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I was talking to a guy who works at the local pet store about buying a new 20 gallon long setup for my leo. He was trying to be helpful but I'm not sure if his information was very accurate. He said that feeding a leo too much can shorten its lifespan by making it grow too fast and speeding up its metabolism, and that he only feeds theirs about twice a week. I thought that if they had a healthy appetite that was a good thing, and I feed mine as much as he wants. Also, he said that because my leo was starting to get a little orange on its tail it could have parasites. I've never heard anything like that before and I was wondering if there was any truth to it. Overall I like this store and they have given me accurate information as well, but I wasnt so sure about these statements. Oh and one more thing, he also mentioned that with a larger tank the leo might not be able to find the food. Do you agree with what he said or is it inaccurate? Thanks for any input.

>>I was talking to a guy who works at the local pet store about buying a new 20 gallon long setup for my leo. He was trying to be helpful but I'm not sure if his information was very accurate. He said that feeding a leo too much can shorten its lifespan by making it grow too fast and speeding up its metabolism, and that he only feeds theirs about twice a week. I thought that if they had a healthy appetite that was a good thing, and I feed mine as much as he wants. Also, he said that because my leo was starting to get a little orange on its tail it could have parasites. I've never heard anything like that before and I was wondering if there was any truth to it. Overall I like this store and they have given me accurate information as well, but I wasnt so sure about these statements. Oh and one more thing, he also mentioned that with a larger tank the leo might not be able to find the food. Do you agree with what he said or is it inaccurate? Thanks for any input.

1. Some herps do tend to overeat if given the chance but leos usually don't on crickets and mealworms, pinkies and wax worms yes. Letting it it daily is perfectly fine.
2. That guy need to pull his head out of his @$$ there are many morph that are highly sought after from there orange tails.
3. It is true giving a reptile a very large cage it can have a hard time to finding food. By any is do 20 gallon is not too larger for a leo.

I never ask husbandry question at petstores from what I seen 98% of them just here stuff from other employees anbd don't care to read it themselfs. Hearsay is worth nothing
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Leopard Geckos
1.1 Tangerine trempor albino
2 blizzard lizzard female
1.1 Super Hypo Carrot tails (both Baldy)
1 amel corn snake

1.0.0 Common snapping turtle
0.1.0 Belize slider
0.1.0 Egyptian tortoise
0.0.1 blackknobbed sawback
0.0.1 stripeneck musk
0.0.1 nothern DBT

Yeah, it doesn't sound like the employee you talked to was very up-to-date on his leo knowledge.

Geckos have been known to over-eat, but they usually regurgitate whatever they can't digest in one meal. As a general rule 4-6 appropriately sized crickets offered daily will keep your gecko happy.

The orange on the tail is actually a highly sought after coloration on the leopard gecko market. If your leo had parasites you would notice abnormal stools, lethargy, and possibly a lack of appetite. Not pigment change in the tail.

I have known of people who keep their leos in larger than a 20L, and it's fine as long as you know your gex are getting anough to eat. One of my friends feeds his leos in a separate container to keep the crix from getting away. Providing a constant supply of meal worms will also help keeps the gex from getting hungry.

Thanks for telling us about your pet shop conversation. Sometimes it's strange how little the people in charge of these animals' care really know.
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YOUR LORD AND MASTER. . . . FOAMY
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I can't stress enough to people how much they need to go out and read for themselves and not rely on what a store employee says, no matter how knowledgeable they may be.

I worked in reptile stores all throughout highschool and during the earlier part of my undergraduate studies. While I was very well read and experienced with herps and tried to give good advice to all the customers (probably more than they wanted) my coworkers and even managers usually just tried to make the sale, telling customers what they wanted to hear ("this savanah monitor will stop growing at 2 ft" "you can keep a bearded dragon in a 20long for its whole life" etc.)

lol i wasn't even asking for the advice. he asked me about my leo which is how he got started. i think he meant well but didnt know squat about geckos but i just wanted to share and make sure i was right, thanks for the input

Some adult leopard geckos will eat more than is good for them. This does not apply to hatchlings, juveniles, or young adults. Some long time keepers feed their leos twice a week. Most seem to feed every other day or every day.

A baby leopard gecko might have difficulty finding food in a 20L tank, but juveniles or adults should be fine. Babies probably would be fine in a 20L too, actually. Orange on the tail has absolutely nothing to do with parasites. Maybe he's thinking of stool smeared on the tail or some such ...

It doesn't hurt to listen to others, you might learn, but you seem to have a sound basic knowledge and its good you knew to double check! I feel bad for anyone getting their primary information from that particular employee. Maybe he'd be receptive to hearing what you've learned. Some people will listen.
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Andrea A.

It is normal for leos tho develop some orange on their tails and has nothing to do with parasites.

I have never head that good growth rates and generous feeding cause early death. I belive you should feed juveniles and subadults as much as they want to eat. For adult geckos that are not being bred, it is possible foir them to becaome obese, and obesity has risks. But a gecko is supposed to have a fat tail.

Given that most leos in captivity die of things other than old age (impaction, infection, egg-binding, etc...) and ample weight reserves can increase your geckos chances of surviving infection (along with medical care of course) and reduce chances of egg-binding (underweight geckos are at higher risk of egg binding) (i'm not sure about impaction byt it may even help there), I think that a well-fed gecko with good fat reserves is better off.

It is true that it can be hard for babies to find their food in a large enclosure. Babies instinctively want to hide, and feel safer in small spaces. It can be stressful for them to have to go out in a big open enclosure far from their hide to find food. If you want to get a 20 gallon (great for an adult or suadult), you can always get a sterilite shoebox for the baby and keep it in there until it is a couple/few months old. I find babies do very well housed individually in sterilite shoeboxes, with their food dish not far from their hides.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

when i got my 2 babies 6 months ago all i had was a 40g breeder,
to make life easier on the geckos i simply put everything near its hide and placed food but a few inches from thier hide so they could just arch thier body out and grab food and im time started moving things further apart.
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1.3 Leopard Gecko's
1.0 mali uromastyx
0.0.3 tokay's(adults unsexed)

Yeah, I was thinking I was going to locate his food dish near his favorite hide when I switch tanks so he doesnt have to go as far if he doesnt want to. He hunts down crickets in his 10 gallon already with no problem. But my leo already has a pretty good size to him, he is not a baby. He's at least four months old and a healthy size with ample fat stores. I was looking at the classifieds and saw a pic of a blizzard male that weighed around 50-55 grams and thats about how big Geico looks maybe just a little smaller(dont have pics yet but will share when I get them. On the plus side I did get some really nice rocks from there to go in the new tank when I get it.