Curious question.

Yesterday, I fed my new Leopard gecko 7 small Repashy plus dusted mealworms. He at them quite happily, in fact. I didn't want to give him more because I'm not sure if babies have an "off" button. However, I went to feed him tonight...and it's been really tough. He only ate 3 small mealworms...only two were dusted. I dropped a few more of them right in front of him and he ignores them.

1. Should I be worried/concerned? I know there's a settling in period...but I thought I was off to a great start when I got him.

2. How many small mealies SHOULD a baby leo eat?

3. I noticed small little holes in his armpits...tracing back a few posts on the forum, it means he needs more calcium. How can I dust the mealworms better so that the dust sticks...I tried lightly misting with water, but the mealworms practically died instantly after the dusting part. Should I just go with a calcium bowl in the tank?

4. Haven't seen him touch his water bowl...should I be concerned about this?

Sorry for all the questions. ^^; I want him to grow up healthy.

Wow... calm down hon... breathe... someone has new leo jitters I went thru the same thing whenI first got my leo, wondered if he was getting enough suppliemnts, gasped at every refused feeder... don't panic... this is all normal.



First off... leos appetites wax and wane like the tides. If your fella had a huge meal yesterday chances are he won't be as hungry today. Mother nature programs them to live and tolerate a feast or famine type of eating... When food is plentiful they'll eat their fill then go for days or weeks before another good feeding opportunity is presented. Since we ahve interfered with that natural process and make food available every day it'll be different for captive bred leos which is why you should get onto a consistant constant feeding schedule.



Many people say feed a baby leo what it wants... eat as much as it wants, but some DON'T have an off button and will eat them selves into regurgitation. Others stop where they feel sufficiently full and that's fnie for them. We don't want to make obese leos, taht's just as unhealthy as underweight leos so regulating how much they eat and the says they eat it on will ensure a healthy fit weight for your leo. Also feeding food appropriately sized for your leo will provide the best nutritional experience with out your leo having to eat excessive smaller bugs that could cause issues with ingesting too much shell and constipation setting in. When Eros was eating mealies, around 5 months old I would let him eat 10-12 per sitting. Mind you these were your average sized mealies, not minis or mondos. I wasn't comfrotable feedinghim that many so I switchedhim to supers and he would eat 3-4 per sitting but again uncomfortable feeding 4 so I would limit it to 3 per feeding every day, then every other day once he passed 7 months old.



There is nothing wrong with leaving your leo silightly hungry. It will help to ensure that he is happy and eager to eat tomoro when you offer the same amount of food again at the same time. As far as the suppliment sticking, get a sandwich bag, put about a half inch of suppliment in it, drop in the worms 1 or 2 at a time,shake (like shake n bake chicken) a good 4 or 5 times (too much will stun or kill your feeders if it's too vigerous), then insted of dropping the feeder from an excessive height, put your tongs in the tank, come from behind your leos head and slightly above him so he really cant see you then gently drop the feeder in front of him. It'll be like gifts from heaven not falling from so high won't knock off as much suppliment plus the shake n bake method of dusting ensures your feeders are throughly coated. Don't worry he is getting plenty of suppliment, no need to add more. Just be patient, keep your temps proper,and calm down a bit...enjoy your leo, you're doing great.

Haha sorry ^^; I just get worried. Thank you for the clarification on the appetite ordeal...I guess he would be full after eating so many mealies yesterday. He did poop once, too...so that's another good sign I suppose...although it was flat like a pancake with no urate...

Should I maybe switch him to regular mealies then? I'm sure you saw his feeding video and the small mealworms looked large compared to his overall size.

So he is getting enough supplements, though? I'm just worried about his deep armpits. They're really deep (can't see the skin in the center of the "hole") so that concerned me.

I guess I'll have to see how he eats tomorrow when I get home from work. Thank you for your help again!

If the pits are that deep AND you're not seeing any urate with his poo then there's a chance he could be dehydrated. I would mist his tank for the next few nights so he can come out and lick the droplets in case he isn't liking the water bowl or comfortable with it yet. Usually it is suggested to soak the leo for about 15 minutes in a warm bath to help them rehydrate but being so new you don't want to stress him out like that imo when you can simply try to achieve a little extra water intake with a light misting. Don't forget your leo is young, a lot of the things you're asking about like arm pit pits are also things that will fill out with age and maturity and proper care. Over doing things right off the bat could lead to as much harm as help. Refeeding syndrom (google it plz) is the perfect example of that. Watching the video of your leo eating I would absolutely say you could stand to bump up to the next sized mealie. Your leo can handle any feeder that is no bigger around in girth than the space between your leo's eyes so going a little larger won't hurt your leo, plus you won't need to feed as much... less shell reduces the risk for constipation (I think I mentioned that already about a hundred times yeah? ) Just take your time, feed a reasonable amount on a regular schedule and your leo with thrive.

You're welcome for all the help no need to thank really... that's what we're here for we've all been there

Alright, I gave his tank a little misting. Some got on his snout and he licked it up! Cute! I'll keep an eye for more poops with hopefully some urate in it... I really hope he takes to the water dish, too. I keep the water fresh every day.

I'm not going to bug him anymore today, but I'll try to take pictures of his pits another time to give you a better idea on what they look like. At first, I thought they were apart of his anatomy like pits on a viper...but I was quickly proven wrong with a quick google search.

I'll upgrade him to bigger mealies next week in hopes of him settling in I don't want to waste perfectly good mealies either...so we'll see how he starts settling in!

I guess I'll feed him maybe 4-5 a night instead of a whopping 7 to entice him to eat daily. Thank you Kel! (I thank a lot...sorry . An apologize a lot... )

Also...when can I give him a waxworm treat? They look pretty juicy so I'm assuming they have a nice water content as well?

There's a nutritional breakdown chart in a sticky I made in the feeding section. http://www.leopardgeckoforum.com/t303-nutritional-values-and-feeder-insects#3011 Might be worth a good read Waxies are actually plump and juicy because they're full of fat but do have a slightly higher moisture content as well. I would make sure you have a few good feedings under your belt before offering waxies. Offer too soon or too many and he could refuse other feeders. Let him get a good amount of mealies under his belt. Also in that feeding thread there are a lot of good choices of worms to use for a varied diet with out the risk of running into the problems you can with waxies... only problem is that some are hard to find and can be a bit pricy.

Wow! Great sticky, Kel! Thank you I'll hold off on the waxies for a bit then...would hate to get him addicted to junk food.

Thanks for the compliment cerra... I put a lot of work into my stickys to make sure they're highly informative... almost to the point of being like a small book I'm glad you found it useful

Well he ate five more mealies today, all dusted! And he went to the bathroom with a nice amount of urate in it. Not so worried now. Thank you again, Kel!

Aw that's fabulous Cerra... I'm glad to hear that everythng is all sorted out. Keep up the good work

Alright! finally was able to get a good photo of that hole in his underarms I was talking about.



It is very distinct and visible...that'll fill out in time with age/feeding, right?

That must be some sort of pore as I was able to find a couple other pictures with the same thing. Not sure if he'll grow out of it or not, it could just be a part of his anatomy.

Ah! Well if it's healthy, then it's nothing to worry about then. Thanks for the photo references, Kel!

Exactly... as long as he's eating well and hydrated, pooing regulary and somewhat active then I think you're good. I do however want to look into this one a little more 'cause now you have my curiosity up. Im gonna have to go disturb my leo to see if he has those pits too By the way I found those images doing a google image search for leopard gecko pores.

Haha...for some reason, I think a few more people that have been viewing this thread might be looking at their leo's pits too now... I was guessing it was some sort of opening to let out heat? Maybe the body's way to make better airflow to let the leo be comfortable in certain temperatures? I'll have to do some digging as well.

this thread has helped me a lot, thank you all for replying with much detail, i havent got my leo's into a proper feeding schedule as im worried about them bullying each other, but i think i'll set two food dishes and try to feed when each one is at each dish, and i'll be forgetting about the crickets now, so i can monitor their daily intake of mealies

Glad it could help Luke

after reading through the posts about the 'pore' under the armpit, i had Frankie out this evening and couldn't help but notice the same hole you were talking about i guess it may be a common thing for them to have?

It's...the armpit.

Its just a idea - But Leopard geckos store calcium in little sack type things behide their armpits - could the "hole" be the fact that leopard gecko is getting enough to not get mbd, but not enough to store it ?

Not likely that charlie, I'm leaning more towards some type of scent gland or something that has to do with their thermoregulation. I really need to find a good diagram of leo anatomy.

It really is just their armpit.

And besides it woudn't be very good for thermoregulation if it gets blocked up with calcium very easily.

Like I said, its...the armpit, lol.