. I wonder why noone(including me) knows about it or let´s say why their are so many ppl asking it. Is this somehow new or what?
I think this all comes mainly from feeding mealworms. When I got my Mack Snow male he came from US I decided to feed mealies and work him over to the Crickets. But in total I was wrong as he build such bulgs after I feed him the mealies. I think the US breeder used to feed crickets or only once or twice a week.
I´m often seeing ppl offering 24/7 mealies in the cage, so no wonder if the Leos get fat but when I see Steves Geckos I mean that ones that are 4 month und nearly 50 gramms^^ I can only find a few with these bulgs and he is offering 24/7 mealies.
So why does some breeders with 24/7 mealies have none or only few of these Geckos that build up bulgs and others have more.
I dunno what exactly causes mine to build them but I cut off the calcium (only once a week on the crickets) and started to give Crickets only and I think the bulgs are getting smaller^^.

Well whatever it is good to know that they are no Problem and I think this thread should be stickied as many ppl don´t know about it.

 

[MSMD]

I have a male that tends to get these a little bit when he's chunky. They get visibly smaller within days of cutting back his food intake, and then disappear.