Overfeeding?

[Kaianuanu]

My new-ish gecko is 6" long, normally i feed him about five, 1" mealies. But he usually remains eager to feed. In the past, my geckos always have stopped when they are full but I don't know about my new one. Tonight, he ate twelve 1" mealworms and he still seems very eager for more. Is this too much? Do you think he still hasn't eaten as much as he could healthily? Do you think that i may have one of "those" geckos? The ones that don't know when to stop? And usually i feed crix but i need to buy some, i keep the worms as backups for these situations.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

My new-ish gecko is 6" long, normally i feed him about five, 1" mealies. But he usually remains eager to feed. In the past, my geckos always have stopped when they are full but I don't know about my new one. Tonight, he ate twelve 1" mealworms and he still seems very eager for more. Is this too much? Do you think he still hasn't eaten as much as he could healthily? Do you think that i may have one of "those" geckos? The ones that don't know when to stop?

6in...is he still small? Like a juvenile? I've heard that its best to let them eat their filling. If he's hungry, or seems hungry, let them eat till they are no longer interested. If he starts to regurgitate the worms, then something might be wrong. In that case, make sure the hot spot is hot enough.

I don't think he'll overeat. If you think that might be a problem, then just feed them a certain amount every day.

 

[Kaianuanu]

Heres a pic for scale, i guess he's still a young one, i think hes a subadult. But maybe hes's hungry because ive only been feeding him 5 a day or equal ammonts of crix. I'll let him finish then.

 

[Kaianuanu]

now he's at 16

 

[5HiddenLizards]

One of my younger males will eat about 10-12 per night. He would probably eat more, but since its cold right now, I've cut down a bit, just enough to keep him fat. My other male eats one large roach every two to three days. Once it warms up, I'll give the younger male worms & a roach.

 

[Kaianuanu]

how large is that male that eats 12 and how large are the worms?

 

[5HiddenLizards]

The mealworms are the regular ones, about an inch, maybe a tad bigger. That male is right at 9in. Hopefully I get a scale soon & can weigh him. That'll help with how big he is.

 

[Kaianuanu]

mine is 6" and .6 oz which i think is around 20g. HE JUST ATE 18 WORMS! Im cutting him off here.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

If you want, I'm sure you could just feed him 16 a day. As long as he's gaining weight & growing, that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[prettyinpink]

Let him eat as much as he wants, if he doesn't know when to stop (throwing up) then cut down. He looks young to me, just let him eat whatever

I'd say let him eat 15mealies for a few days, then no more then 20

 

[Kaianuanu]

he stopped by himself at 18 his gut is bulging but he seems happy, he'll probably be a lot less hungry tomorrow night though. I should have crix for him too. He's just acting a little lazier than normal, soaking up his red night light's rays.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

he stopped at 18, by himself at 18 his gut is bulging but he seems great, he'll probably be alot less hungry tomorrow night though. I should have crix for him too. He's just acting a little lazier than normal, soaking up his red night light's rays.

Sounds like he's full! Once he gets used to the amount he eats, it'll be easier to see how many you'll need to feed him. He probably won't eat as many tomorrow, but since he's growing, he might.

 

[prettyinpink]

Becareful though, I have a little one that doesn't know when to stop...

 

[Dog Shrink]

Also being lazy after a meal like that isn't unusual. Lil dude is fat and happy kinda like us after thanksgiving dinner.

 

[roger]

dont limit his food intake

 

[Joao]

That seems like a lot of food. Leo's won't get obese with high food intake like that?

Has feeding until they are full become a habit because breeders need them heavy to breed, or is it because all the leftover goodies go into the tail?

I'm just curious.

 

[prettyinpink]

We all have different ways we prefer to feed.

Roger doesn't limit the food intake of his leos because of winter when they start to go on food strike, which is a nice method.

I limit the intake, or feed more based on what the weight of my leos are. For example, Fae is allowed as much as she wants because she's not the weight I'd like her to be. Rose, isn't limited because she usually stops when she's full and isn't over weight. Amirah, doesn't know when to stop so I limit her.

 

[Joao]

Its just a confusing thing for me. I bought snowflake about a month and a half ago. The breeder told me to feed her 3-4 crickets a day. I followed that until last week when I was told that I didn't feed her enough, which is fine since she got a little bigger and it was time for a little more food.

All the animals that I had/have will normally overeat if they can. I try to think about the size of the stomache and go with that as a measurment. I like the RES feeding tip of only feeding as much as would fit in its hollow head. My turtle seems to keep a very healthy weight.

Of course I'm not gonna sit here and compare the two since they have different needs, but sometimes the amounts of food that leo's are fed sound ridiculous to me.

 

[prettyinpink]

Yes, when I first got my leos too I wasn't sure how to do it either. They looked so small to me, and I didn't realize they could eat so much

 

[Dog Shrink]

I've never seen the RES feeding guideline but it would seem only feeding what would fit in their hollow head wouldn't be enough for a leo since I think an adult head could only hold like 1-2 full sized crickets or like 3 superworms