Feeding crickets - night or day or does it matter?

[LzzrdBoy]

So I've had my Neo for nearly a week now and I'm curious. Should I only place crickets in his house during the evening hours? I read that leaving them in for a longer period of time can be stressful to Neo. However, whether I put them in during the morning hours or evening hours he seems to never show interest. Last night I awoke at 3AM and checked on him. I found him eating mealies out of his dish but noticed the 4 crickets I put in around 8PM the night before were still running around. The previous owner told me he would usually not eat mealies and that he loved crickets instead. She was also a little lax as she would simply drop in 8 or so and leave them in for 2-3 days.

So, my questions are...
Is it better to drop in the crickets during the day or later at night?
Should I be worried that he's not eating them?
Is it possible he prefers mealies to crickets (which would mean the previous owner was clueless)?
If he doesn't eat the crickets is there a timeframe at the end of which I should remove the uneaten crickets?

FYI - Neo is an 8 month old Leo Carrot Tail.

Much Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[gothra]

I prefer feeding at night. I usually put the crickets (without jump legs) in a dish and leave it overnight, any uneaten ones will be taken out the next morning; but usually they get eaten right away. Some geckos are picky and will prefer one type of food over another; so its possible that your gecko likes mealworm better than crickets.

I wouldn't worry as long as he is eating.

 

[LzzrdBoy]

I prefer feeding at night. I usually put the crickets (without jump legs) in a dish and leave it overnight, any uneaten ones will be taken out the next morning; but usually they get eaten right away. Some geckos are picky and will prefer one type of food over another; so its possible that your gecko likes mealworm better than crickets.

I wouldn't worry as long as he is eating.

Thank you, and yes, he's eating the heck out of the wormies. Just wondering how he went from (according to the previous owner) loving crickets to not touching them. Of course, it's still only been 5 days since he moved in with us.

Thanks again...good to know what the rest of you are doing.

 

[bigcat]

my leos eat when ever some times work is hectick and i cant feed them till later at night and other day i can feed them during the day. my leos switch every now and agen. so i have been trying to feed both crickets and meal worms. oh i dont know if this is weird or not but my leos are out during the day and night.

 

[Tony C]

I feed whenever it is convenient. Most of my geckos will come out and eat regardless of the time of day.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Some like a change in diet, some don't. Some will eat anytime, others won't. Some are shy and prefer to eat in privacy, others snap it up right away. Then they grow up and only eat every couple two or three days. Either you will adjust to his preferred schedule or he will adjust to yours. Nothing wrong with either, whatever works out best is the right way for you and him As far as leaving crickets in the tank, I would take them out the next morning. They eat poop which causes parasites when they're eaten, plus they can nibble on your animal and stress him.

 

[LzzrdBoy]

Thanks to you all for the info. Looks like I've got my answers.

Have a great night!