Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got a leopard gecko. it is about 4-5 inches long. how many crickets should i be feeding it per day. i am buying the small crickets at petsmart

-TJ

As many as it will eat at a time. Usually around 4-5 of a size about 1/2 the size of its head. Gutloaded and dusted of course. You can pick up a care sheet when you buy crickets or download the one here for more information. Also highly recommended is a book, like the leopard gecko manual, which will answer all your questions. Good luck.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

can you overfeed a gecko. last night johan ate 9 crickets and thats cuz that is all i fed him. he didn't eat for the frist couple days i had him and his tail is thin but will he overeat if i keep giving crickets?
thanks
TJ

So long as you are letting him "hunt" his prey, ie not tong feeding him crickets or having a bowl of worms, they will typically not overeat. They will simply stop when their bellies are full and find a warm spot to lay down and digest. The only overweight geckos I know of were hand fed that way and it is really sad to see. I wouldn't worry about it until the gecko is an adult... all excess food right now will go to tail and to growth spurts.

If your gecko is really thin you could think about supplementing him with a few waxworms for a couple of weeks. They aren't very nutritious being mostly fat, but can be a good "rescue" to get them up to a healthy weight faster. Say 2 or 3 waxworms a week is a good start.

Also if he is eating that many crickets every day for the next week, you may want to consider the next size up in crickets. Typically, a good number of prey items is 4-5, but when they are bordering on the next size cricket I have found they eat more like 7-10. When they do that, it is usually a sign to me I need to look at their head and find a bigger cricket. Good luck, hope this helps!
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock