Possibility of Overfeeding?

[Jazee]

Our new 11-month old Sunglo from vmsherp.com finally got settled in enough to his new 30-gal long home to start eating. He's eating two adult (7/8") crickets and a superworm now for the past 3 nights. We have to temporarily remove his warm hide every night to watch him eat as he's still pretty shy. But he sure goes for those buggers fast. Then retreats back to the warm hide after we put it back in.

I believe I read these guys are still growing until up to 14-months. Is 2 adults crickets and a superworm about right for a feeding or should he probably be eating more and is there any problem with offering him food every night and just removing it if he doesn't eat it.

We typically leave at least one cricket in the tank. I know that is not recommended as they may nibble on the cricket but we remove them in the morning and they are very well gut loaded with veggies, fruit and fish food so they aren't hungry when we put them in and I put a piece of carrot in just as a precaution. A lot of people take them out right away and recommend that but I really think the cricket would have to be left in there more than a day for it to be a problem. Maybe not, I'm a newbie.

Anyway, wondering about the opinions of you experienced Leo owners on feeding.

Oh, and how long should I keep the superworms. They seem to be getting less active in the cup and it's been a little over a week so I'm guessing they last not much more than a couple weeks as you can put them in the fridge like the waxworms and mealworms. The mealworms are so puny! Can't wait to give him some dessert once a week or so in a while in the form of a waxworm or two.

 

[OhioGecko]

IMO I would feed upto 10 items a night and remove any access items in the morning. I would even put the supers back in their bedding the next day and put new ones in the next night. Looks like your doing a good job gut loading the crickets!

Some leos are shy eaters and will eat when not being watched. So leaving the food in over night shouldn't be a problem, but definately remove in the morning.

Superworms will not survive in the fridge like mealies and waxworms. They need to be kept in room temp. Cody at Progeckos has a great care sheet for them and you might even want to try to raise them. Here is the link http://progeckos.com/caresheets/superworm.htm

Good Luck

 

[karls-geckos]

im no expert, but i think it all depends on the individual gecko. if what you are doing is working and he/she has a nice healthy tail and body size just go with whats working. if he/she starts loosing weight or getting fat adjust accordingly. i have 5 geckos and they all eat and grow differently, one i havnt fed in a week cause she got too fat and huge fat pockets. my problem their was i keep 2 geckos in the same tank and she was eating most or all the food. this past week i have been removing the male and hand feeding him. tonight im giving miss fattie 1 superworm lol shes on a diet! im moving to georgia in 2 weeks and then i will seperate them into their own cages. i have 2 girls in another tank and they share well and eat at the same time together every night.