Gecko doesn't eat from dish... Help!

Retribution Reptiles

Stripe King
Messages
2,380
Location
NE Ohio
IMO the best way to stop a learned response is to stop doing it. Put the worms in the dish and the gecko will find out that the dish now the spot to find food.
 

bettafish

Ohai There!
Messages
77
Location
BC, Canada
Maybe start feeding your leo closer and closer to the food dish, then eventually just put the food in it?

Edit: Oops, sorry, didnt realize this person revived an old thread and now I just contributed to it >.< Whoops!
 

gothra

Happy Gecko Family
Messages
3,790
Location
HK
Use a very shallow dish, and place it right at the entrance of her humid hide (or her favourite sleeping spot). Then she must see the worms wriggling in there whenever she walks in and out.
 

lovelovelove135

New Member
Messages
171
Location
NJ
Hello! I hope I can help you :) I got the same exact dish, and at first my gecko didn't want to eat out of it either. First, I made sure he saw the worms in the dish by taking a worm, showing it to him, and dropping it in the dish. I also lifted up the dish vertically, not too vertically so the worms fell out, but vertical enough that he saw they were in there. Then, he would look at it, see them moving, and just didn't want to eat out of it. What I did was the very first worm, hold it in front of his face so he sees it, then he'll probably try to eat it from your hand, but don't give it to him yet, instead slowly lead him to the dish. Drop it in and he may or may not eat it. Keep doing this and eventually he/she will eat out of it. Your gecko may be too small for the dish though. My gecko was around 6 inches, maybe, when I started using the dish and it looked really uncomfortable when he was using it. He would have his feet inside the dish and his belly would be squished against the rim. He ate out of it anyway, but just enough to keep his hunger from bothering him. Of course he always wanted more, but refused to use the dish, so I had to hand feed him the rest. There was one time where he ate all the worms from the dish, but just that one time haha Sometimes he just eats one or none because he dislikes the dish that much >.< He will use it if he's hungry enough, so it's good when you go on vacations or something. The most important thing is to make sure your gecko sees that there are worms in there. Eventually, your gecko will check the bowl so you won't have to show him the worms/drop them in/lead him to the bowl. I probably wrote a bit too much and included non-important information in this paragraph, so sorry about that haha xD if you're gecko is under 5 or 6 inches, the bowl may be too big, so you'll have to wait to use it. Anyways, I hope I helped!
 

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