Why are some Leos tails thicker than others

[brillobee]

Food should be no larger than the width of the geckos head.

 

[Jayme]

Food should be no larger than the width of the geckos head.

^This is true with insects like crickets and roaches, though with worms it's a bit of a gray area because of the body type difference.

For a point of reference, I feed my adult gecko mealworms that are about an inch to an inch and half long. She'll usually eat 8 to 12 of these. I think it was Ron Tremper who said to feed two mealworms for every inch of gecko.. I'm not sure how arbitrary that is though. Then for superworms, I started feeding her medium to large sized superworms (with no extra growth hormone that I'm aware of.. they were at about 2 inches long give or take?) when she was about 8 months old and roughly 5-6 inches long. She ate them without a problem, usually consuming about 2, sometimes 3. For any other worms (hornworm, silks, etc), I don't feed them if they're larger than a large superworm. Maybe she could eat larger worms, but I don't try it just because I don't find it necessary to push the limits of her digestive system or risk damage. I hope this helps as a reference point. Younger and smaller geckos will need their food scaled down to suit their size better, you kind of just have to eyeball it. :main_thumbsup:


Also while we're on this topic, I'd just like to say that I wouldn't recommend feeding wild caught food items to her. Because even if you find an area to harvest them without any pesticides, they can still carry all sorts of parasites that you'd be introducing to your gecko. I know you didn't mention any thoughts on this, but I just wanted to include this for future reference, since I saw in a reptile magazine at the pet store a really informative article written by a reptile vet, except he recommended wild caught food and I just think it's a terrible idea unless you enjoy vet trips!

I hope this helps clarify some things

 

[FBody355]

Also, I'm pretty sure if you buy your mealworms from say Petco and Petsmart the containter will say small, large, ect.. on the top of the container. Or if you go into a local pet store they'll have the different sizes and can show you the difference.

 

[Bushido]

I want to thank everyone who helped me with this. I really appreciate it very much. I am new to Herps in general, and any and all information was greatly appreciated and I know I have a lot to learn.

This is an awesome community, and I'm glad I found it. A lot of help everyone has been, and continue to be.

 

[LeoLover101]

^This is true with insects like crickets and roaches, though with worms it's a bit of a gray area because of the body type difference.

For a point of reference, I feed my adult gecko mealworms that are about an inch to an inch and half long. She'll usually eat 8 to 12 of these. I think it was Ron Tremper who said to feed two mealworms for every inch of gecko.. I'm not sure how arbitrary that is though. Then for superworms, I started feeding her medium to large sized superworms (with no extra growth hormone that I'm aware of.. they were at about 2 inches long give or take?) when she was about 8 months old and roughly 5-6 inches long. She ate them without a problem, usually consuming about 2, sometimes 3. For any other worms (hornworm, silks, etc), I don't feed them if they're larger than a large superworm. Maybe she could eat larger worms, but I don't try it just because I don't find it necessary to push the limits of her digestive system or risk damage. I hope this helps as a reference point. Younger and smaller geckos will need their food scaled down to suit their size better, you kind of just have to eyeball it. :main_thumbsup:


Also while we're on this topic, I'd just like to say that I wouldn't recommend feeding wild caught food items to her. Because even if you find an area to harvest them without any pesticides, they can still carry all sorts of parasites that you'd be introducing to your gecko. I know you didn't mention any thoughts on this, but I just wanted to include this for future reference, since I saw in a reptile magazine at the pet store a really informative article written by a reptile vet, except he recommended wild caught food and I just think it's a terrible idea unless you enjoy vet trips!

I hope this helps clarify some things

Thanks so much for this information. I don't plan to ever catch her food from the wild...but I'm glad you told me about that, I sure wouldn't want to give her parasites, and no I don't like trips to the vet. It's better to be safe than sorry. I am also glad to hear I can ask for different size food for her at PetsMart. That's where I bought her, and that is where I buy her food from. So are Superworms good to feed her now, or should I wait til she grows up. I want to offer her a variety of food if possible, but I don't want to cause her impaction or feed her something that is bad for her.

 

[Jayme]

I've read a couple of people saying that the gecko should weigh at least 20grams before offering superworms, but if you're ever in doubt you can always just feed smaller food items to be safe. Oh, and if you ever want to feed waxworms (they're usually also available at pet stores) be aware that they're nutritionally not all that great for the gecko. They're like lizard junk food, highly addicting, so only feed a few occasionally to your leo or you run the risk of her refusing all other food.

 

[Dimidiata]

Appropriate sized super for appropriate sized leo. My lil leo was taking them at a young age, not sure of weight but there was no issue.

 

[LeoLover101]

I've read a couple of people saying that the gecko should weigh at least 20grams before offering superworms, but if you're ever in doubt you can always just feed smaller food items to be safe. Oh, and if you ever want to feed waxworms (they're usually also available at pet stores) be aware that they're nutritionally not all that great for the gecko. They're like lizard junk food, highly addicting, so only feed a few occasionally to your leo or you run the risk of her refusing all other food.

I have been giving her one waxworm a week, on Sundays, it's like her one special pig out meal. I know they aren't that good for her, but I want her to enjoy something, so I was told that one a week will not hurt her at all, and that's what I've been doing. She seems happy and healthy since I cut down on the mealworms.

 

[Pinned27]

Appropriate sized super for appropriate sized leo. My lil leo was taking them at a young age, not sure of weight but there was no issue.

And how would you determine that?

 

[Jayme]

I have been giving her one waxworm a week, on Sundays, it's like her one special pig out meal. I know they aren't that good for her, but I want her to enjoy something, so I was told that one a week will not hurt her at all, and that's what I've been doing. She seems happy and healthy since I cut down on the mealworms.

Ah, ok. That's a perfectly good waxworm feeding schedule. :main_yes:

 

[Dimidiata]

The worm shouldnt be longer then the head, thats been a general rule for most feeders crickets included.

 

[Pinned27]

Every time i take a look at superworms, even the small ones, just seem much bigger then the geckos head. And i heard people feeding the large one which are even bigger! lol. I know the space between the eyes should be about cricket size.

 

[Dimidiata]

i Always just used leanght from nose to right behind the eyes, any ways i fed supers just fine when rango was much younger, normaly getting the smaller ones will be fine imo.

 

[Pinned27]

Yea, my sprocket is 4 months old roughly, and about 5 to 51/2 inches long, i might try the small supers or wait another month to try them out.

 

[Dimidiata]

Rango is 5months, shes eating adult supers easy.

 

[marc26]

My leo eats inchhalf long no probs and he 5 month

 

[LeoLover101]

I don't know my Leo's age, I know she is growing fast, and she is actually starting to get a little fatter tail. This is what I've been feeding her this week, and she seems to not be having any problems at all. Her appetite is HUGE...She has been eating 5 crickets and 6 mealworms in the morning, and again at night. After her nightly feeding I leave 4 extra mealworms in her food bowl and by the next morning there may be one left, but sometimes she eats them all. She seems to be rather happy, she spends a lot of time at night on the warm side of her tank, but I do notice that she is all over the place in there when she is hunting. During the day she prefers her moist hide. From there she can see the outside world when she's not sleeping, I think she likes that.

 

[Dimidiata]

I don't know my Leo's age, I know she is growing fast, and she is actually starting to get a little fatter tail. This is what I've been feeding her this week, and she seems to not be having any problems at all. Her appetite is HUGE...She has been eating 5 crickets and 6 mealworms in the morning, and again at night. After her nightly feeding I leave 4 extra mealworms in her food bowl and by the next morning there may be one left, but sometimes she eats them all. She seems to be rather happy, she spends a lot of time at night on the warm side of her tank, but I do notice that she is all over the place in there when she is hunting. During the day she prefers her moist hide. From there she can see the outside world when she's not sleeping, I think she likes that.

As far as you should be concerned is this: IF shes not getting overweight and shes growing propotionaly to what shes eating and shes not throwing up then shes fine. If she does start throwing up just cut back a little.

 

[stager]

Probably the same reason same reason some people are heavy without eating much or some eat every thing and are skinny Genetics

 

[Dimidiata]

Also watch for bowl movments.