Feeding Problems: Suggestions Welcome!

[Snuffles379]

Hello everyone! In the last couple of years I've had an increasingly hard time feeding my male leopard gecko and these past few months feeding has become really difficult. His main diet was always crickets and at least a year ago he stopped hunting the crickets in his cage and was unable to catch them when he tried. So I began feeding him crickets outside his cave with reptile tweezers. This worked well for a while and then he slowly became uninterested in crickets I moved to mainly feeding him meal worms, then super worms. The super worms lasted as his main food for a while, again I had to place them outside of his cave and move them until he grabbed them up. Most recently though he's completely lost all interest in crickets and now he is very rarely interested in super worms. In the last three weeks the most I can get him to show interest in and eat is wax worms, which have always been his favorite, though he'll only take one or two. I'm not too concerned with this small amount of food consumption in the last few weeks because his tail is still very large and he seems otherwise fine. Though I've been searching and searching for a better way to feed him or something new to feed him.

Ideally I'd like to keep a variation of food (super worms and such) in a bowl in his cage for him to come get as he'd like but he will not eat out of any bowls, cups, or dishes I buy. Every night I have to take out his cave (which he always stays in except to use the rest room or drink which I never see him do but he clearly does) and try and drop/move around his food with the tweezers hoping to catch his attention. I've tried crickets, meal worms, super worms, wax worms, horn worms, and dubia roaches and none of been a big success. He's mostly only eating wax worms now which I know are not an idea food for him but he is around 12 years old and I worry that that's the only food I'll be able to get him to eat.

So any advice on feeding/what to feed or suggestions would be really great. Also would you guys recommend feeding him the wax worms as a main food if that's what he'll take and then trying other things on and off? I haven't given him more than 5 wax worms at a time because they've always been just a treat but I'm starting to think they'll have to be his new main food. If wax worms are his main food is there something specific I can gut load them with to give him some kind of nutrients?

 

[geckogod]

Variation is vital in feeding any pet, but how often do you try to feed them? Try holding off food (if they have fat tails and are healthy) for a week and a half or two, by then they should be interested in any type of food and if not go to a veterinarian (remember the reason they store fat is to supplement them during times without food, it is natural for them to have a break.)

 

[SC Geckos]

Im sure that this feeding issue is directly related to the problem you are having with the heat. 74 degrees on the surface of the warm side (which is what your other post tonight said) is about 20 degrees too cold. If that is an accurate surface temp on the warm side IMO I would not even attempt to feed him until you get that temp up to at least 88. (I prefer 90-93) At that low of a temp (74) the gecko will not be able to properly digest it food which can lead to all sorts of problems.
As far as wax worms, They should never be used as a staple. Once your temp issue is corrected offer crickets, mealworms, supers, or roaches (to name a few good feeders) properly gutloaded of course. Be persistant with one or more of these feeders and when he get hungry he will eat them.

 

[acpart]

I agree that if the temperatures aren't high enough they need to be raised. On the other hand, I have a lot of leopard geckos and there is a tremendous range in how they are most comfortable being fed. At one extreme, for some I just drop in the feeder and they eat. At the other extreme there are several geckos where I have to hand them the feeder or even pick them up and put the feeder near their mouths. I also have geckos that don't eat for months at a time, especially in winter, without losing a sig. amount of weight.

Aliza

 

[Embrace Calamity]

Agreed with others. Nothing can work right if your temperatures are that off. If you get your temps fixed, any problems you have should work themselves out, and you'll have a much happier, healthier leo.

~Maggot

 

[Snuffles379]

Thanks to those who took the time to read both of my posts and help out! I've replied to the heating post and after using a temperature gun it turns out that the tank temps are around 85-90 on the warm side (with a spike to 100 in the center) and around 66-67 on the cool side. But now I know his eating problems are not caused by the temperature issues I'm wondering what else it could be or if anyone has any more helpful suggestions.

I do offer him a very wide variety as that has helped in the past and I've been hearing some leopard geckos do refuse food for a very long time especially in the cooler months which makes me feel better about his problems. I'm wondering at this point should I stop giving him wax worms all together and just continue to try and get him to eat supers and crickets? It's the only thing I can get him to eat because I can leave three or four in his cave and he'll eat them at some point. Anything else that moves faster than a wax worm he will not bother trying to get. I figured him eating a few wax worms was better than nothing but I'd like to hear what you guys would do.
I'm keeping an eye on him to make sure he does not appear to be losing weight, if he does start to look skinnier I think it'll be time for a vet visit asap but he's still has chubby as ever at the moment. lol

 

[cassicat4]

In my personal opinion, I would say to stop catering to him.

Some Leos, if fed waxworms too often, will hold out for them.

Barring health conditions, If they don't feel they need food, they'll put little effort into hunting down what's available. Hand-feeding/tweezer-feeding or placing food right at his feet to get him to eat means that he may take it just because it's convenient, not because he actually has a desire to eat it.

My male is a sporadic eater. I offer him crickets and/or kingworms every second day, and some days he'll eat quite a few, other days not so much, and other days none at all. If he's too lazy to hunt them down, he doesn't eat...and he's much more active the next feeding time and will make the effort.

My female will also go on food strikes occasionally, meaning she won't eat a thing for up to two weeks. She only loses a gram or two, at most.

How often do you weigh your Leo? I weigh mine about every two weeks, or every week if they're eating less. Monitoring their weight is an excellent way to determine early symptoms of underlying health problems. Generally, if they're not eating, but also not losing any weight (or very little weight), and everything with their temps/husbandry is correct, then I find it's usually just a phase they're going through for whatever reason, and nothing to worry about. Keep monitoring them for sure, but don't get too concerned. A healthy Leo will not starve itself, and healthy chubby Leo can go for a lot longer without eating than a skinnier one.

 

[SORROW89]

Thanks to those who took the time to read both of my posts and help out! I've replied to the heating post and after using a temperature gun it turns out that the tank temps are around 85-90 on the warm side (with a spike to 100 in the center) and around 66-67 on the cool side. But now I know his eating problems are not caused by the temperature issues I'm wondering what else it could be or if anyone has any more helpful suggestions.

I do offer him a very wide variety as that has helped in the past and I've been hearing some leopard geckos do refuse food for a very long time especially in the cooler months which makes me feel better about his problems. I'm wondering at this point should I stop giving him wax worms all together and just continue to try and get him to eat supers and crickets? It's the only thing I can get him to eat because I can leave three or four in his cave and he'll eat them at some point. Anything else that moves faster than a wax worm he will not bother trying to get. I figured him eating a few wax worms was better than nothing but I'd like to hear what you guys would do.
I'm keeping an eye on him to make sure he does not appear to be losing weight, if he does start to look skinnier I think it'll be time for a vet visit asap but he's still has chubby as ever at the moment. lol

67F is still to low for the cold side. If all he has is a floor temp of 85-90 and no warm air, he'll be too cold to eat. It should never drop below 70. Stop giving him waxworms all together. They are too fatty. Give him a different insect at every feeding so he won't get bored. If the tank is too dry they won't want to eat either. In the wild when it becomes too dry or cold they brumate so that they can cope.

 

[Snuffles379]

Thanks for the responses, I agree that he might be trying to hold out for something better, cassicat4. However, as much as I'd like to just toss some crickets in for him he just isn't fast enough to catch food any more on his own so I have to feed them to him with tweezers so unfortunately I have to cater to him some what. I do not commonly weigh him, the only time he's been weighed was at the vet but I do have a digital scale so I think I'll take your advice and just continue to weigh him to make sure he's not losing any weight. Thanks for your advice.

SORROW89, my temperature gun says the floor temperature is 67 on the cool side but the digital thermometers probe says the air temp is around 77 degrees. Should I still be worried about the air not being warm enough? I'm pretty positive he's not too dry, I keep the humidity at, at least, 60.

 

[Ozy]

Just stop trying to feed him for a couple of weeks. I would stop with the waxworms. I feed my leo with tweezers, because she's too spoiled to eat out of a dish. BUT, I only hold it there for a minute or so and if she doesn't look interested I put the feeder back in it's bin, wait a couple of days and try again. Normally by then she gobbles the roaches up faster than I can get them in there. LOL. She is not skinny AT ALL, very strong and heathy. I would get a ceramic heat emitter and a Lutron Lamp Dimmer and put that over the cool side on a nice, low heat. How are you regulating the temps? Does he have a humid hide?

EDIT - You need a way to regulate the heat that the UTH is putting out. Myself, and many others on the forums use a HydroFarms thermostat which you can get on Amazon for around $30 shipped. What is your substrate?

 

[Snuffles379]

Just stop trying to feed him for a couple of weeks. I would stop with the waxworms. I feed my leo with tweezers, because she's too spoiled to eat out of a dish. BUT, I only hold it there for a minute or so and if she doesn't look interested I put the feeder back in it's bin, wait a couple of days and try again. Normally by then she gobbles the roaches up faster than I can get them in there. LOL. She is not skinny AT ALL, very strong and heathy. I would get a ceramic heat emitter and a Lutron Lamp Dimmer and put that over the cool side on a nice, low heat. How are you regulating the temps? Does he have a humid hide?

EDIT - You need a way to regulate the heat that the UTH is putting out. Myself, and many others on the forums use a HydroFarms thermostat which you can get on Amazon for around $30 shipped. What is your substrate?

Thanks for the reply! What is the age of your leo? I'm wondering if that is a contributor to his pickyness. I do have a humid hide and my substrate is reptile carpet on the warm side and tile on the cool side. I have a Big Apple thermostat, however, I stopped using it because it never read the UTH as hot enough to turn off even though I had the probe of the thermostat directly on the ground over the UTH. Is there a trick to where the probe should be placed? Should it be tapped down under the substrate? I was in the process of getting a ceramic heat emitter (which I mentioned in my other post on the housing forum) but I've been told that they are more likely to cause burns and do not provide the belly heat that the gecko needs so now I'm hesitant.

 

[Ozy]

You need to tape the probe down over the UTH. If it isn't taped down it will not read accurate temps and therefore will not shut off. Don't tape it under the carpet. I have my thermostat probe taped to the tile inside my leo's dry, warm hide. I use slate tile with hermit crab sand underneath and it distributes heat VERY well. Not sure how old my leo is. I got her from Petco and she was REALLY little when I got her. I've had her since July 17 and she's done ALOT of growing since then. lol. I started hand feeding my leo when she was a baby..