Gecko won’t eat every day

jjaber

New Member
Messages
3
Hello,
We got our leopard gecko around March. We got her from PetSmart, so we do not know how old she is, but we think she is around 8 months give or take. For some reason she won’t eat everyday. There will be a few days where she eats in a row, but then she will go a day or two without wanting to eat. Her ambient temperature is 75 degree a and her heat pad is regulated between 80-90. I thought it was because she was not hot enough, but the information I found says it is a good temperature. Then I thought that maybe she eats on her own because when I leave the food in there with her, most of the time some will be gone. I offer her mostly dubia roaches, but I will feed her crickets on occasion. She looks like a healthy weight as far as I know, she acts normal, and she has normal stool. Please let me know if there is something I need to change.
P.s she is in a 20 gallon tank I believe but I am in the process of her going to a 40 or 50 gallon enclosure. Thanks!
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
If she's 8 months, she doesn't need to be fed every day. Two to three times a week is sufficient. This isn't unusual for reptiles. I feed my adult geckos twice a week. You can leave a bowl of mealworms in there on other days for a snack if you want.

Aliza
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
It depends on the gecko. If she's not hungry every day it's a good sign that maybe she's ready to go on a longer schedule.

Aliza
 

AndyBunn

Active Member
Messages
158
I gotta question. My local petshop told me that dubia roaches are no good for leopard geckos because they can't digest the exoskeleton. Is this true?

Also my Gecko is ten months and has no true eating pattern. I offer food every other day but he just eats when he wants to.
 

Bliss13

Member
Messages
49
I gotta question. My local petshop told me that dubia roaches are no good for leopard geckos because they can't digest the exoskeleton. Is this true?

Also my Gecko is ten months and has no true eating pattern. I offer food every other day but he just eats when he wants to.
No that is not true. Dubia roaches are one of the best foods for leopard geckos. Their exoskeleton should be quite easily digestible. Unless you are supplementing your roaches with tons of calcium that might make the exoskeleton harder.
 

acpart

Geck-cessories
Staff member
Messages
15,118
Location
Somerville, MA
No matter how often you offer food, your gecko will eat when it wants to. I feed my geckos (all adults) twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. Everyone is fat and happy. I have a lot of geckos so I don't monitor each one carefully (unless I detect a problem) but I know for a fact that they range from "rarely hungry" to "begging for food all the time even during the day". Pick a pattern that suits your needs (every other day or every 3 days), offer on those days and don't worry about whether it eats or not unless it stops eating and loses a lot of weight.
Here's an article about nutrition of insects for geckos (it doesn't include dubias, but does include some other types of roaches):

Aliza
 

AndyBunn

Active Member
Messages
158
Thank you Bliss13 and Aliza for your help.

The shop keeper was adamant that Dubia's were a no for Geckos. I will try him with a small one and see how he gets on.

I fed him a wax Worm moth a few days ago. He seemed to enjoy running around his viv trying to catch it which he did and are it in one go!
 

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