First meal--okay to leave mealworms in tank?

[isabelly]

Hello! I'm a new leo owner and was wondering about feeding while my leo is still adjusting. I got her about 3 days ago, and have mostly left her alone to acclimate other than replenishing her water/spritzing her moist hide. She's spent most of her time in her warm hide, although when I sit by her tank and talk to her sometimes she'll poke her head out or turn towards me in her hide, so she doesn't seem particularly fearful, and I've caught her out and about exploring a few times.

I'm going to see if she's interested in food tonight, but my local supplier only had giant mealworms, so that's what I've gutloaded for her for now. She's about 46 grams and 8 months old, and I'm hoping the giants won't be too big for her, but I've heard mixed things about leaving food in the tank for new leos--some people say you should to let them eat on their own time and some say you shouldn't because you don't want the feeders to attack/stress them. I have a smooth-sided food dish for her so hopefully the mealies wouldn't be able to crawl out, but since they're bigger than normal mealies I'm not sure if they'll be stressful to her if she doesn't show interest in eating today. I know it can take a couple of weeks sometimes for leos to show interest in food while they're adjusting, so mostly I'm wondering if I should just offer her a few tonight and remove them after 20 minutes if she's not interested, or if I should leave them in her food dish for her to eat at her own pace.

 

[cowana]

Mealworms don't tend to "attack" Leos like crickets do., so you can leave some in her dish. She probably won't want to eat until it is quiet and she comes out to explore, and if it is smooth sided they shouldn't be able to escape the dish.

What sort of substrate are you using?

 

[cowana]

BTW, welcome to the Forum! Congrats on getting your first Leo! They are a lot of fun. [emoji4]

 

[isabelly]

Thank you! I'm using paper towel as substrate for the moment.

 

[cowana]

Paper towels are perfect! Even if they do escape she can hunt them, and you don't have to worry about her ingesting anything that will cause an impaction. [emoji4]

 

[isabelly]

I offered her some mealies dusted with Reptivite w/ D3 tonight and she definitely showed some interest--she was opening her mouth and licking while she watched them. But when I put one down in front of her to hunt, she licked it after watching it for a moment and then went back to her hide. Is it possible she doesn't like the taste of the vitamin? I assume this is normal behavior for a new leo.

I left a few in her dish so she can check them out if she wants to, but should I take them out of the tank to let them gutload again if she doesn't eat them by tomorrow?

 

[indyana]

Normal leo behavior. She'll start eating when she settles in a bit and gets hungry.

You can take them out to re-gutload, but keep separate from your "clean" bugs that have never been in the cage.

What I usually do is put a chunk of hard squash or carrot right in the dish with the worms to keep them hydrated. Make sure the chunk is large enough that the gecko won't accidentally eat it. I also sprinkle a little vitamin dust on the bottom of the dish so they crawl through it and keep a coating of vitamins.

 

[juarez.john22]

seems like at that moment she was only interested in the calcium which is normal which is why most people keep a small dish with calcium inside. but, yes its a good idea to take the mealworms out to re-feed them. also ive noticed with my mealworms if i leave them in there to long because its warm they will start to turn to their larvae phase.

 

[isabelly]

Thank you! I do have a dish of calcium w/o d3 in her tank. I haven't seen her in it but I've found little calcium footprints so she's clearly checking it out when I'm not around

 

[isabelly]

I left a slice of potato in the dish with the mealworms + vitamin powder earlier today for them to hydrate, and when I checked on it bits of it have turned purple-brown. It doesn't smell moldy and I can't imagine it would grow mold that fast, so is it just from oxidizing/is it safe to leave in there?

 

[indyana]

Yeah, potatoes turn like that. You'll probably have to switch out every day. I highly recommend hard squash or carrots. I usually get about two days out of them, and they are much better for gutloading, especially squash.