New leo owner with questions

[Mina]

Just last week I was given a normal, female leopard gecko by someone who didn't want her anymore.
How much and how often should she eat? She is a little over a year old and is almost 6 inches long. Right now she is being fed every other day, 4 to 5 worms or roaches, or a half a dozen crickets, and we are dusting twice a week. She is eating waxworms and dubia roaches or crickets. I was told mealworms are bad, is that true?
I looked on all the the websites and sexed her myself (no pores or slight bulge, but she does have a fold) both my husband and myself fell in love with her, she is adorable!!!!
I've been reading gecko caresheets and they all say different things.
I don't believe the people that had her ever feed her anything but crickets, that they didn't dust. They also kept her on sand and didn't give her a humid hide, we fixed all of that.
Is there anything else we should do? Thank you, we want to do this right.

[mlededee]

mealworms are fine and many use them as a staple diet for leos. i leave a dish of mealworms in my leo enclosure at all times and supplement with crickets and/or phoenix worms once or twice per week. you can also feed occasional wax worms (they are high in fat, so should only be given as a treat), feeder roaches and silkworms. mealworms and crickets should be dusted with a good multi-vitamin like t-rex leopard gecko ICB at least once per week and you should leave a dish of calcium in her cage at all times.

[Flagg]

Mealworms are fine, as long as they are gut-loaded and not fed right out of the fridge or from the store. Same with any feeder really, they should all be gut-loaded first.

[catzeye21138]

What does gut-loaded mean?

[Mina]

Gut loaded means that any feeder insect, crickets, roaches, or worms, should be brought home from the store you buy them in and be fed a good diet, veggies, oatmeal, fish food, dog food, cat food, (at least for roaches and crickets, I'm not sure exactly what is good for worms yet) before you feed them to your lizard. The idea is feeding healthy well fed feeders insects leads to a healthy well fed lizard.

[Mina]

Ok, so I'm not feeding her enough. My husband is picking up mealworms on the way home tonight. How much do you offer your leo at one time? This girl is a piggie and I'm worried about her eating herself ill.

[grizz2534]

From what I've seen from my leo, they won't eat more then what they want. I can put a ton of crickets in with Bandit, and he'll eat maybe 5 or 6 then stop. Same with wax worms and stuff too. I also like to give him a live pinky once or twice a month.