Gecko is burning through 25 small mealies a day easily

[bry12345]

Hey guys. So Boss is about 30 grams and maybe 3 1/2 or 4 inches long (I haven't actually put a ruler to him) and he's burning through these small mealworms from Rainbow Mealworms. I put 25 in his bowl everyday dusted and gut loaded, and by the time I'm home from work around now, he's eaten them all and always seems like he's looking for more. Do I need to order bigger worms/feed these to a bigger size? Or should he be fine? Other than this, everything else is dandy. He seems totally healthy. We's getting a little chubby and his tail is definitely growing. 5 weeks going strong!

 

[JessJohnson87]

You can try bigger ones, seems like he has a good healthy appetite. Have you tried other feeders like crickets or roaches with him?

These guys will pig out if you let them, mine pigged out on 40 mealworms while I was out of town lol.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Personally, I just wouldn't feed that much. Leopard geckos can get fat too, and it's not healthy. At 30 grams, there's no reason to feed him every day. I would go with 10-15 mealies every other day (this is what I do for my juvies and they are healthy and the correct weight).

I disagree with people saying feed the geckos as much as they will eat. I have several that would certainly over eat and become obese.

 

[JessJohnson87]

I agree, mine only gets 3 roaches and maybe 8-9 mealworms.

 

[bry12345]

You can try bigger ones, seems like he has a good healthy appetite. Have you tried other feeders like crickets or roaches with him?

These guys will pig out if you let them, mine pigged out on 40 mealworms while I was out of town lol.

I haven't used any other feeders since he's been so easy with mealworms. I've heard of difficulties getting them to go after them. However, I have been meaning to get something else from the pet store just to change it up for a day or two.


To the guys who say feed him less, should I still consider trying to grow my current mealies a little bigger?

Side Note: My girlfriend just picked up a 50 count waxworm for treats that I want to associate with handling. However, I know you should only really feed him one a week at the most. So how do I make them last longer than a few weeks?

 

[JessJohnson87]

I put my wax worms in the fridge but most of them died before I fed them off. You can let the small mealies grow a little bigger, set them up in like a 6 quart shoebox type container with some oats or wheat bran and carrots/collards at room temperature and let the breeding frenzy begin.

 

[bry12345]

When he came out today I grabbed some pictures. Here's him compared to my hand, and him compared to the mealworms to see if they could/should be bigger...

Thanks for all of your advice guys.

 

[JessJohnson87]

He may be able to go a little bigger. I get large worms for my adult and they're still on the smaller side.

 

[Neon Aurora]

Personally, the size of your mealies looks fine to me, and your gecko looks like the perfect weight. I wouldn't want him any fatter (but that is just be, I'm not saying it's the be-all-end-all).

I don't feed waxworms, so I can't give you input there.