A few feeding questions...

[ShelbyLu]

Hi there!

I have two new geckos. I'm estimating their age at about 8-10 weeks. We've had them for about two weeks now and they are doing pretty good. (I think.)

Yesterday we purchased two Bearded Dragons and we are just loving those as well. However, after much research, I'm thoroughly convinced that I need to switch from crickets to dubias for my beardies. Since I'll be doing that I thought it would be nice to switch from crickets to dubias for my geckos too.

The thing I don't know is what size to order. I can't see them in person and know virtually nothing about the average sizes, etc. I've been to Dubideli and I'm just unsure what to buy.

Also, my geckos seem to hardly touch their mealworms at all. Every day I refresh the dish by putting in a new slice of apple or carrot and I always put a little piece of cricket food in there, so if there are ever crickets in their cage they have food and won't be tempted by feces or the geckos themselves.

I'm dusting them in the supplements, but almost always I'm throwing a plate full of dead mealworms away every few days. So I'm not sure what to do.

Obviously, I need to start dusting the crickets or dubias because if they are not eating the worms they are not getting their supplements. But also, I read that it's good for the geckos to have both the worms and the crickets in their diet.

I feel like my guys are on the scrawny side, so I did buy a container of wax worms so that I could give them one once or twice a week to help fatten them up. Our albino has eaten one, but my little one, won't touch that worm either. I just don't know what to do and I'm really concerned that they are not eating enough.

They are having bowel movements, so that's good. But the albino is growing faster than mine. And I can't tell when the crickets disappear how many each ate. I've tried putting them in a container alone to feed them and they won't eat if I do that.

Soon I'll have them in their own enclosures instead of together and then I'll have a better idea, but in the meantime, I'm just worried my gecko is not eating enough.

Sorry if that was long and rambling. Here is what I'm really looking for:

What size Dubia do you give young geckos?

Are there worm options you like more than meal worms?

Any tips on getting geckos interested in worms?

Let me know!

Thanks,

~Shelby

 

[LepoInc]

What size Dubia do you give young geckos?
Look for small size. If you want to breed them, that helps a ton on money and is rather simple. Otherwise, with young geckos, do small size. If you get them and you feel they are too small, feed them, spray them everyother day, and heat them. They will grow and you can feed them off then.

Are there worm options you like more than meal worms?
Super Worms or Horn Worms. Hornworms are expensive but are an amazing feeder. Superworms are bigger and more filling, and more nutritional. They are also easy to keep alive and keep around. Do not refrigerate them though.

Any tips on getting geckos interested in worms?
Try cutting one open/in half and squeeze some guts out and touch them to the geckos nose. This should help.

Since the albino is out growing yours, there is probably some sort of dominance going on. I know you said you're getting them separated soon so that's good. If you can get the little one to eat some worms, maybe feed it outside of the terrarium or with tongs so you know for sure that it is getting food.

 

[lisa127]

If the two geckos are the ones in your other thread, I would say they are much older than 8 to 10 weeks. Especially the albino. Hard to tell with the other.

 

[ShelbyLu]

Do you think they are much older? So the only thing i went off of was a size chart I found based on length. They are both right around 8 inches long. I can't really find definitive information on how to tell how old they are other than based on length. Shoot. So hard to know!

Thanks for the food suggestions. There is a reptile store in the Twin Cities area that I'm going to today. They have all sorts of live feed options there. I also have been concerned about dominance and I have multiple terrariums that I'm looking at on Craigslist. I should have something secured and set up in the next day or so.

I'll get better pictures today and see what you guys think on age/health, etc. I have five children ages 8-16 and this all reminds me of when my kids were babies and they can't tell you if something hurts or is wrong and you feel like it's a big guessing game. lol

I just want them happy and healthy.

~Shelby

 

[lisa127]

Eight inches is basically adult size. Especially for females.

 

[ShelbyLu]

Lisa!

I'm such a dork! I'm confusing my lizards!!

My beardies are 8 inches! I haven't measured my geckos yet! lol Sorry! This is what I get for being elbow deep in research for two different types of reptiles.

Sorry for my blunder.

~Shelby

 

[ShelbyLu]

Okay, I just got Sweetie out and took a couple of pictures of her. She is the bigger of the two. She's pretty skittish about being handled and had a big leap in the kitchen yesterday that scared me, so I'm trying to sort of leave her alone today.

But maybe from these pics you can have a reasonable guess on age?



Again, she is the bigger of the two. My intuition tells me they are still babies and I'm going to separate them in order to be able to really know how much each are eating.

~Shelby

 

[lisa127]

Yes, that is still a young one. Hard to guess on exact age though.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

Separating them should definitely help. If one is outgrowing the other, one could be bullying, but your smaller one could simply be intimidated and scared so it's not eating as much as it should. Remember to not leave crickets in the tank roaming for longer than a few hours. It's never a good idea to leave live crickets in the tank over-night. Always fish out the leftover crickets that your geckos don't eat after a few hours. Yes they can gnaw on your geckos, causing your geckos stress, and they can pass parasites.

Some geckos can be picky with their food so it can be difficult to switch their diet if they were used to eating crickets before. You should definitely try dubias if you can stomach having roaches in your house. They are a low fat, high protein, healthy feeder. They'll be great for your beardies & geckos. Looking at the size of your gecko you should get small size of dubia roaches, possibly medium but some medium are too big. It really depends on where you buy your dubias and how they measure their dubia size. A medium from one dubia breeder could be small to another. I find that geckos that go for crickets tend to go for dubias no problem. Dubias should plump your gecko up nicely.

It's impossible to tell what age your geckos are by their size, there isn't a size chart for leopard geckos, they grow at different growth rate. Your geckos are definitely juveniles, so they should be eating every day, having good appetites.

 

[ShelbyLu]

Yeah, I just feel like they are not eating enough. It's hard for me to explain why. It's just my instincts. I hope to have them in separate enclosures by tomorrow. I also was leaving crickets in their cage because I was so afraid that they weren't eating. And the pretty much seem to NEVER eat the meal worms. So I will stop doing that.

But I do leave cricket food in the cage when I do that so that they have food to eat. I'm a little annoyed because +++++ told me I should always leave a few crickets in the cage. It's amazing that a pet store would steer you so wrong. But now that I'm learning more, I'm not shocked.

For instance, meal worms are a huge nono for baby bearded dragons, they can actually kill them. And the tanks of baby bearded dragons at +++++ all have dishes full of meal worms in them. And they don't sell any other kind of worm there, so I know that's how it will stay. Yikes.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. I'll try to get this turned around right away.

~Shelby