I'm changing the feeding schedule.

[lisa127]

My male leo is between 9.5 inches and 10 inches. Not sure which because it's so hard to measure. Anyway, apparently I must be overfeeding him. I weigh him once a week and his weight gain will not slow down. Last night he weighed in at 102 grams. That is too much!! I have been feeding him lately about 20 mealworms every other day. What do you think I should do? Maybe cut that down to 12 mealworms every other day?

 

[SC Geckos]

How old is he and do you know his genetics?? Does he have giant genes?? 20 mealworms every other day (for an adult) could be considered... a bit excessive, but if he is a giant/super giant he could very well be still growing. Some of the geckos with these genetics can be MONSTERS (130g, 140g, 150g +)
A picture may also help.

 

[lisa127]

I don't know the genetics. Unfortunately, he was originally a pet store leo. Unwanted, then given to me. I don't know his exact age either because of that. I will say that he came to me in September but I didn't get a gram scale until a few weeks later. The first time I weighed him was on October 12, at which point he was 34 grams and looked great and healthy. As of yesterday he was 102 grams. I'm thinking he might be getting close to a year old? I'll try to get a pic up later.

Years ago when I kept leo's I just kept mealworms in a dish all the time for them. I had one slightly chubby leo but none that got huge. With this guy I do not keep worms in the cage 24/7, I put about 20 in every other evening. So if that sounds excessive, what do you think?

My avatar is him, but that pic is a couple months old. So he is bigger than that now.

 

[SC Geckos]

I keep mealworms in feeding dishes in all my enclosures (the same dish I keep my suplaments in). For the sub adults and adults in my collection, I feed them once every 3-4 days. I don't count how many worms I put in the dishes each time but I would guess 20-25...ish. This way they eat everything in the first 2-3 days and the last day or two they finish digesting and are ready for more. They seem to do well using this method and have a much better feeding response when food is offered.

 

[KTyne]

20 mealworms for an adult Leo doesn't seem excessive to me, especially since Mealworms are tiny.
Now, if he was eating 20 Supers every other day I'd say THAT was excessive, lol.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Like brad i dont count exactly but my adult Leo's eat about 10-20 mealworms twice a week. IMO it's better to slightly underfeed than over feed adult Leo's that aren't breeding so they aren't obscenely overweight. I weigh mine every week or two and can always add a bit more if they seem to be losing weight.

 

[lisa127]

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to try lowering it to 12 mealworms every other day and see how that goes. 102 grams is just ridiculous considering he's still on the young side. Here are some pics.

How does he look?

 

[SC Geckos]

He doesn't appear to be extremely overweight. Just looks like a large healthy gecko to me. Reducing his food (slightly) will probably give him that athletic build he's been looking for. lol.