How much should I be feeding my geckos?

xkatiexkaboomx

New Member
Messages
5
Location
United States
For a few days I've been attempting the "trial & error" method of trying to figure out how much to feed my geckos. However, I just don't want to risk making one of them sick by continuing that method. When we got them, I asked the man at the store (it was a reptile specialty store, not a big chain store) how much they were feeding them each day, because I wanted to continue their diet so as not to stress them out. But he wouldn't give me a straight answer. We had a few other problems with this employee, but that deserves another post all by itself, so I'm not getting into that right now. ANYWAY, our biggest male (a White & Yellow) is about 8 or 9 inches, and full grown. Our smaller male (Bell Albino) is about 6 inches and has a little bit more growing to do, and a little on the thin side (he was that way when we got him). Then, we just got a hatchling today (blazing blizzard) that isn't any more than 3 inches. How much should I be feeding each of them? Thanks! :main_thumbsup:
 

Dinosaur!

New Member
Messages
908
Location
Las vegas, Nevada
Ill tell you the general rule of thumb-

Food size- the food, whether cricket, mealworm, etc., shouldnt be longer then the width between your geckos eyes. (it doesnt have to be exactly that size, but just dont go much bigger then that)

how much- for crickets or non-bowl food items, let your gecko eat as many of those as they can in 15 minutes. after that, remove any uneaten bugs so that they don't stress out your gecko. I feed hatchling and juvenile geckos every day, and adults every other day. but some days a gecko just doesnt want to eat :) For food left in bowls, just leave the bowl in the tank, and replace the worms every day so that they are "fresh"

thus method works well for me, and my fat girls can testify to the success! :D
 

leopard love

New Member
Messages
147
Location
California
i dont know any mealworms that are smaller then my geckos width between his eyes. the small mealworms or the non giant ones are still kinda big. so i hope its okay. and i have a huge problem ill post it here and in another thread, but i need help with the same thing. My gecko is 3 months old and i was trying the trail and error method too and then i found out he eats about 8-10 meals worms every night. well i went to go get more worms today and the lady at the reptile store told me to start feeding crickets the ones that are SUPER tiny and that should be his main food not meal-worms, she told me 5 crickets and 2 worms dusted of course. well i felt so bad because this is my 3rd week owning him and he finally learned to eat from the dish, so when i put the crickets in and the meal-worms in he ate 3 crickets, but it took a little bit for him to see them and then he kept going to the dish it was so sad... what do i do? its sooooooo hard to grab the tiny crickets.
 

Dinosaur!

New Member
Messages
908
Location
Las vegas, Nevada
actually, i have seen hatchlings tackle normal sized mealworms from day 1 :) you dont't HAVE to feed crickets like the pet store person said. Alot of people on this website, including me, don't use them at all because they stink, and can stress your gecko if you dont take them out of the tank if he didnt eat them all. (i dont want to start a mealworm vs. cricket debate, but that is my opinion, and what works great for me) Just remember that leopard geckos know when they are full and have had enough, so unless your gecko is obese and on a diet, you can offer as much appropriately sized food items as you want, and they will lose interest and stop eating when they are full :)
 

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