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About 6 months ago animal control took in a few animals from someome who was taken to jail. We ended up what looked like a really large normal leopard gecko.

This gecko has grown and grown and now I am wondering if she is some other type of gecko or a giant. She has a totally normal pattern..........spots all over no pattern at all. But she is about 10 inches long and weighs 130.8 grams and is not gravid.

Is there another gecko that looks just like a HUGE leopard gecko??
Thanks
Nina

130 grams and 10 inches? Please tell me that length is snout to vent, not snout to tip of tail. If that is snout to vent, that's a huge gecko; usually they top out at 10 or so inches snout to tail tip. My female leopard is almost 10 inches nose to tail tip and weighed in at 75 grams last time I put her on a gram scale. I can't imagine her at 1.7x the weight at the same length - she'd be FAT. Do you have any pics of this gecko you can post, preferably with some common object and/or a ruler in the pic for scale?
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Yes, it is snout to tip of tail and slthough she is far from thin she is not obese at all.........just really large.

After reading about the "Giants" it sounds like they are longer and thinner. She is just shaped like a normal leopard gecko but just super sized! HA!

I"ll get photos this evening.
Thanks
Nina

I look forward to the photos - I must admit I'm skeptical about the idea of a gecko with the stated proportions *not* being obese. I tend to think of mine as being at a very healthy weight for her size, so I'm very curious to see what yours looks like.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

OK, here are the photos. Be kind. She really is NOT obese. I feed her the same as the rest of my leos. Her head and legs are just LARGE not fat and while her body is so THICK as is her tail....oh well.......look and see what you think.

I also weighed her on a different scale just now and got 130 grams as well.

Thanks
Nina

I'm sorry to tell you this but she is fat. You really should cut back on her food maybe only feed her 3 times a week until she looses some weight. Being that overweight is unhealthy and not good for her. It will shorten her life span.

BTW she is not a giant.

I knew she wasn't a giant. I just had no idea if there was another species that was similar. I have had leos for years and have never had a female with a head as large as this one or the actual bone structure as large.

She eats lobster roaches about three times a week and gets the same as any other leo gets.

Could be there is something wrong with her metabolism but it is not over eating that has caused this.

Nina

I must agree with the other poster that as I feared, she appears to be significantly obese. As to the cause, you say she's eating 3 times a week. Obviously every gecko's metabolism is a little different, but mine eats 3-4 large crickets every 3 days. It sounds like those roaches get a bit bigger than crickets - how many does she eat per feeding?
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

I feed my other leos every other day and at that time probably 3 lobs each. She is eating less than they do. If she has an issue it would be with her endocrine system as her metabolism must be way off.

I may attempt to alter her diet and see what happens. I may also breed her and see if her offspring are the same way. While I have no idea how old she is, she was not full grown when we got her and she has gotten larger but as I said, her shape has not changed. I would doubt seriously you would make an obese leo that was not full grown??

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens. I may cut her down to two feedings a week and see what that does as well.

Thanks
Nina

I'm not sure about the fat content etc. of lobsters, but you really should have considered her weight long before now.

The quality of her life is very poor, I speak from seeing geckos less over weight than her have all sorts of movement problems, and worse yet, the same kind of issues that humans have when overweight.

Can you consider a different food source? Judging size wise, this is way more food than I feed my 10" female leo, and she's a healthy weight. She's on the 3 "large" cricks every 3 days. I wish I had Mader handy, but I suspect that roaches may have different nutritional composition - mealworms and crickets are pretty close to eat other. I understand you say this feeding schedule works for your other geckos, but consider the idea that if you are releasing too many into her enclosure, instead of ignoring them, she might feel she *has* to eat them to keep them from bugging her. She may be eating in self defense, if that makes any sense at all to you.

I would cut back to feeding only twice a week if you are insistent on the roaches. I would consider other food sources as well. Monitor her weight and try to drop her slowly, but please drop her. She has possibilities of long term health risks due to the stress on all her systems.

I often wonder if overweight geckos have a harder life than underweights...

I am well aware of the weight problems. I have not had her that long and she was in the same weight just a smaller leo when we got her. Her movement is excellent and she appears healthy in every way.

I am not a novice to herps and in fact work for a Vet that has studied with Dr Madar.

Lobster roaches are actually one of the better ways to feed most leos. I also have never left food in to "bother" any reptile so she is not eating for her comfort.

No, if this lizard has a weight problem it is based on a metabolism issue and I am not sure there is anything that can be done about that.......aside from running bloodwork to determine the actual cause, and I am not doing that.

I can easily reduce her feeding and feed her mealworms only and see what happens. She is as mobile as any leo here so at this point, the only thing it has affected is her appearance.

I agree, I don't think anything should be obese.....human or animal and I have never had a feeding program that would be condusive to that.
Nina

I meant to add that I really do understand health issues with being over weight. She eats the same amount as any normal leopard gecko, which is why her size has amazed me. That and the fact her porportions have been the same as she grew..........she has always looked like this just younger she was smaller but built the same way.

Thanks for your reply.

Nina

Okie Dokie... That is huge!
You should cut down on how much you feed him, thats very unhealthy. It'll be for the better if you cut back a bit..
What do you feed it??

-Dakota