How often should I feed my 9 months old leopard gecko ?

[SenSx]

Hello,

I just got a leopard gecko, and I would like to know how often I should feed him ?

His previous owners were feeding him every other day.
I know juveniles should eat every day, and adults every other or 2 days.

But mine is 9 months old, and I don't know in which category he belongs.
For now I feed him every other day with 5 adult crickets (after that he does not want to eat anymore), and 4 mealworms once a week ( I think he would eat more of them, but it is hard to digest, and I don't want him to get an occlusion).
I do feed my crickets with fresh vegetables everyday, and mealworm too but only 48h and 24h before giving them to my gecko ( I don't want them to transform too fast).
BUT each time I open the tank to change water or cleaning it on the days he is not supposed to eat, he gets out of his hide and comes at the door to get food lol
Should I give him if he is asking for it ?
Or should I resist and still feed him every other day ?
I don't want him to become fat, but he is still a bit small, and he seems to need to grow.

He weights 42 grams, and is about 5,9 inch long.


Thx for help

 

[Music City Geckos]

Well, kind of a loaded question. A 9 month old gecko would be considered a sub adult or a adult depending on size. As far as feeding, he knows from repetition that when the lid comes up it is time to eat. This doesn't necessarily mean that he is hungry but, he thinks he is. It would help to determine his needs if there was a picture of him. Lots of times everyone wants these Leopard Geckos that have these fat tails. And I hate to break it to them but, overly fatty tails = obese geckos. How you want to feed you geckos is up to you. Me personally I feed my hatchlings every other day and I feed my breeders every 3 days. I only use mealworms and I dust them with Vionate and Osteo Firm SA. I do supplement my female breeders with waxworms during and after breeding season. I believe that for a normal sized leopard gecko to be full grown 60-70 grams is the norm. This is not including Giants.

Alot of times you can tell if your geckos are getting fat. Do their bellies drag? Do they have small fat sacs behind their legs? A rule of thumb I like to use is if their tail gets to be a lot thicker than their neck, it's time to back off feeding to maybe once a week for a bit. Now, before cooling for breeding season maybe a month to a month and a half out I do "bulk" my females up a little bit. I do this for a couple reasons.

1. I want thus female to go her whole breeding season without worrying if she is getting too skinny to breed.

2. I want her to gain extra nutrients especially a little extra calcium to get ready for egg production.

Matbe be a little more than you asked for but, if you need anything else just shoot me a message.

Enjoy!!