Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is this ok? I have read it in reputable breeders books, but does this offer them optimal nutrition?
Thanks,
Glenn

I maintain all my leos on mealies.. from hatchlings to adults...Haven't had any nutrition problems yet as long as the mealies are gutloaded correctly. However, I am moving on to roaches soon.. due to the sheer number of mealies I go through.. My collection of 18 go through almost 2000 large mealies a week... give or take... which I've been breeding for the past 4 years... I've even gotten severely nutrient deficient geckos back into breeding condition with properly gutloaded and supplemented mealies..

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

We tried lobster roaches last year, they breed like...roaches. Most of our 400 geckos were shy on them so we stick with crickets and mealies. I tried hatchlings last year on strictly small mealies and got slow growth rates initially. The larger ones did very well on them so am trying again. We found the main thing to be getting the right supplier - all mealworms are NOT created equal.

Actually, main thing is size... I'm not afraid to feed my hatchlings medium mealworms... all of my hatchlings get their first week of eating on small mealies.. and then I bump them up to mediums.. this seems to make the difference in growth.. as mine are between 30 and 40 grams at 4-5 months of age...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
5.11.Leopard geckos (1.2 Blizzards (Caine, Phoenix, and Mirage), 0.2 Tangerine Albinos (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short, and Casper), 1.0 Tremper Albino (Mycah), 0.3 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, and Aris), 1.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas), 1.0 Full Stripe Chocolate Tremper Albino (Discord), 0.1 pastel (Raven) and 1.2 Normals)
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros) (R.I.P. November 18, 2005)
13 rats (plus pups)
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Ashe and Hercules)

I use to feed mealworms but switched to Superworms. I was ordering Superworms online so that I could get smalls and mediums, but I now raise my own. My adults prefer mediums to the full grown larges. Actually I think I get much better growth rate from my hatchings & juvies on Superworms. The 6 juvies I have right now (I hatched them all) I feel are all on the large side for their ages, and no they are not just fat LOL:

5 mon old - 64 grams - 8 1/4"
5 mon old - 48 grams - 7 3/4"
3 1/2 mon old - 37 grams - 7"
3 1/2 mon old - 34 grams - 7"
2 mon old - 28 grams - 6"
7 week old - 25 grams - 5 3/4"

I find my hatchlings really go nuts for superworms. I do also feed crickets but will be switching to Discoid roaches in the near future, my colony is close to large enough to start feeding off. I do like feeding a variety as opposed to just 1 type of feeder.
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www.StoplightCityLeopardGeckos.com

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