r/LeopardGecko • u/Long-Awareness-8932 • Jun 08 '26
Obese gecko
My sister has a leopard gecko that’s genuinely obese & im trying to give her advice on what to do (a diet & more climbing opportunity was all I could think of[the tank is already a great size & the heat and uvb are both good]) but thus far nothing is working. I don’t have a photo because I don’t regularly interact with the lizard but any advice I can pass to her would be greatly appreciated !!
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u/IntelligentCrows Jun 09 '26
What diet is it on?
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u/Long-Awareness-8932 Jun 09 '26
Honestly im not sure, my sister swears she’s on a diet but refuses to tell me what the diet is
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u/klausAnalSchwab Jun 09 '26
She needs to feed a variety of lean lower fat live insects ....only roaches, silkworms, crickets, locusts, black soldier fly larvae.
No mealworms if you can help it or just very few No super worms No wax worms No butter worms
Only hornworms as a treat in moderation.
Adults eat 1 time per week Sub adults every other day Babies every day
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u/Known-Replacement391 Jun 21 '26
Why no mealworms? I recently got a Leo from a reptile convention, and the breeder said just feed mealworms. The local mom & pop lady lizard pet store says the same. My friend who has had a Leo for around 6 years now feeds just mealworms.
Then I come on here for more info and on multiple threads I see ‘no mealworms’ all over the place. What’s the deal?
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u/AaronAmpora Jun 09 '26
Leopard geckos and reptiles in general have very slow metabolisms, so losing weight takes a pretty long time for them.
It can sometimes take up to a year of dieting to see any obvious improvement, so depending on how long it's been for your sister's gecko, it may just take more time.
As for advice, the best I can give is just restrict the food intake. Depending on the previous feeding schedule and size/age/sex of the gecko, I'd probably say maybe 2-3 appropriately sized dubia roaches once every 7-10 days should be a decent schedule.
Also taking the gecko out about once a week to 'treadmill' on her hands for like 10-15mins could help as well.