Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My gecko Louis(which is funny cause she is a girl) seems healthty, she eats, but I have a few questions.

When my gecko is being held and feels uncomfortable(usually around other people) she pees on them, instead of her tail coming off.
She seems healthy and she drinks and eats and sheds(but one toe is gone, we bought her from PETCO), so is peeing natural?

Also how many mealies should I feed her? I feed her every other day.

what i do is i make sure that every night be4 i go to bed their are 10 mealies in a shallow dish. As long as its only mealies u can keep them in their as long as you want.
-Kinik
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I have decided to name my 1st leo Maverick. His last owner didnt want him and neglected and underfed him.

Some amphibians and reptiles have an internal sac that stores extra water. When a predator grabs them they will sometimes expel this water as quickly as possible to startle the predator and escape. It is possible that this is what your gecko is doing, because it feels the strangers may be predators. Make sure to give your gecko lots of water after this happens, and try to avoid exposing him/her to stressful situations.

-Sean

Uh oh 10 mealies? I usually give her 4-5(they are pretty big tho). I just gave her 4 more. Last time I listen to a petco worker... I will post a picture of her tonight, she is kinda fat..

petco workers dont get very much training. Maverick doesnt normally eat all 10 a night but i put that many in because you can leave them in 24 hrs a day 7 days a week as long as they r still alive and he eats them when he pleases.
-Kinik
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I have decided to name my 1st leo Maverick. His last owner didnt want him and neglected and underfed him.

You say that the mealworms are big? Are they superworms? I know Petco sells superworms along with the regular mealies. Still not sure on this but I heard that the superworms are bad for leos. Too much chitin or something? Could somebody with more experience on this verify.

Well I got mine at petland and they aren't superworms...

Ok i dont know about the peeing thing but first of all i feed my leo as much as she eats in five minutes(from my fingers or a dish) unless she hasnt eaten for a while i then leave a few bugs in there. Also keep the variety up to get a healthier gecko. Use crickets waxworms and some bugs u find outside as variety but yes you can leave the dish of mealworms in there all the time and toss in a few crickets and stuff randomly. Actually superworms are BETTER than other mealies because they have LESS chitin in relation to flesh. Just thought id let you know what i think and know.

you should NEVER feed your leopard gecko bugs from outside...you never know what might be wrong with them they might even have bug poisin*sp on them! also i have heard (from this forum) that superworms arent good for leos. but there are people who said they feed them. id just stick to mealworms though.
thnx,
vince

The peoblem with superworms is that they are fattening, so as long as your leo's weight is in check they should be ok
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0.2.0. Leo
1.1.0. WTF
0.1.0. Irish Setter
2.2.0. Holland Lop Bunnies
1.1.0. House Cats
Too Many Fish!

i have always fed my leo outside bugs along with store bought, of course out here i dont need to worry about pesticides. I hear superworms are better for leos because they are easier to digest but not one person knows everything so yes ill hold on.

A. A leopard gecko should be fed as much as they'll eat a night UNLESS they start to look TOO fat...Then you reduce feedings to every other night...

B: Superworms are BETTER for geckos than just normal mealworms having a better meat to shell ratio to them.

C: Waxworms are the fattening ones.. not superworms.

D: Bugs from outside should never be fed for SEVERAL reasons. A. Pesticide reasonings. B. Parasite possibilities... and c. Bacteria that your leo's immune system isn't able to handle. They don't come from here....their immune systems are geared to handle bacteria and contagions found in their native habitat. Bugs from North America that aren't raised in captivity are not a good idea.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 0.0.3 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystique))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

Beg to differ on the "superworms are not fattening" statement. They may not be as fatty as wax worms, but they are VERY fatty. It's like feeding candy. You can feed some, but they are too fatty for regular, daily use. I use them to fatten up breeders, but I still don't feed many.

Leslie