Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a new gecko from LLLreptile. It is perfectly healthy, except she's still pretty skinny. I got it like 3 weeks ago, and she is pretty tame when it comes to eating. When first got her, I was feeding her exclusively vitamin dusted crickets, and she ate them up quickly. I then switched to mealworms, because they are easier to keep, and they didnt get all over the cage when she didnt eat them. She fed on mealies like crazy on them for the first 2 days or so. Then she slowed down considerably. The temp looks good in the tank, but Im worried that she isnt eating enough as her tail is rather skinny. Nothing like other geckos of the same age that I see. Any suggestions?

Switch back until she's fattened up, and maybe alternate between crix and mealworms.
Waxworms are apparently fattening but addictive and not nutrious.

If she is skinng, make sure the insects are gutloaded really well, since what they eat will go directly to your leo. Check the Sponsors' pages for recipies.

good luck

so far Ive been gut loading all of my feeders (crix and mealies) with slices of oranges, chinese broccoli leaves, and some oatmeal (ive been searching sites and forums of natural sources of food for feeders). is this enough? or should be buying commercial feeder food. I decided to go the more natural route, so I know what exactly the feeders are eating, thus also knowing whats going into my leo. any more suggestions are welcome!

you're doing a great job then.

does she have an under tank heater?

Your gutload sounds great. I like to use Chinese broccoli too. You should try some choy sum (yellow flowering cabbage) because the mealworms seem to enjoy that more. I don't see any need for you to buy a commercial gutload, but I do recommend adding some tropical fish flake food to your mix for protein.

If your leo is eating a lot (over 10 food items a day) but still not gaining much weight, this could be a sign of parasites. Certain worms can rob up to 40% of your leo's nutritional intake. I recommend a vet visit, or at the very minimum, just bring a fresh stool sample in to get tested. It should cost around $20 for a flotation, and the medicine is fairly inexpensive but it depends on what the vet prescribes.
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5.6 leopard geckos

chickabowwow

Ive been noticing a slight loss of appetite of my baby leo. Ive read that getting the temp to be higher during the day will help both appetite and digestion. I live in san francisco where, the tank in my apartment gets daytime temps of like 80 - 85 f, and night time temps of 73- 67 f. if my leo only comes out mainly at night to feed, should I up the night time temp (i have a moon light bulb for nighttime) by getting a light with a higher wattage? will this stimulate better digestion, and get my leo to her normally voracious self?

BTW, thanks to all you experts out there responding to my daily rants. Im a first time reptile and leo owner. So, Im definitely the worried parent when it comes to my baby leo. keep the advice comin!

well since they're nocturnal they don't really enjoy bulbs and will usually hide in shelters so its kind self-defeating.
Instead whats important is a source of heat to their bellies. I dunno if you mentioned this or have it already. There's undertank heaters (UTH) that they require even if it is warm.

Once my UTH stopped working (this was an expensive reptile one) and my leo immediately started packing a LOT of fat into her tail and became lathargic and wasn't going to the bathroom properly. After i fixed it ( i now use human heating pads) she's returned back to normal.

And no worries we were all new leo owners at one point. Some times we care so much we worry ourselves to death
Good luck