Any tricks to get him to focus?

[Stitchex]

My male Leopard gecko, Dusty, doesn't seem to take notice of his crickets or mealworms. He just looks around, like he's wandering, always looking upwards. He'll eat waxworms just fine, though. Any tips?

 

[Stitchex]

Please, he hasn't eaten in about four days...

 

[david13]

try not to feed him to many waxworms they could get addicted, try using tweezers and holding it in front of him but grab it where it will wiggle a lot so he notices

mealworm-head
cricket-leg

 

[The Sunset Gang]

Only feed waxworms once and a while. These geckos can go for a long time without eating. He just may need to be hungry enough to really want the food because he is used to waxworms he is spoiled. Good Luck!!

 

[Stitchex]

Sorry if I made it sound like I fed him mostly waxworms; I know they can be addicting. He is still eating only about one or two mealies every other day. But, he is still gaining weight, so I'll try to be patient with him. Thanks!

 

[gothra]

Maybe try get the cricket walk across his hide openning while he is sleeping in it (half asleep is even better)...see if that'll trigger his instinct to go at the cricket. This method has worked for me before.

 

[Stitchex]

I'll try that, thanks!

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Feeding is very misunderstood in reptiles. They do not want to eat as often as mammals, even less that we think they do. Try adding a day for every day he does not eat. If he still does not eat add another day, etc. He will eat when he is hungry. No more "gecko crack," aka wax worms, until he is feeding normally on nutritional food!

 

[Stitchex]

Thanks, I'll try that. I hope he starts eating soon. Gecko crack, lmao..

 

[JConley]

Take a cricket and tear its legs off so it just sits there and flips around! I know it sounds weird or nasty but it works excellent! (just its 2 big back legs)

 

[andypg3]

I'd try dropping food in front of the hide he likes the most. They seem to be more inclined to hunt from the protectiveness of their hides.

As for wax worms, when our gecko knows he can have wax worms he will defiantly pass on any mealworms. So, I'll give him 4 or so mealies then a wax worms after he finishes those off to make sure he gets some nutrition. And I'll dust the wax worm pretty heavily.

 

[rubym]

Try a roach. Our picky eaters seem to go after a roach when they won't anything else. I smoosh their heads ( the roaches) with tweezers first. Mine also seem to really like silkies. They are smooshy like waxies but more nutritional.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Your job as the gecko keeper is to keep the feeding response sharp. This is interfered with by things like hand, tweezer feeding, disabling and dropping food in front of them "to make sure they eat." How the natural feeding response works: they get hungry, then they hunt for food. Perfectly natural for a healthy gecko. Use a food dish and don't always have food in it. You don't want them getting used to always seeing food, that decreases the feeding response. Leave it out overnight, clean out the leftover food in the am. Add another day between feedings as they slow down on feeding as mentioned in my previous post.

Save the techniques of hand, tweezer and other like methods for sick geckos as that is what who those techniques benefit. Use them on healthy geckos and you'll get a picky eater. I've got about 120 leo breeders and :main_yes: ZERO picky eaters!

 

[andypg3]

So to curb a picky eater, you suggest keeping food in a dish only during the night and waiting it out?

Our gecko eats out of its dish on occasion, but I find myself dropping mealies in front of his hide a lot to make sure he's eating enough (he's still a juvie). The main reason I do this is the mealies are more lively outside of the dish and he only seems to respond to movement.

In keeping the mealies in a dish, do you provide a moisture source and some gutload or just dust them and leave them in the dish by themselves, i.e. do you have a technique to keeping them active and appealing to a hunting gecko?

I guess a fundamental question I should ask is do geckos hunt more by sight or smell? I wonder sometimes if the gecko cannot see the mealies in the dish from across the tank (especially if the worms aren't active at all) will it hunt at all?

How many regular (1/4-in. diameter / 1-in. long) mealies would you put in the dish overnight for an adult leo?

I'd like to make the dish the primary feeding mechanism, but still want the gecko to eat enough and stay healthy.

 

[david13]

Your job as the gecko keeper is to keep the feeding response sharp. This is interfered with by things like hand, tweezer feeding, disabling and dropping food in front of them "to make sure they eat." How the natural feeding response works: they get hungry, then they hunt for food. Perfectly natural for a healthy gecko. Use a food dish and don't always have food in it. You don't want them getting used to always seeing food, that decreases the feeding response. Leave it out overnight, clean out the leftover food in the am. Add another day between feedings as they slow down on feeding as mentioned in my previous post.

Save the techniques of hand, tweezer and other like methods for sick geckos as that is what who those techniques benefit. Use them on healthy geckos and you'll get a picky eater. I've got about 120 leo breeders and :main_yes: ZERO picky eaters!

My leo is healthy, and sometimes i feed her with tweezers because she doesnt eat in 3-4 days, When i drop a worm or put some in her cage she doesnt eat any, but if i hold them there for her she will eat 12.....so???

 

[Gecko Ranch]

So to curb a picky eater, you suggest keeping food in a dish only during the night and waiting it out?

That is exactly what I am suggesting. Night and day is not important, what is important is that food does not get left in the dish for more than 24 hours for two reasons:

1) The gecko gets used to it, this is called "habituation."

2) The food loses its nutritional value after a day or so.

Our gecko eats out of its dish on occasion, but I find myself dropping mealies in front of his hide a lot to make sure he's eating enough (he's still a juvie). The main reason I do this is the mealies are more lively outside of the dish and he only seems to respond to movement.

This is part an artificial situation created by you by doing this, and part a natural situation created by his instinctual hunger response not to eat constantly. Even juvies do not eat at the same ravenous volume all the time.
If you think about how they survive in nature it is not by having food present constantly. They must hunt, eat and save some fat in their tail, and go without for a bit. This is the same exact situation for adults, juveniles just cannot go as long due to their smaller size.

In keeping the mealies in a dish, do you provide a moisture source and some gutload or just dust them and leave them in the dish by themselves, i.e. do you have a technique to keeping them active and appealing to a hunting gecko?

Leaving mealworms in a food dish for a day or so is fine. Any more than that you would need to leave some food for the mealworms, then we get back to the seeing the food all the time response from the gecko. Dump the food out for your birds in the garden.

If your mealworms are not active then I think you have selected them in the wrong state (should be soft, freshly shed, active) to feed your gecko, or they are just not healthy like defrosted pet shop mealworms have shown themselves to be. If you gutload them at least 24hrs and feed them some source of moisture like carrots, they should be fine for your geckos provided they are not in the skin thickening phase before they shed.

I guess a fundamental question I should ask is do geckos hunt more by sight or smell? I wonder sometimes if the gecko cannot see the mealies in the dish from across the tank (especially if the worms aren't active at all) will it hunt at all?

This is an excellent question. I found the answer through personal experience and by reading through the latest research in writing my book "Geckos" two years ago. I always noticed leopard geckos oriented best towards food supplemented with Repashy Calcium Plus (T-Rex Leopard Gecko Diet), even if this was a first time they had ever seen this type of food, for instance a superworm or cricket instead of a mealworm. So I asked Allen Repashy about it, and yes, he had put something in there to attract them (escapes me at the moment).

Regardless of the phenomenon experienced with Calcium Plus, in reading research with different kinds of geckos on scent vs. sight recognition, it was found in several studies that Eublepharine geckos were far more scent oriented that sight. They would strike at a cotton swab held by tweezers that was soaked in cricket scent. Other geckos like Tokays and Cresteds would not.

Also adding to this evidence, I had another early experience back in the 80s that also supported this when I had a male leo with badly damaged eyes. I was so very concerned about his eating I would put mealworms right in his mouth and then he would chomp them down. I kept him with a healthy female he was used to being with. Imagine my surprise when I put some mealworms in with her, and he strolled over and ate them! :stunned:

How many regular (1/4-in. diameter / 1-in. long) mealies would you put in the dish overnight for an adult leo?

I would put in about 6-10 and see how many are eaten. Leos are kinda like people in that there is no set formula for each until you get to know them. You need to tailor your food amount based on how much they eat. If they eat all those quickly, then you should put in a few more and adjust the amount you give next time. What you don't want to end up with is a lot of leftover food, that means either your guy is not hungry or you have overestimated his appetite.

I'd like to make the dish the primary feeding mechanism, but still want the gecko to eat enough and stay healthy.

I can understand your worry. Imagine mine with wild caught geckos I kept when I was a child back in the 70s. If one of them ate I was thrilled beyond thrilled! Nowadays folks start with healthy CB geckos, and faulty appetites are very rare I must say. They are often the products of misinformation and poor feeding techniques. Sometimes they are the result of illness, make no mistake.

You can monitor whether or not you are on the right track by using a scale. If your gecko loses weight consistently, lets say over five grams or more in a two week period, then you have something to worry about. Minor weight fluctuations are normal, especially in sexually mature geckos over the winter. I can't tell you the volume of e-mails and phone calls I get from that phenomenon! By using scale you take the subjectivity out of it. Facts are facts!

So we can let them get hungry and they will do what comes naturally or we can struggle with stuffing them when they are already full. That's what it comes down to!

Thank you for your intelligent questions. I hope my responses were equally as well thought out and helpful to you.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

My leo is healthy, and sometimes i feed her with tweezers because she doesnt eat in 3-4 days, When i drop a worm or put some in her cage she doesnt eat any, but if i hold them there for her she will eat 12.....so???

So......... it is totally normal for healthy adult leos to skip 3-4 days or even a week without eating. You are doing a lot of work for very little benefit by stuffing her. If she was allowed to get hungry she would take care of those mealies quite nicely by herself.

 

[andypg3]

Sounds good, your responses were more than helpful.

Currently, I never leave food in the cage longer than 24 hours, but provide a constant supply of mealworms (with carrots and gutload in the dish).

I've read your speil about the Repashy stuff before and it makes sense geckos would hunt more by smell than sight. I'll definately give this a shot, thanks again for the info.

 

[Gecko Ranch]

Sounds good, your responses were more than helpful.

Currently, I never leave food in the cage longer than 24 hours, but provide a constant supply of mealworms (with carrots and gutload in the dish).

I've read your speil about the Repashy stuff before and it makes sense geckos would hunt more by smell than sight. I'll definately give this a shot, thanks again for the info.

Once you understand this it becomes more easy to introduce a new food item to the geckos with that old familiar smell!

 

[BuddytheLeo]

lol what i do is i take and drop a meal worm in 1 at a time, cause mine dont seem to notice that they are there when they're in a feeder thing.
if he doesint notice it when i drop it in i take and give the mealworm a little nudge where it will go rollin by him lol and my leo looks right at it and eatser up. it takes him like 4 or 5 lundges to grab it but he gets it