How to avoid overfeeding?

[Delray]

Hi guys,

I have a juvie leo with a big appetite. He eats everyday, usually 4-6 mealworms with two or three crickets in a 24 hour period. Every other day or so, I'll throw in a waxworm. My question is, first of all, am I overfeeding? And secondly, sometimes after he's eaten all of this, he'll stare mournfully into his empty food dish, clearly wanting more. Does this mean he's still hungry, or is he just begging? Thanks in advance!

 

[OnlineGeckos]

If you have a juvenile, they'll eat a lot as they are in their prime to grow. A mixture of mealworms & crickets should be good enough as their staple, but I would skip the waxworm personally. It's really not needed as there's plenty of fat content in mealworms already. Plus if you have a gecko that eats well already, you don't want to throw his appetite off track by getting him addicted to waxworms.

I usually place 10 mealworms in the mealworm dish, and allow them to eat however many they want, and just refill it with 10 fresh mealworms each day. If you supplement with crickets you can manually toss them in, and make sure they eat them up so none runs around loose overnight.

 

[rchase54]

They'll eat however much they want. Just feed them til they stop eating, but don't leave loose feeders in the tank. If they over eat, they will throw up what they don't need. After that they usually learn their lesson

 

[fl_orchidslave]

They'll eat however much they want. Just feed them til they stop eating, but don't leave loose feeders in the tank. If they over eat, they will throw up what they don't need. After that they usually learn their lesson

Not true.

Some geckos are pigs and will overeat if allowed all thy want. They may or may not regurgitate. Why would you want to feed your gecko to the point of regurgitation? It's not healthy for them, and often times they'll stop eating for a period after regurgitating. They also get fat, causing health problems in the future.

 

[Delray]

Much appreciated

Thank you both for the info- I will try the ten mealies a day suggestion and see how he does.

 

[Delray]

Another q

As long as I'm at it: is there a kinder way to move the mealworms from place to place than by using tweezers?

 

[Laporte]

As long as I'm at it: is there a kinder way to move the mealworms from place to place than by using tweezers?

nah they're mealworms they dont mind, trust me, they told me so haha

 

[Russellm0704]

nah they're mealworms they dont mind, trust me, they told me so haha

I do it by hand haha