Feeding after Breeding

[reptilez]

I was just wondering what you guys feed you leos that just finished laying eggs to help them gain weight back?? and in what quantity??Ex. 5 waxworms.

[Zoe]

I fed my fat-tails as many silk worms as they would take. I fed the bigger females a pinkie mouse.

Zoe

[Tim and Julie B]

I'm with Zoe on the pinkies. Give a female one as soon as she will take one after laying, be sure to dip it in some calcium powder first. I also give them another 5-7 days later, again dipped in calcium. So far they have kept up their weight pretty well. :D

[Alicewave]

Aurora wont take pinkies but she'll eat waxies to her hearts content so I give her a bunch of those coated with calcium.

[eyespy]

I know it's a popular thing to "feed up" a female after laying eggs but in my experience it's not good for her in the long run. Much of the weight loss is actually dehydration from all the fluids she's put into the eggs and giving high fat or high protein meals isn't going to replenish the fluids, in fact it's just the opposite. It takes more work to break down proteins and fats and so the digestive system uses more water for that and less goes to replenish body stores.

Females that are power fed after breeding are much more likely to end up with liver disease too. They are already low on fluids, have a tough time breaking down the fats and so they tend to get stored in and around the liver.

I prefer to give more calcium, mineral and fat soluble vitamin supplementation (esp. vitamin E) along with excellent hydration but stick to the normal pre-gravid diet. Slow and steady weight gain is healthier in the long term.

I only power feed if a metabolic panel of bloodwork shows she is low on amino acids and that's pretty rare.

[Alicewave]

Aurora has been pretty good about eating while gravid. She doesn't eat a lot but she eats some. She just eats a little extra after she lays a clutch. I also don't feel exclusively waxworms after she lays, but she doesn't always take mealies as readily so I sneak some mealies in between the waxies. I think Leos themselves are pretty good judges of what to eat when. Whenever one of my leos gets too fat, their apetite decreses til they lose some weight then it picks up again. If Aurora's got a big apetite after a clutch, by all means I'm going to feed her.

[Leo-Land]

I feed them pinkie mice.

[geckoguy157]

well i keep her very moist and seperate her from the male or colony she is in and feed her up as much as she wants with lots of calcium on the crickets so her next clutch will be just as good