is she fat or....?

[lanalizard]

i have a 2 year old gecko that i got from a friend....it got fed every other day so it was a standard size gex...
however since i brought it here, it has been gaining weight....i dont have a scale tho...but i feed her 30 mealworms every 3 days.

her belly sags on the ground and has trouble walking properly...

what is going on? she used to live with males so i first thought that she could be gravid but that was 2 months ago.

[jakejeff]

Souds big if you can post a pic? if not by the sounds of it she is overweight try feeding 15 mealies every other day?

[Blazin]

Another thing is make sure she has calcium available at all times. If she is gravid she needs the extra calcium.

[Tim Winegard]

Thats amazing haha
I would also like to see some pics of that one!

[Alicewave]

Lots of leos are big eater but 30 mealworms is quite a lot. I know the rule of thumb is to feed leos as much as they want, which I do, but if I see one having trouble walking and it's clearly a weight problem I cut back for a couple weeks. She'll definitely be fine on 15 per feeding. I agree with the stuff about calcium also. If she is not getting the proper amount, you will notice weakness in her legs. Sounds like more of a weight thing to me though.

Also, leos never really stop growing. Once they hit two years old though it's very minute growth. I adopted Murtle when she was two and she weighed 45 grams. One year later she weighs 76. A big possibility of her growth could be that you are gutloading the feeders better than the previous owner (Murtle never had gutloaded insects til I got her).

[Leopardgex15]

She says she feeds her 30 meal worms every 3 days...which means she feeds it in the ratio of 30:3 not 30:1

[Alicewave]

But for an adult Leo who probably eats every three days, that's 30 per feeding.

[Tim Winegard]

My leo
usually eats about 10-15 bigs crix every other day

[lanalizard]

i dont find i am feeding too much at all...she usually wants more but i cut her down to 30 every 3 days..the male usually eats 50 every OTHER day....he is huge.

[Tim Winegard]

thats amazing they can digest all that chitin

[lanalizard]

but please everyone...if you think im over feeding..let me know , please! i dont wanna kill my lil ones!

[Alicewave]

Depends how big these mealworms are. If they are the baby ones that just hatched, then no but to me it's just common sense, if you see your leo is so fat he/she is having trouble walking, cut the meals down. 50 is a lot of regularly size mealies for one leo to be eating at a time. Normal is about 5-10 per feeding. Many leos eat 15-25. I have had my leos eat 30 at one feeding but not on a regular basis. And actually the last time any of them ate that many was just after I rescued them and they had been starving. My littlest rescue ate 30-40 the first couple feedings after she started eating insects again but those were the baby mealworms and now she eats a normal amount.

[Ryan]

I've had a few problems with leos throwing up when they ate too much. One used to eat 5 crickets and 10-20 mealies every other day so I cut it down to 5 crickets and 5-10 mealies and have had no prblems since. That one leo is still huge on that diet, no belly sagging but still pretty big.

[lanalizard]

just wanna let you all know that she is now cut down to 5 mealies a day until she loses weight...thanks for your opinions./

[Alicewave]

cool, glad to hear it.