Geckos only eating silkworms...

[frost1375]

I have two geckos who will only eat silkworms. My geckos seem to be so picky. They all stopped eating crickets so they are all strictly on mealworms. Then the two I mentioned before stopped eating for a while and after force feeding them for almost a year, I discovered silkworms. Now they will only eat silkworms and sometimes butterworms. But the silkworms are so hard to find. I can only get them online and they are usually sold out when I need to buy them. I've tried so hard to get them to eat other things, but they won't. So not only am I spending about $60 a month getting them silkworms, but they usually aren't available. For me, it's so hard to keep the silkworms alive. They usually get too wet and die. So I feel like most of them go to waste. I would love some help if anyone has any ideas on how to get them to eat other things or why they are so picky. Or even if you know of a place near Boston that I can buy the silkworms for cheaper. Or if anyone can give me any tips on how to keep the silkworms without them dying on me. It would be nice to be able to breed them too. Sorry for such a long post. I just want the best for my babies!

 

[roger]

I have two geckos who will only eat silkworms. My geckos seem to be so picky. They all stopped eating crickets so they are all strictly on mealworms. Then the two I mentioned before stopped eating for a while and after force feeding them for almost a year, I discovered silkworms. Now they will only eat silkworms and sometimes butterworms. But the silkworms are so hard to find. I can only get them online and they are usually sold out when I need to buy them. I've tried so hard to get them to eat other things, but they won't. So not only am I spending about $60 a month getting them silkworms, but they usually aren't available. For me, it's so hard to keep the silkworms alive. They usually get too wet and die. So I feel like most of them go to waste. I would love some help if anyone has any ideas on how to get them to eat other things or why they are so picky. Or even if you know of a place near Boston that I can buy the silkworms for cheaper. Or if anyone can give me any tips on how to keep the silkworms without them dying on me. It would be nice to be able to breed them too. Sorry for such a long post. I just want the best for my babies!

why would you force feed a leo for an entire year? No wonder they wont' eat are they stressed?.
It's been my experience that sometimes a leo goes off food for a while and goes on a hunger strike ,but eventually they start eating again for whatever reason.If you've determined that your warm end temps are warm enough, try going back to crickets or superworms or mealies and stick to one of them.Offer them the same food everyday.Eventually they will give in and start eating what you feed them.I'm just going on whats my experience and whats worked for me

 

[frost1375]

Well, it probably wasn't a full year that they were forcefed but it was pretty much a year or longer that they were not eating, going to vets, trying different medicines, etc. I had them at two different vets because they had stopped eating and lost so much weight. With tests and medicines, they were never able to figure out what was wrong. So I figured out how to force feed them in hopes it would jumpstart their eating. But every time I stopped, they would start losing weight. Finally I found silkworms and that seems to be the only thing they will eat. Besides for butterworms occasionally. I keep trying to put other things in there, but when I don't have silkworms, I notice they start losing weight quickly... one of the geckos in particular. It's just frustrating and I'm sort of afraid they will stop liking silkworms too and then they won't eat anything at all and I'll have to go back to force feeding.

 

[Shera]

What do you feed the silkworms? If you have some mulberry trees in your area you could use the leaves instead of buying the expensive silkworm food (wash the leaves well). You can buy silkworm eggs for really cheap, and you can keep them in the fridge and they will only hatch when taken out and warmed. I've always wanted to try it, but mulberry doesn't grow in my area and the mulberry food is so expensive. Where do you buy your silkworms?

 

[frost1375]

I feed the silkworms the silkworm chow from the places where I order it. I live in Mass and I'm pretty sure we don't have any Mulberry trees around. I wish I could just keep them alive so I can breed them and not worry about spending so much money buying them all the time. I usually get them from the Mulberry farms website. Or the Silkworm Shop, but they seem to be a little more expensive. But almost every time I need to order them, the worms are not in stock!

 

[Shera]

I'm pretty sure mulberry does grow in Massachusetts, but I'm not sure how you could track down a tree, lol. I would grow one if I could here. Silkies are so much better for them than crickets and meal/superworms.

 

[frost1375]

Hmm... maybe I'll try to find a Mulberry tree! That might be as difficult as finding a store that sells the silkworms. lol. I guess I should be happy that my little guys are eating healthy things opposed to things that aren't as healthy. I'm just surprised that they are so picky I guess. I wish it was cheaper and easier to keep the silkworms. I guess I just have to keep trying with them. If I can get them to live, then I can buy eggs and grow them. That would definitely be cheaper. Thank you all for the replies! I just get overwhelmed sometimes when it comes to my pets. I just want to do the right things for them!

 

[RocksMama77]

I would try roaches. I have had picky eaters but once I got my dubia roaches everything changed. All 6 of mine eat like little truckers and my roaches are breeding machines. I never run out and they are really simple to keep. Just give it a try and see how it goes.