Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just bought added a new Leopard Gecko to my collection. The person I bought him, left a bowl FULL of mealworms in his cage at all time, with the occasional feeding of crickets. He was checked out by a vet prior to my purchase who confirmed his obesity. I was wondering if there was a safe way to help trim him down some in a health way. Thanks for you input!
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1.1 Albino Burmese Python (Loki & Eris)
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko (Aurora)
0.2 Blizzard Leopard Gecko (? & ?)
1.0 High Yellow Leopard Gecko (Orion)
0.1 Albino Tangerine Tremper (Semele)
1.0 Albino Tangerine Rainwater (Zephyr)
1.0 Albino Rainwater (Adonis)
0.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Norbert)
2.3 Fancy Rat (John, Herbert, Artemis, Callisto & Echo)

muahahaha,
if I had a choice I would make my geckos fat to the point where they cant walk no more... but thats just me. I think its perfectly normal to have a fat gecko as long as it has a well balanced diet.
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My Site

Wouldn't you feel sorry for a fat gecko, since it would have to drag around a ton of tail? I'm amazed by how fat some of the geckos are on this forum, and I feel bad for them! The little fatties have to drag around a ball and chain, the poor things.

One of my breeding females did get to be what I considered too fat, a pic is attached, and no she is not gravid in this pic, taken right before I put her on a diet. I just reduced her feedings to 2x a week and fed her less, gradually she lost the excess weight. She is still a big girl, but in plump and healthy pre-breeding condition- not obese with way too much belly fat like in this pic.

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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

My advice would be to feed him a bit less then they others [but lots of vitamins!], probably little to no worms, b/c they are more fatty then crickets. Also, give him loads of exercise! Maybe even set up a temperary pen on the floor, or table, where he can walk around and such. Sounds a bit silly, but when you usually place them on a ground somewhere other then their cage, they at the very least keep moving around to explore. Good luck!

There are serious health concerns for ANY obese animal, and they are no smaller in very small animals than they are in very large animals. An animal that is highly obese is prone to the same problems as highly obese humans...this goes for geckos too! While it may not seem like much weight to us, for the little gecko carrying around twice its ideal weight, it's major stress on the body!

Thanks guys! I think I am going to try and feed him 2x a week for awhile to see if it helps. I like twistedgalxay's idea of building him a pen so that he can exercise by running around!
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1.1 Albino Burmese Python (Loki & Eris)
0.1 Normal Leopard Gecko (Aurora)
0.2 Blizzard Leopard Gecko (? & ?)
1.0 High Yellow Leopard Gecko (Orion)
0.1 Albino Tangerine Tremper (Semele)
1.0 Albino Tangerine Rainwater (Zephyr)
1.0 Albino Rainwater (Adonis)
0.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Norbert)
2.3 Fancy Rat (John, Herbert, Artemis, Callisto & Echo)