Leopard geckos truly look and feel better when they are fat and healthy. There are many reasons why your leopard gecko might be too skinny, small, or losing weight in general. In this post, we will discuss how to make your leopard gecko fat and healthy and how to fatten up its tail. Never focus only on weight, as overall health is more important and your goal must be to promote growth and strength. If your leopard gecko’s tail is too thin, there can be few causes. The tips here can also be used if your want your leopard gecko to grow faster or bigger.
Why is my leopard gecko losing weight?
- You are underfeeding your leopard gecko
- Your leopard gecko has a parasitic infection
- You are not properly supplementing and/or gut-loading your leopard gecko’s food
- The lighting and heating setup in the tank is wrong, leading to poor appetite and indigestion
- Your leopard gecko is stressed, so it is not eating enough
- Leopard gecko is losing weight because it is impacted and can’t eat more.
How much should my leopard gecko weigh?
- A hatchling leopard gecko will weigh around 3-4.5 grams
- At month 1, your leopard gecko can weigh around 15-20 grams
- During the second month, your leopard gecko will be around 18-30 grams.
- By the month 4-6, there can be a big range of weights for a leopard gecko – ranging from 25-60 grams
- Your leopard gecko will reach its adult size by 9-18 months of age, and this varies greatly. The thing is, your adult leopard gecko might grow slowly to be only 45-50 grams, and it might reach maturity only at 12-18 months. Some leopard gecko grow quicker and reach their adult size by 9 months. Your adult leopard gecko will be around 7-10 inches long.
- Most adults generally weigh between 40-80 grams, with larger or giant leopard gecko pushing to 90-110 grams. Anything under 40 grams for an adult leopard gecko is underweight.
Please remember that there is a big range of healthy weights for your leopard gecko. There can be many reasons why your leopard gecko is small, and unless it’s smaller than 40 grams when mature, it can be normal.
Many leopard geckos look skinny until they reach around 30 grams. All leopard geckos are different and grow at different rates, so there is no set chart for leopard gecko growth.
How to make your leopard gecko fat and healthy?
Step number 1: Take your leopard gecko’s stool to the vet
If you have just bought your leopard gecko, or adopted it from the rescue, you need to take its feces for an examination. This also applies if you have had your leopard gecko for some time, and it started losing weight.
Parasitic infections are one of the most common causes of weight loss in reptiles, including leopard geckos. Take the stool sample, place it in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate it. Never freeze the stool sample.
Refer to approximate weight chart for leopard geckos, but remember, the numbers are only a guideline. Each leopard gecko grows at its own rate and has its own body structure.
An even more important way to tell if your leopard gecko is underweight is to physically examine it – it shouldn’t look skinny or bony. Its tail should also be plump, as leopard geckos store fat and other nutrients in their tail.
Step number 2: Make sure tank temperatures are ideal
You need to make sure that the temperatures inside the leopard gecko’s tank are ideal.
Ideal temperatures for leopard geckos in the basking spot (near warm hide, above UTH/under a lamp) during the day are 83-90 degrees Fahrenheit (28-32.2 Celsius). An air temperature 4 inches above the floor in the warm side should be 77-85 Fahrenheit (25-29.4 Celsius).
In the cool side, an air temperature 4 inches above the ground should be 70-77 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1-25 Celsius). At night, drop temperatures to 66-74 degrees F (18.8-23 Celsius), but try to aim for 70-74 degrees.
If temperatures in leopard gecko’s tank are too low, it won’t be able to digest the food. Leopard geckos digest their food by laying flat on the warm surface. Poor digestion will lead to poor appetite, constipation and weight loss.
Check temperatures with digital thermometers (place on the back wall 4 inches above the ground) in the cool and warm sides. Also, using an infrared gun thermometer like this will allow to get temperatures in any spot quickly.
Step number 3: Remove any causes of stress
If your leopard gecko is stressed, it will eat less and will have trouble gaining weight and growing. This is why you need to make sure that your leopard gecko is not experiencing any stress, especially if it’s a young leopard gecko.
Don’t handle your leopard gecko too often, especially during the first 3-5 months of its life. Handling 2-3 times a week should be enough, and after bonding your can reduce it to 1-2 times a week if you wish.
Hand feeding too often can also cause stress, so limit them to only once or so a week. Other sources of stress can include wrong setup, other animals and so on. Try to understand the body language and learn to handle your leopard gecko correctly. Read about bonding and handling techniques here.
Step number 4: Change or diversify the diet the healthy way
To get your leopard gecko fat and healthy at the same time, you will need to change or diversify the diet. The thing is, you can’t start offering only fatty worms and insects to your leopard gecko to gain weight quickly.
This is not a healthy way to fatten up your leopard gecko gradually, and it won’t help with building the body and giving strength.
Most owners feed their leopard geckos crickets as a staple, but there should be more diversity. Let’s discuss the feeder insects that you can offer your leopard geckos.
Best staple feeder insect choices for leopard geckos are:
- Crickets are still number one for a staple diet. Banded crickets have slightly more protein than other types (around 20% compared to 15% in other types), which can be good for young leopard geckos.
- Phoenix worms, also called Calci-worms or black soldier fly larvae. Good as a staple, quite low in fat, but have an excellent calcium:phosphorus ratio and don’t require gut-loading or dusting. If you gut-load phoenix worms, they tend to smell strongly and turn into black soldier flies quicker. Great as staple feeder insects that can help gain weight steadily.
- Tomato hornowms – easily digestible, have a high moisture content, are not too fatty and good for diversity. Only offer to adult leopard geckos as tomato hornworms are quite large (3-4 inches when grown) and grow quickly. When buying online, they often come in a small cup like this that have their feed inside.
- Silkworms – silk moth caterpillars, great for diversity. Low in fat and have a high moisture content. Very great worms but can be rather expensive.
- Mealworms – not the best staple insects, but you can offer them for diversity. They require gut-loading and sprinkling. Contain around 13% fat.
Best feeder insects to fatten up your leopard gecko are:
- Waxworms – only to fatten up leopard geckos or given as treats. They contain around 20-25% fat. You can feed both pupae and adult moths of waxworms. If you want to fatten up your leopard gecko, you can offer it 2 times a week. But other than that, not more than once in two weeks afterwards.
- Superworms – feed to fatten up leopard geckos. They contain around 16-17% fat.
- Butterworms – also very high in fat, so feed only 1-2 times a week to fatten up your leopard gecko. Contain around 27-29% fat.
- Fuzzy mice – mice pups that don’t have any hair. Only give if your leopard gecko is very skinny. Once in 2 weeks, maximum.
Step number 5: Remember the feeding rules
Remember to gut-load and sprinkle feeder insects with supplements. All feeder insects need gut-loading apart from Phoenix worms. Read how to gut-load and prepare feeder insects in this post.
When trying to fatten up your leopard gecko, invest time to prepare live insects that promote interest. Freeze dried insects won’t promote much interest to eat.
Leopard geckos are often very interested in eating fatty worms, as because of their high fat content they taste better. Once your leopard gecko has gained the weight it needs, try to remove fatty bugs from the diet or offer them once in two weeks.
Never forget about the correct size of feeder insects. They should not be bigger than the width between your leopard gecko’s eyes. Read a full post on the diet and supplementation here.
Step number 6: Create a feeding schedule for your leopard gecko
Knowing how many times to feed your leopard gecko is important to succeed at weight gain. Young and adult leopard geckos should have different feeding schedules, and dietary requirements change with leopard gecko’s age. Make sure not to overfeed your leopard gecko, either.
Feed a hatchling leopard gecko every day. Feed juveniles (when they turn around 5 months old) every day, but have 1-2 days a week without food. Adult can eat every other day (3 days a week).
Staple feeder insects should be a priority, and adding fatty worms once or twice a week for a short period of time will help gain weight gradually.
Step number 7: Don’t forget about supplements
Supplementing your leopard gecko’s food is a must. Make sure to gut-load all the insects (you can skip gut-loading Phoenix worms). You will also need to dust the insects with either pure calcium, calcium + vitamin D3 or multivitamins.
Dusting schedules will be different for various leopard gecko ages. Don’t supplement more than this, as oversupplementation can also occur and will cause toxicity and other serious health issues.
Especially be careful with vitamin D3 supplements, as some supplements in the market contain too much vitamin D3. Dusting the food with calcium too often can also cause coating of digestive tract, leading to problems with absorption of other vitamins! This is why you shouldn’t leave a bowl with calcium in the tank at all times.
Some of the best supplements for your leopard gecko include:
- For pure calcium, a good product is this ReptiCalcium w/o vitamin D3.
- Calcium + vitamin D3 – this ReptiCalcium with vitamin D3.
- For multivitamins, a good choice can be this RepCal multivitamin.
And also, never leave a vitamin bowl in the tank, as this can lead to an overdose. Your leopard gecko doesn’t know how much of the vitamins it needs, and you have to supplement the food instead.
There are many good vitamins in the market, but make sure that Ca:P ratio is optimal (2-2.5:1 Ca:P). Also make sure that there is no more than 45,00–50,000 IU/kg of vitamin D3.
Some brands contain much higher levels of vitamin D3 that can lead to an overdose overtime (some contain 100x more the limit). Only use a pinch of supplement to dust each insect.
A feeding schedule for your hatchling – baby (up to 4 months old) leopard gecko that needs to gain weight:
- Monday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with calcium+vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Tuesday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with pure calcium only (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Wednesday: offer fatty waxworms. Don’t offer too many, and usually 1-2 worms are enough. Worms should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with calcium+vitamin D3.
- Thursday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with a multivitamin (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Friday: offer 1-2 waxworms. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with pure calcium only.
- Saturday: staple feeders – crickets/roaches/silkworms. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with calcium+vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Sunday: as many appropriately sized mealworms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. If you don’t have mealworms, offer any other staple insects. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with pure calcium only (apart from Phoenix worms).
A feeding schedule for your juvenile leopard gecko that needs to gain weight:
- Monday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with calcium+vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Tuesday: no feeding.
- Wednesday: offer waxworms. Don’t offer too many, and usually 1-2 are enough. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with a multivitamin.
- Thursday: no feeding.
- Friday: offer 1-2 waxworms. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with pure calcium without vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Saturday: mealworms/crickets/roaches/silkworms. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs, but not dusted.
- Sunday: as many appropriately sized mealworms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. If you don’t have mealworms, offer any other staple insects. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs, plus dusted calcium+vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
A feeding schedule for your adult (18 months+) leopard gecko that needs to gain weight:
- Monday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. You can also offer few hornworms if you wish (most leopard geckos love them and few should be enough as they are large). Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with calcium+vitamin D3 (apart from Phoenix worms).
- Tuesday: no feeding
- Wednesday: no feeding
- Thursday: offer 1-2 waxworms/butterworms/superworms and few other small insects if your leopard gecko still wants more food. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs + dusted with pure calcium (no vitamin D3).
- Friday: no feeding
- Saturday: as many appropriately sized crickets/roaches/silkworms/Phoenix worms as your leopard gecko can eat in 15 minutes. Insects should be gut-loaded for 24 hrs, but not dusted.
- Sunday: no feeding
A feeding schedule for an adult leopard gecko should be the same throughout the month when it turns 18 months old. You can create your own feeding schedule by changing the days around.
Feed your adult leopard gecko 2-3 times a week, stick to 3 days if your leopard gecko needs to gain weight. If your leopard gecko is still small/skinny after feeding fatty worms once a week, add extra 1-2 worms to the feed on other day.
When it has gained weight, reduce fatty worms to once in 2 weeks.
Hopefully you have made some notes on how to fatten up your leopard gecko the healthy way.
If you want to read a full guide on leopard gecko’s diet, read this article.
You can also read about gut-loading feeder insects, such as crickets, in this post.