Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 7 geckos now. 2 are babies, and 2 are just dwarfs. but the other 3 are fully capable of reaching higher body weights. They are long, and look fat, but all measure less then 50 g. My newest girl looks huge, but is only 44g. And my other girl is 45, and my male is 48. All are very healthy.

I am determined to have them put on more body weight, and I would love to see these coveted arm bubbles. My tails are all fat, but weight is low.

I feed gutloaded mealies, and waxworms occasionally, and I'm getting a few pinkies at a show this weekend, but I just can't figure out why weights are low.

If anyone has fattening suggestions, or whatever, thats cool.

Michael

Hi,

I'm glad you are patient enough to fatten up your leos. In my experience, the main reason leopard geckos don't reach there full body weight is due to breeding too early. All of my leos have the fat bubbles except two. My male, and a female that was bred too early. I keep my geckos with a full bowl of superworms at all times. All of my females are over 55 grams except for the one, she is 48 grams. My male is about 100 grams. Two of the females reached 50 grams by 7 months of age. They had constant access to superworms since I got them.

If your females don't reach at least 50 grams by a year and a half, they are probably done growing. As long as they're over 44 grams they should be okay to breed, but you should wait until they reach 50 grams or a year and a half; which ever comes first.

Just my opinions based on my experiences,

What does everyone else think?

Matt

what are you gutloading the mealies on?
you might want to try different gutloads.
-----
0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

Interesting. My female that laid eggs was only 32 grams when I first got her. She was garvid prior to my purchase. She is now 43 grams since I have been feeding her, and it looks like she might have more eggs. The male I bought was 60 grams when I bought him and is now 69 grams.

Regards,

Terry
-----
Terry Brashear
1.0.0 High Yellow
0.1.0 Lavender
0.1.0 Hypo Carrot-tail
2 eggs incubating
http://www.naturepixels.com/gecko

I recently bred my guys. They are all 2 years old, or in that neighborhood. I need to order mealies, so I'll do that and buy some supers this weekend. I gutload using ground oatmeal, cream of wheat, calcium/vitamins, and a rotation of potatoes, carrots and apple slices.

I'll try supers, and see who I can get to eat pinkies. I'll update everyone in a week or so.

Thanks!!!

Michael

are ground oatmeal and cream of wheat high in protein and fat? try using a high protein and fat gutload. My gutload that i am using is 19.6 % protein and 8 út with 8% calcium.
-----
0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

What should I use to raise the fat ratio in my mixture? Could I ground up frosted flakes or another cereal that might be fatty?

dont use frosted flakes. If you have a cofee grinder and dont mind it getting dirty you could get some high protein high fat dog food and grind it up and mix it in with whatever.
-----
0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)