My Gecko, SoBe, will only eat if he's in his hide. I'll have to drop the mealworms in front, or inside of the hide. He's a couple months old, and about 5 inches long.
Sounds like he has you trained well. Eating in a hide doesn't surprise me because they are comfortable in their hides. What happens if you leave a bowl of mealworms in the tank for a couple days? Usually they will go find food when they are hungry enough.