Obesity

[ArborealsAnonymous]

There has been a lot of recent research on obesity in captive reptiles and I really wonder how much good we are doing in the long run by letting our geckos get so big. I definitely have people regularly comment on the "slimness" of my leachies- and I know leachies are a pudgy species. But, pretty much everything over 20g or so i only feed twice per week during breeding season and every week-ten days in winter (which they largely don't eat). I recently lost a chahoua female who laid 6 clutches this season. She started out at only 70g (which is not massive) and by the end of her 6th clutch she had dropped to 38g. I did everything I could to save her, and when my vet did an autopsy he showed me that she still had fat deposits in her abdomen even though her liver wasnt fatty and her organs looked fine. He thinks that lipid cycling could have contributed to her death- if she hadn't had the caloric stores to continue producing eggs, she may have stopped laying when my other girls did at 3 clutches instead of pushing herself and depleting her mineral/nutrient stores. I didnt raise her myself so I dont have her complete life history but I think I am definitely going to keep growing my animals slow in the hopes of increasing their lifespans. Does anyone have more information or input on this?

 

[Michael]

@ET Geckos has some feelings/research on this. We've talked about it before and if I recall correctly, in her opinion, overweight geckos become bad breeders.

I think you might be onto something...

 

[LornaRedSky]

I've never had an overweight chahoua-actually the opposite, I struggle to keep the weight on them all year. But I do see this problem in cresties for sure. But I don't think it is just diet-related. My geckos are all fed on the same rotation and many stay slim on that rotation while others will get obese. My chunkiest crestie is also in the largest enclosure with lots of opportunities for exercise so I think genetics or something we don't fully understand must play a role here.