Dead baby gecko - superworm predation? Cricket killers?

[ElapidSVT]

one of my baby geckos.. about 8g or so was near death and had to be euthanized this morning. it was bleeding from the vent area and the underside of the tail near the base. there were some superworms that were crawling around the cage, having escaped the feeding dish. there were also two small crickets that didn't get eaten yesterday and were left in the cage.

whodunnit?

i need to figure this out before the expensive geckos start hatching out, but my knee-jerk reaction is to stick with dubia roaches and quit feeding crix and worms. i got the small superworms from lllreptile as a substitution for regular mealies cuz they're out of the regulars.

 

[Bling_my_leo]

I am so sorry. I hope this doesn't happen again....

 

[acpart]

I can't tell you exactly who did it but here are my thoughts: I would think that an 8 gram hatchling is a little small to eat superworms unless they are very small. I have had one bad experience with an adult gecko who sometimes gets cracks in his regrown tail (regrown before I got him). He had a wound that was getting worse and I finally found a few mealworms feasting on it. I don't think they started the problem, but definitely made it worse. I haven't had any problems with crickets personally. I wonder if it's possible that the hatchling ate something too big for it and had digestive problems, rather than having the feeders attack it.

Aliza

 

[Ccrashca069]

superworms are way too big for hatchlings. I would have feed small crickets instead. I would guess the crickets got your hatchling.

 

[ElapidSVT]

superworms are way too big for hatchlings. I would have feed small crickets instead. I would guess the crickets got your hatchling.

these superworms are small. mostly smaller than normal mealies. they are a LOT faster than normal mealies.
i'd be more suspicious of the crickets if the damage wasn't on the underside of the animal.

 

[ElapidSVT]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elapid/2562588984/sizes/m/
look at your own risk.

 

[wings2fly]

WOW! I have never seen anything like that. It looks like something was eating the tail. I would think it would more likely by the superworms than crickets, just because it was on the under side.

So sorry for your loss. That would really upset me.

Carin