Growing geckos and armpit blubber

[Akari_32]

I've always just let my geckos eat until they were full every night (they regulate their own diets, eating more or less as needed), but Raven just eats and eats, and now is gettting blubbery in his armpits. He's about 6-7 months old, and a beefy 60 grams, according to my craptasic scale. With how much he eats, I feel like I should just be giving him dusted dollar bills -_-

I feed him mainly mealworms, with a batch of crickets every couple weeks, and I'll toss him a super worm every now and then if I've got one that's small enough (Amelia needs larger prey items due to her enigma syndrome, and Rowan is just plain lazy, and prefers to eat with as little effort as possible, so they get mainly supers). All three of them get the occational wax worm.

Since he's still growing, should I Just let him keep going how he is now, should cut back a tiny bit, or should I finally just put him on his adult diet I've been threatening him with?

 

[OnlineGeckos]

At that age, I'd say let him eat. You could cut the waxworms out of the diet completely, as he's getting plenty of fat from mealworms & superworms. You could also dust a bit less, as I'm assuming you are dusting the feeders with a multivitamin supplement every feeding?

Overall he's at a prime growing age, so he should be fine right now. But do observe and make sure that tail doesn't balloon into a round chubby tail. If it does, then start cutting back more.

 

[Akari_32]

The wax worms are a treat. They get maybe three a month, over a 7 to 10 day span. I wouldn't mind not getting them, though. I'm just saying He doesn't get supers very often because I buy them at a local shop specifically for bearded dragons, so the supers are usually fully grown. They always give me the smallest ones they can dig out, but they are typically too large to Raven at his current size. He gets the mealworms, and crickets. All feeders and guy loaded at the store and when i bring them home.

I do dust with Repashy Leopard Gecko Calcium Plus. Daily with everything BUT crickets. I hate dusting crickets. Actually, I just hate crickets period, but they are more meaty for my little fatty, so less work for me. It's a nice break to just throw him in the feeding tank with a handfull of crickets than it is to feed him 30+ mealworms @.@

Luckily, it all seems to go in, fill his tummy up, then come out. It doesn't seem to be sticking in his tail at all. I have a feeling once he's done growing he'll hoard it all in his tail, though.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

In that case cutting back on dusting daily will help, try dusting every 2-3 days instead. Remember repashy calcium plus also contain protein, it's quite a potent supplement. Dusting at every feeding usually works fine with this fine supplement. But if you have a gecko getting obese and getting armpit bubbles, it's a good idea to cut back on dusting to 2-3x a week max.

 

[Phantom240]

My adult has poofy armpits as well, but it feels like air. She sucks them in sometimes as well. Strange. What are those pouches anyway?

 

[Akari_32]

It's my understanding that they're fat deposits. Means they're well fed

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Yeah my boy has fat sacs too which is funny considering he only eats 5-7 crickets a week.

 

[Phantom240]

It's my understanding that they're fat deposits. Means they're well fed

Must mean mine is fed exceptionally well... even though she hardly eats. I guess roaches really are nutrient packed.

 

[Akari_32]

Yeah my boy has fat sacs too which is funny considering he only eats 5-7 crickets a week.

Man, that's just a snack for Raven! He just polished off 7 or 8 5/8-1 inch crickets and is STILL looking for more!

Must mean mine is fed exceptionally well... even though she hardly eats. I guess roaches really are nutrient packed.

I gotta get into roaches at some point. When I have more room I will. I went with mealworms because they can be tucked away and don't take up so much space.

 

[Tongue Flicker]

Well at least suits the name raven-ous!

Still jealous for leos with huge appetites lol..

 

[Poppy243]

My larger gecko recently started showing those sorta poofy spots. We recently cut her back to eating every other day, as she has hit that point where she really only wants to eat every other day or so anyway. And when I handled her the other day the poofies sucked back in and had the normal dimples there. They seem rather airy, at least compared to fat deposits I've seen on other animals. I dust with Repashy's at every feeding, and when she eats it can be around 15-20 mealworms. I feel that if it were a deposit of something, it wouldn't suck back in to show the normal dimples, or even change much at all... Also her tail looks to be a nice thickness for her size, not obese.

 

[Treefolk]

I highly recommend switching to dubias. I've noticed mine girl has lost fat and gained muscle mass. Less carbs and more protein is the ticket IMHO.

 

[Akari_32]

Dubais don't happen in Florida, just sayin'.

 

[Poppy243]

I can't do dubias right now. I don't have the space. Plus my geckos are illegal enough as-is in the dorms, I think they'd be more pissed if I was keeping roaches! Mealworms are easy cuz I can stash em in the fridge, out of sight and with minimal care. I'd love to have them on dubias if I could...

 

[Treefolk]

Dubais don't happen in Florida, just sayin'.

Well I still recommend finding an alternative. Mealworms just aren't very nutritious. Do some research for high ratio protein feeders; I'm pretty sure I've seen some charts when I googled for it.

Here, did a quick search: Feeder Insects

 

[Akari_32]

There is no alternative. Meal worms, superworms and crickets, that's what there is.