Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male leo who is under weight. he is 18 months old and im thinking of breeding him with my super large female. i was wondering how much my male should weigh before i hibernate him. he is eating fine and going to the bathroom. i had him tested for parasites and he doesn't have any. is there any secret to making your gecko gain weight? i gutlaod his food and dust it in leo gecko powder. plz respond! this is is picture.

Well, I can't speak to the hiberation part, never done that.

As far as putting some weight on him, how much & how often does he eat? My male looked skinnier than I thought he should (after a 2 week visit from my female LOL). I had been feeding every other day as is often recommended for adults. But, my adults definately like to eat every day.

I started feeding him everyday and added Superworms to his diet. He started fattening up nicely pretty quickly. I do vary his diet. He gets 2-3 superworms every other day along with his mealworm dish and the other days he eats about 6 crickets with his mealworm dish. I leave 10-12 mealworms in his dish each day, he usually eats most if not all of them. He also gets a treat of 2 waxworms on Sundays LOL

My female will only eat mealworms if I drop them one by one on the floor of her tank and they move, crickets & superworms are her favorites. She gets crickets at every feeding and 2-3 Superworms every other day. She will eat upto 10 crickets at a time. The days she doesn't have superworms I do the mealworm thing with her. And she too gets 2 waxworms on Sundays

I'm still debating about trying silkworms as I know they are nutritionally the best for Leo's, I just hate that I have to order them on the internet. I don't like being dependant on getting a staple food for my Leo's like that. If they were available locally I wouldn't hesitate.

he eats about 3 to for crickets a day. every other day I dust the crickets and i keep calcium powder in a little container in the cage.

3-4 crickets a day is not enough to put weight on him. I agree with hill4803 you need to add other feeders to his diet. But if you're like me, I can't get roaches or silkworms locally. But you should be able to at least get mealworms easily, probably Superworms and Waxworms too. I always see people say to be careful with the waxworms, that your Leo can get addicted to them and refuse other feeders if you give them very often. But, I've also seen experienced people say that is absolutely not true. They are very high in fat though which is why I wouldn't use them as a staple diet item, mine get a couple once a week for a treat. Good Luck, and keep us updated on how he does

He looks like he should put on more weight before you breed him. Try feeding him some roaches, silkworms or waxworms in addition to the crickets (or just leave out the crickets & feed the other mentioned feeders). He will put on weight quickly if you vary his food. He looks like he could produce some nice offspring if put with the right females.
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www.hullabalooherps.com

There is really no need to hibernate leos in order to get them to breed. As long as the room they're kept in receives some light, your leos will use this to cycle. Since he's on the thin side, you want to use the winter to fatten him up (reducing the temps would reduce his appetite so you'd be even further behind). Keep him by himself and offer a variety of prey items as the other posts have mentioned. In addition to the other prey items mentioned you could also offer small pinky mice, some leos really like them and they help them pack on weight fast. If he's still thin next spring, and you're sure he's healthy you can put your female in with him for a week or so and then remove her. This way he won't waste energy constantly trying to breed. Your male doesn't look dangerously thin, and some of my leos really don't start packing on the weight until they're around two so he may bulk up for you this winter.

-Alice

Thanks for all your advice! I will go out some time this week to get some more variety food items and see if that helps.

my female as a baby