Quick question please.

Morning all,

As some of you know I rescued my little Tripod in September as a baby weighing just 6 grams and measuring approx 3.5 - 4 inches now 3 months on s/he weighs a massive 48 grams and measures approx 9 - 10 inches nose to tail. S/he's fed daily and will take between 6 and 12 mealies/aliens s/he also has 2 waxworms a week (wednesday and sunday) as a treat after a gentle handling session. As little Tripod is my first leopard I have no idea on the growth rate of babies but I am a bit worried that s/he is growing too fast or is this normal and s/he will slow down as s/he gets a bit older.

Many thanks.

That seems like a lot of bugs to me BUT my gecks are adult and I have yet to grow them from that young. But the way I think, and I may be completely wrong, is if she wasnt hungry she wouldnt eat ya know? It could be a problem if she grows to fast, I know in some animals, over feeding or power feeding can cause bone/joint or other body damage but I am also a novice in geckos so I dont know if that thinking applies to these guys as it does in other creatures.
Just my 2¢ so take it with a grain of salt! I know someone with more experience will be along to better answer your question. But as a reference I have a 2yr old male and when I got him about a month ago he weighed 52-54grams, she may be one of those giant strains too

These were taken this lunchtime, please excuse the plump tum s/he shed during the night and certainly won't have any room for any dinner tonight

Looks like a healthy plump gecko to me. Some geckos are meant to be larger geckos, some would grow faster than others. There's no set growth rate for leopard geckos as genetics, feeding schedule, and living condition all play a role in their growth.

At that age, they will eat like a horse. Geckos do most of their growing between 1-10 month, so they'll seem like they are growing very fast initially. But they will slow down after 10 month old, but likely continue to gain weight a bit after that.

I see no visible protein/fat bubbles behind the armpits, but the camera angle may be blocking it. If you notice bubbles growing, then it's a sign you should lay back on the feeding and/or supplementing a bit.

I know for my hatchlings they eat close to 10 mealworms a day, so yours feeding 6-12 doesn't sound too off. Geckos these days get plump quick due to more people using mealworms/superworms, as they are higher in fat than crickets, dubia roaches, or other feeders like silkworms. Since you feed it mealworms + waxworms, it's a fairly high fat diet. What I would suggest is to start giving it more variety diet, mix in some low fat feeders off and on. Like maybe purchase some crickets or dubia roaches every other week and offer it to your gecko instead of mealworms & waxworms. Variety diet plus the right supplement powders will result in a healthy, long living gecko.

Hope that helps, good luck

my leo eats like a trooper and she is about 4-6 months ( I think) she eats about 3-4 small locusts each day and about the same of meal worms, from when I first got her its amazing how much she has grown

beautiful boy

Thanks for the replies,

James & Nicole there aren't any bubbles I'm keeping a close eye on that, I've tried crickets again but s/he still freaks out as soon as s/he sees them, I sent for a silkworm breeding kit but no babies yet but I'm not giving up on them just yet as there's still time for them to hatch fingers crossed as I would like to give a varied diet, s/he doesn't seem to like anything that has legs and runs and jumps so I've got to stick with the wrigglers I think.

Sarah s/he certainly gets more beautiful with each shed, I just can't believe the change in just 12 short weeks, I'm going to have to buy some bigger hides at the weekend as s/he's struggling to fit in a couple of them.

Once again thank you for the replies.

a varied diet of different worms will be great for your leo

Thanks James.

I would slow the eating down a little, that is a super chubby tail for 4(?) Month old leo. My boy is almost 2 and his task isn't that chubby. Id cut back a kettle on the aliens as they are higher in fats similar to waxies, but not a bad. I would feed a regular amount every feeding such as 6-8 per feeding instead of letting her stop when they feel like it as some are gluttons just like people. It's good theres no bubbles, but all that would prove is too much protein or calcium but since she is storing so much in the tail already, I was told by my breeder, that is when you want to start slowing down as they store what is excess. If theres that much excess theres too much food. Also feeding appropriately sized feeders will help with over feeding. Hope that helps.

I would slow the eating down a little, that is a super chubby tail for 4(?) Month old leo. My boy is almost 2 and his task isn't that chubby. Id cut back a kettle on the aliens as they are higher in fats similar to waxies, but not a bad. I would feed a regular amount every feeding such as 6-8 per feeding instead of letting her stop when they feel like it as some are gluttons just like people. It's good theres no bubbles, but all that would prove is too much protein or calcium but since she is storing so much in the tail already, I was told by my breeder, that is when you want to start slowing down as they store what is excess. If theres that much excess theres too much food. Also feeding appropriately sized feeders will help with over feeding. Hope that helps.

Thanks Kel, I will cut the feeding down to 6 - 8 mealies with the occasional alien and just 1 waxworm a week. I can only have a rough guess at 4 months as I don't have any history, s/he came to me on the 15th Sept and the guy I got him/her from had only had him/her for 2 weeks and s/he was a hatchling when he took him/her in so I'm guessing 4 months.

Youre welcome Jane, happy to help. If your have access to super worms you might want to start incorporating some of those into the diet as well. Eros eats usually 3 3x a week (so like 9-10 a week, sometimes he'll ready in a feeding but not usually) .