Is this normal????

[adventurer06]

Ok so I have 2 geckos that I've had for a couple months now. Both seem to be doing ok, but I have noticed one is eating less. They were babies when I got them - but I'm not really sure how old they are as they came from a pet store and I have no idea of their hatch date. One eats only meal worms ( won't eat anything else) and the other eats only crickets (same story). Well the one that eats meal worms used to eat 10-12 and is now eating 5 or 6 each day. The other one eats about 20-30 crickets daily. I was just wondering if it is normal for them to eat less as they get older? I know alot of people say their adults eat every other day instead of everyday, but around what age does this start? They seem to be plumping up, but I'm paranoid :main_rolleyes: Thanks in advance for any replies!
Mary

 

[leonewbie]

30 crickets a day? That's a lot of crickets for a juvie....
But to answer your question, alot of leos start slowing down how much/how frequently they eat not only as they grow, but every once in a while it's normal. Are they females or males? Are they housed together? What is their setup?

 

[adventurer06]

Yeah, I thought my 1 was eating alot of 1/2 inch crickets too, but she downs all of them in 15 min or less and seems content. She actually went through a shed yesterday ( she ate it all) and I wasn't going to feed her any because I figured she would be full from eating the shed, but at the usual time she came out to the front of the tank staring at me, and low and behold she still managed to eat 20 crickets! I'm not sure how her lil belly handles so much.
They were both extremely thin when I got them, but both of them have since tripled in size fatness wise. The one thats eating less is actually the one with the fattest tail. They both look female to me, when they get a little bigger I guess I will know for sure, but they seem to both get along together in my 20 gal long tank with 4 hides (one humid and 3 dry). I have never seen any bullying, they stay in their hide together, and only seem to separate when they go through a shed and use the wet hide. They also come out to eat their opposite foods together. The temp is set with a thermostat with a hot spot of 94 degrees. I just finished feeding them and the one ate 27 crickets today, and the other ate 7 mealies.

 

[leonewbie]

I wouldn't be too concerned, although if one is male, and one is female, that could cause the lack of eating, even if they are juvies. Some males will stop eating if they can smell or are around a female, bc they want to mate.