what size supers

I want to introduce superworms to my leo, sprocket, so i can add more variety.
I didnt know how old but i posted a pic and was told about 4 months. He is 5 to 51/2 inches long, so is he big enough to handle a superworm?
And if he is, what size, a small one i would assume yes?
A lot of people say between the width of the eyes is a good size feeder that should be used, but i always see leos eating mealies or supers that are bigger. I just dont wana give him one thats to big he cant handle and shouldnt have.

Thanks.

You are correct in saying that leos shouldn't eat anything bigger around than the space between their eyes. remember that is the GIRTH of the feeder, not the length. I started feeding Eros supers when he was about 5 months old. Most of the supers you get in the stores start out pretty small-ish and will grow as you keep them fed in their keeper. You don't want to refrigerate supers like you do mealies because anything under 60*F will usually kill them. They won't morph into the "alien" stage like mealies do if kept unrefrigerated.

I would say to try out with the smallest size that your pet shop offers. Only get a few to begin with if you think they're that much bigger than the mealies sprocket is currently eating. You don't need to feed as many supers as you do mealies so if sprocket is eating 6 mealies a sitting, that will likely only be 3-4 supers which is fine because supers have a better nutritional balance, and less shell to meat ratio which is good so your leo will actually be getting more digestable food thru less feeders when you feed appropriately sized food.

Hope that helps

Thank you this help a lot.
So for worms the thickness should be no bigger than the size of between the eyes?
And yea hes jumped up to about 8 mealies now, hes a hungry gecko.
And ill def get the smallest ones i can find. Still necessary to pinched the head for the small ones? ill prolly still do it to be on the safe side.

Thanks again.

Pinching the heads is up to you, it is a subject of debate... I use to pinch the heads for Eros when he was smaller but since I had feed he has learned how to target the head straight away so he doesnt need them pinched any more. For a leo of about 4-5 months old it's not unusual for them to be able to put away about 10 average mealies per sitting but the last time you fed him that much he did regurge on ya so build up the amount slowly. I always prefer hand feeding because you truly know when they're done, as most will usually walk away. Eros does that. I think a good rule of thumb with supers is that you generally need about half of what they eat in mealies so if your leo is eating 8-10 mealies that would be about 4-5 supers, which really is a lot. Eros is over 2 and he eats 2-3 full sized supers, sometimes 4, 3x a week. Here's a pic of the size supers Eros usually eats. That's a quarter in the bin with them for size comparison.

Yea im slowly adding more mealies to his feedings. i usually hand feed 5, and put 3 in his dish. He really knows about the dish and comes out and looks in it to see if theres more in there so i know he getting more of an appetite. And ill try out the small supers in about a week or so. Would it be ok to feed like a super and some mealies on one feeding, or should it be supers one day, mealies the other? I think i might feed him about 5 mealies and one super to see if he likes it, mealies first. and dang, those are some good sized supers!
Thank you for your help.

It's a good idea to buy a small amount to see if your gecko will take on supers first, so you don't end up with a bunch that you can't get rid of. I have some geckos that will not eat superworms at all, but they gobble down mealworms, crickets, dubia roaches, etc.. But vice versa I have geckos that won't touch dubia roaches, and one specifically that won't eat anything other than superworms.

So it's a good idea to test feed with a small amount first to make sure the gecko will take on the super.

yea thats what i was planning to do. buy a small amount first. I would feed him his meelies, about 2 less than normal and then try out a super to see if he would attack it. Id rather not deal with crickets as they smell and are noisy. I would like to try dubia roaches but none of my LPS sells them, so i was gonna try to start my own colony but gotta read up on how to do that first.
Thanks for the info!

I would try rotating them since they have different nutritional ratios. It would make a good mix up of his dietary needs. I'd offer a couple supers first, then if he doesn't take them offer the mealies. I'd keep trying to offer the supers until he tries one or 2, but if he consistantly fails to take them, go back to mealies until he's a little bigger/older.

ok so one day mealies and one day supers. As well as offer the supers first to even see if Sprocket is interested in them. If he doesnt seem interested in the for a few days ill wait till he grows.
Thanks again for all the help.
Also where can i get more info on dubia roaches?

There are some nutritional charts in the feeder section sticky nutritional values of feeders, plus mardy and jolene both use them regularly so maybe you can send them a pm asking for more info.

Dubia roaches are like a dream feeder as long as your gecko will take them on. Just as I have some geckos that won't eat superworms, I have some that just won't touch dubia roaches. They sure can be picky eaters

Dubia roaches are like super'esque in meaty & less chitin body, cricket'esque in nutrition (low fat), but minus all the negative annoyances of crickets (No chirping, no jumping, don't smell, don't bite, don't die randomly in mass numbers). They also have large digestive tract, thus allowing you to gut-load them properly and what they eat goes into your gecko's stomach.

As for keeping them, they are by far the easiest feeder to keep. No refrigeration, no having to separate pupae & beetles just to reproduce, they mass reproduce like crazy at room temperature, and they come in all sizes so they can be safely fed to geckos from young juveniles to adult. You just get a large bin, put some egg crates in there, a dish for food (whole grain cereal & cat food), a dish for water or moisture food like carrots, and they're set. They'll grow, they'll breed, your geckos will be well fed, plump but not fat, and set to breed

Yes you can tell I like them roaches, and I really didn't like them before until I got over the phobia About the only negative to dubia roaches is that they are illegal to certain states (Florida) and certain countries (Canada, etc). Anyways give them a try. Variety is a good thing for your geckos, and having dubia as part of your gecko's diet is a very good thing.

We have a guy here in Pa. that is forever advertising them on Craigs list

Sorry to hijack. What's best to feed supers to gutload them?

*Edit by Kermit - Same as any other mealie, fresh veggies*