Leopard Gecko and Eating

[Jolenels]

Do geckos yawn?? I know they throw up, and I'm hoping she wasn't gagging....but tonight while Dora hunted crickets she kept opening her mouth as wide as possible. She was bright again today (yesterday she was a wee washed out) and active. She ate maybe five crickets total. And she didn't stop once the mouth opening started.

As well, I've found her sitting in her water bowl twice now. She's up to her shoulders, and her chin is resting on the lip, and she's just....hanging out. She also cruises through the dish several times a day....ecspecially while hunting. Is that normal?

 

[Jolenels]

I went in and checked the enclosure, it's been an hour, and there is no throw up in the tank anywhere. So I don't think she was gagging.

 

[Josh2]

I'm not sure if it's a yawn but I have seen them stretch their mouths open much like a yawn. Does everything seem to be ok?

 

[Caleb C]

She was probably gagging, make sure the crickets aren't too big. They yawn, but they just open their mouths once.

 

[Jolenels]

It wasn't a bunch of times in a row....it was more like she would be stalking the cricket, open her mouth once, then stalk for a few more steps and pounce. Eat it. Then eat another few crickets. And then repeat the stalk, yawn, stalk and eat process. She didn't open it more then once at a time, and only three times during the over twenty minutes she ate.

 

[Jolenels]

oh and everything was well she didn't do it today while she ate, she just ate like a pig! And I'm not sure what gecko puke looks like lol but there was nothing in the tank besides poop and her

 

[Caleb C]

Yep, i've never had mine puke either, and my small ones poop once every day, and eat like monsters. It's not normal for them yawn multiple times in such a low amount of time, but it sounds like it's nothing too important.

 

[Rylee]

--I knew knew that it wasnt good to have overweight geckos, I figured the reserve fat would just go to the tail? Im Confused.

Most of the fat goes to the tail, but if the gecko is overweight, it will have a large stomach area and it's armpits will bulge out. They can develop fatty-liver and other bad diseaes if they get over weight.

 

[Jolenels]

When do you start worrying about weight issues? Some people say to free feed the baby gecko and some say to limit food now. At what age should I for sure be limiting what Dora eats?

 

[Caleb C]

I don't free feed mine, but I feed them a good amount, 3-4 mealworms a day, if they poop daily, which they do.

 

[Jolenels]

She hasn't had mealworms yet, as I didn't make it to the petstore in time this past week and they only have live ones for a couple days a week. But tonight she ate nine crickets before I cut her off. And she was stalking around, peering at everything she thought may resemble food. She poops daily for sure.

 

[Caleb C]

That's too much, put one cricket in at a time, and stop at around 4. What sizes are the crickets?

 

[Jolenels]

Little guys, when I buy the next bunch I'm going up a size. I've been told by half the people to feed her as much as she wants at this age, and by half to only feed her X amount. It's rather confusing!

 

[Jolenels]

and I should mention that I fed her at night these past two days, and she eats the crickets SO FAST that I put one in then keep my hand and container in the tank so I can knock another one out immediatley since she gets it within seconds of it being in the tank. I trimmed my reptile carpet and such so no crickets could get under anymore, and I put in three at a time tonight and she ate all three within a minute

 

[Caleb C]

Some people let them eat as much as they want, but sometimes they don't know their limits. Yeah, my small geckos are better hunters than my old geckos, they're lazy, and make it seem like eating food is doing me a favor, they sometimes go up to mealworms, and lick them a little, and don't even eat them at all.

 

[Jolenels]

Thats why I cut her off at nine, she seemed to want even more but I wasn't sure where she was going to fit even more crickets in her skinny little body!

 

[Caleb C]

You should probably skip feeding today, and let her digest everything.

 

[Geckomaster743]

I prefer to watch them eat. Mealworms are smaller and easier to catch though the bigger ones will make them lazier because they dont move so you may have to grab tweezers and carefully move the worm with out hurting it or the lizard. If your worried about fat levels switch to waxworms though do not feed it like its a food! Waxworms are like cheesecake in the gecko world except they just carry the fat and very low protien. So I would prefer you feed one mealworm/Cricket and then 1 Waxworm considering Dora's size.
Juvi's - Babies should only have 2 - 3 Crickets and 2 Mealworms or 1 Cricket/1Worm + 1 Waxworm. Do Not feed waxworms first or Dora will stop eatting. Hope every thing works out.

 

[Jolenels]

I don't have access to mealworms on a regular basis, and I'm not even sure if the pet stores will carry wax worms lol. I'll have to find out!

I am a little worried though......we had Dora out yesterday and she was crawling around on my spouses arms. She loves him for some reason, he puts his hand in and she climbs on up and sits still! He can even pet her on the head. But anyways, since we are trying to socialize her we try to take her out and handle her....all three of us...for about ten minutes every day or every other day. Well yesterday she's chilling out on his forearm and a fly zips by (no idea how it got in! Hadn't seen it before then!) and Dora lunges and gets it. Eats the whole fly. Now I'm a bit worried because I don't know where that fly has been, what's in it, or if it's diseased!

 

[Geckomaster743]

I don't have access to mealworms on a regular basis, and I'm not even sure if the pet stores will carry wax worms lol. I'll have to find out!

I am a little worried though......we had Dora out yesterday and she was crawling around on my spouses arms. She loves him for some reason, he puts his hand in and she climbs on up and sits still! He can even pet her on the head. But anyways, since we are trying to socialize her we try to take her out and handle her....all three of us...for about ten minutes every day or every other day. Well yesterday she's chilling out on his forearm and a fly zips by (no idea how it got in! Hadn't seen it before then!) and Dora lunges and gets it. Eats the whole fly. Now I'm a bit worried because I don't know where that fly has been, what's in it, or if it's diseased!

Yeah that could be a problem. The good news is that you know to watch out for those insects, Whats bad is it may be too late. Maybe she will be fine! Stay positive