I am so confused about how much food to feed my baby gecko's

[geckoqueen]

The lady at the pet store who owns gecko's said 2 to 3 worms is plenty for a baby Gecko. My boyfriend agrees with her, the lady at pet store. I then get told this is not enough on message boards and that I need to feed my gecko's about 15 to 20 meal worms a day. One is about 4 in half months old the other is a few months old.

I really think 20 meal worms a day is a lot to feed a gecko, then they get way too fat and that can't be good for them. Hashey is already fat, if I feed him 20 meal worms, dude he would be huge. So i feed 3 meal worms to Hashey a day, now I could see maybe a few more worms added in, but not 20 a day. I don't use crickets at all, just the worms. I don't want to starve them, but being over weight is not good at any age to me. I have been feeding Hashey 3 worms every day and Ninja 2 worms every day since he is younger.

 

[acpart]

Many people with young geckos keep a small supply in a bowl all the time and let them regulate themselves. I really believe that most geckos will do that.

Aliza

 

[thekooliest]

I don't think anyone you talked to is right.
A couple things...
2 to 3 IS NOT ENOUGH.
Mine eat around 12.
But just feed them as many as they can eat in 15 minutes. They will usually stop eating when they are full, or if not...they will regurgitate it with no harm done

 

[KYUI]

Oh I read somewhere in this forum to let your gecko eat as much as they can. If they throw up, they won't eat that much anymore and will know when to stop next time.

I think what thekooliest is saying is similar to what i read. =)

 

[geckoqueen]

Eating

I have seen Hashey not eat 3 worms before like he ate 2 worms, seen the other worm and ignored it. I had to get it out of the cage, although most of the time he will eat three worms, but I will see what he can eat in 15 minutes. That prob be like 50 worms in 15 minutes. :main_laugh: This one is a pig.. beware!

Ninja will eat two worms and act like he wants more, so I see what he eats in 15 minutes. I'll try this tomorrow..

I want them to be full and growing right for their size!

 

[Grinning Geckos]

A long time ago, I tracked just how many worms my geckos would eat in a day. They would occasionally pig-out and eat up to 28 worms, but then they would only eat 7-8 for the next few days. When allowed to eat what they want, most geckos will average between 10 - 20 worms a day. 2 - 3 is nowhere near enough. It's best to let your gecko eat all they want for at least 15 minutes, but leaving some in there for them to eat as they want is a good way to go too.

If you REALLY feel your gecko is too fat, then post a pic here and people can tell you if your gecko needs to call Jenny. Then you can cut down on how much you give, but it would still be well above 2 - 3 worms.

 

[Scoots85]

I actually heard you aren't supposed to feed 'em mealworms 'til they reach at least 6 months in age, then you can introduce a mealworm + cricket diet. Until then you would only be feeding them crickets.

 

[geckoqueen]

My gecko

A long time ago, I tracked just how many worms my geckos would eat in a day. They would occasionally pig-out and eat up to 28 worms, but then they would only eat 7-8 for the next few days. When allowed to eat what they want, most geckos will average between 10 - 20 worms a day. 2 - 3 is nowhere near enough. It's best to let your gecko eat all they want for at least 15 minutes, but leaving some in there for them to eat as they want is a good way to go too.

If you REALLY feel your gecko is too fat, then post a pic here and people can tell you if your gecko needs to call Jenny. Then you can cut down on how much you give, but it would still be well above 2 - 3 worms.

Ok here is a picture of my little pig gecko. :main_laugh:

or

 

[Grinning Geckos]

She's actually a bit on the thin side. Not exactly unhealthy thin, and part of it could be from being young, but she has a long way to go before you could call her fat! A good judge of healthy weight is that the thickest part of her tail should be at least as thick as her neck. She's not too far off, but there's plenty of room to grow. I'd just let her eat whatever she wants in that 15 minutes.

 

[Grinning Geckos]

I actually heard you aren't supposed to feed 'em mealworms 'til they reach at least 6 months in age, then you can introduce a mealworm + cricket diet. Until then you would only be feeding them crickets.

There have been plenty of geckos raised on nothing but mealworms, and they were all perfectly fine. Of course, if you can offer a varied diet it's best, but there's no reason you can't feed a medium sized mealworm to even a hatchling. By the time they're a several weeks old, they can handle full sized mealworms easily.

 

[Geck-O]

I have a few weeks old gecko and it's eating about 7 one day and 4 the next. Now it normally eats 3-4 worms. I feed it as much as it can eat. When it stops hunting, I stop giving it worms.

 

[Scoots85]

There have been plenty of geckos raised on nothing but mealworms, and they were all perfectly fine. Of course, if you can offer a varied diet it's best, but there's no reason you can't feed a medium sized mealworm to even a hatchling. By the time they're a several weeks old, they can handle full sized mealworms easily.

Really? Good news to me! I've been meaning to give my gecko some mealworms. He's only about 3 months old so I was going to wait a bit more but maybe not. So you think he'd be fine downing a full-grown mealworm?

 

[acpart]

My 5 gram hatchlings have no trouble with a full grown mealworm.l

Aliza

 

[hoppslover]

I have been feeding all of my leos mealworms. Even the hatchlings. What I give them depends on how they are feeding for that week. I usually give the hatchlings 10 or so a day. I have some adults that are still eating like pigs and some that have slowed way down. The ones that are eating like pigs I have been giving them 15 to 20 a day. The ones that have slowed I just make sure they have around 10 in their bowl of which they eat some days and not on others. I usually switch out the mealworms they dont eat with freshly gutloaded worms every time I feed. When I see that my hatchlings are about ready to shed. I will put a bowl with 5 or so small mealworms and they will usually start eating when the shed is complete.

 

[laurlaur12]

my Leo is about 6 months old, and for the first couple weeks i had her, i only fed her crickets. Now, i have been leaving mealworms in a bowl constantly, adn still offereing crickets every night. she seems to have no desire to for the crickets anymore.

Is it worth it to keep offering the crickets??