Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to beef up my two females. My male is pretty big, he doesnt even eat pinkies, just crickets.

About once a month, i give one pinkie each to my females, and then the rest crickets.

Pinkies are the best way to fatten leo's up, right? Crickets just are working too good. Neither of my geckos have eating probs, they just dont look too big.

Have you tried mealworms? Most of my adults eat mealies and some of my hatchlings are already started on them. I always keep mealworms in the cage so they eat whenever they want. Most females lose weight during the breeding season, but pick it back up after, or if they haven't bred.

I haven't even tried to feed a pinkie in years and I have some super healthy/big geckos. One of my females who bred this year is over 70grams.
-----
Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Buy Geckos Here
Email Me

Pinkies once a month are fine, but there's a higher risk for bacterial infections and parasites - it depends on the breeder.

Crickets and mealworms are good, but you have to keep gutloading them before feeding... most critically 24 - 48 hours before feeding... the better your gutload, the more nutritional the feeders will be and will beef up your leos. Also, ONE wax worm every week or every other week will help add weight to your leos... don't feed any more than that because wax worms are high in fat and very addicting. If they become addicted, it might be hard for them to accept other foods... so just ONE wax worm to EACH leo once a week or once every OTHER week if you gutload well and give the waxie treats, then your leos will beef up in no time!

for me, the mealworms that i leave gutloading (i don't even hibernate them in the fridge anymore) chomp on food all day in preparation for their death then, a wax worm goes in on saturdays. my leo got a fatter tail after 2 weeks!

good luck & take care!

[aimEe]
-----
0.1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Marlene)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
1.0.0 Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)
aimee.i8.com

You should try mealworms if you want to beef up your geckos. My two month old leo only gets fed mealworms and they are not gut loaded or anything. I just stick them in his dish with calcium and multivitamin supplements which the mealies will eat. My leo now weighs about 20 to 25 grams and is two to three times bigger then its clutch mate who gets fed crickets about every other day due to the fact that it has a different owner. I have also heard that mealies are good for fattening up the tail that is why I decided to put my leo on a mealworm only diet. Hope this helps.
Jessica