How old should they be before checking calcium sacs?

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

I've had my little girl for about 3 months. She's a little bigger (about 1 1/2 inches or so) than my thumb snout to vent. Should I be checking her calcium sacs?

 

[Aimless]

if she's eating regularly, has a proper diet and husbandry, and growing then you don't need to check them. it's something to keep an eye on once she's an adult, if you choose to breed her. otherwise there really isn't any reason to do so, unless you're just curious.

also, they grow at highly variable rates. weight is much more relevant than age when it comes to crested geckos.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

Ok, I thought it would be something I would have to check regularly (this is my only crestie and its the first time I've had one). I do plan on breeding her eventually, I'm just not sure if it'll be next season or the season after that. She's growing quite well, so I think she's ok. I'll weigh her just to be sure once I get home.

 

[Aimless]

if she's still growing, she's not ready to breed this year for sure.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

Oh I know. I don't even have another crested and I don't plan on getting another (as tempting as it is) before she's ready to breed. I'll probably do it next year.

 

[CrestedRick]

My girl is about a year and a half and only 30g so if I breed her it won't but until next year when she's proper weight.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

What exactly would be proper breeding weight?

 

[Aimless]

a bare minimum of 35 grams. you want her nice and big, but not fat.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

Mine's only 10 grams lol. She has quite a while to go. She's a tiny thing because she had a rough start to life being malnourished by an ignorant pet store. She was skin and bones when I got her

 

[CrestedRick]

She has a ways to go. Look into some feeders too, such as dubia roaches or Turks.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

She's been eating crickets since I got her. She's recently taken a liking to mealworms. She'll eat a ton of those lol. I have some dubias, I might try thoae with her if I can find one small enough. I got her at about 2 or 3 grams so she's grown a good bit.

 

[CrestedRick]

I would stop the meal worms and try dubia. It's been stated that dubia are more nutritional for cresteds as well. Meal worms aren't the ideal feeder for cresteds, I'm not knocking your feeding habits just want her to be the healthiest she can be.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

I understand that. I wasn't completely sure if I should be feeding her mealies but she seemed to enjoy them and I didn't notice any side effects with them. I'll try some dubias with her tonight. What are Turks and where can I find them?

 

[CrestedRick]

Ya i know what you mean but just because they will ear doesnt mean they should. Check out westcoastroaches.com. They move faster than dubias and don't just freeze. Go into the feeder section on here and look them up.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

Ok, if dubias don't do it for her then I'll get some turks for her. Do they smell like crickets or are they similar to dubias?

 

[Aimless]

a big turk is the size of a big cricket, too, so that's nice.

I don't think they smell much more than dubias, and they're definitely not as stinky as crickets.

the only real problem with mealworms is that they're really high in fat, lol. this is why she likes them so much. rotating them in occasionally isn't a big deal as she's growing and the calories won't hurt her, but I definitely wouldn't make them a staple.

 

[LeopardGeckoBreederFan]

Ok, I'll definitely look into he turks. They sound pretty awesome. I understand that, I really only started using them because I ran out of small crickets. I don't want to choke her so I just gave her some mini mealworms instead

 

[Mogey]

You're right to exercise precaution with feeder sizes. It can only take one impaction to end a gecko. As we say in the snake-keeping community- "It's never a problem, until it's a problem." I feel this cannot be stressed enough.