how to make gecko eat mealworm

[karambola]

uhmm its been 3 weeks now after purchasing a gecko, I haven't seen her eat mealworms, I leave 5 pcs of worms in her bowl ,but it just morph into pupae, so what I did is I feed her now lateralis roaches,she eats them,but I dont want her eating lateralis for the rest of her life,I want her to eat mealworm as her staple diet,what should i do to make her eat mw's??

any opinions is much appreciated

TIA!!


Here's a picture of her,, does she look thin ?? shes 33g only i think shes 6 months old..

 

[Daedric1]

If it gets hungry enough it will eat them. If it knows it can get roaches and likes them more, it will hold out for those.

Mealworms are somewhat of a boring food, especially in a dish. If you have a piece of carrot or apple in the dish, the mealworms will be more active while eating. Otherwise, most of the time they just lay there unmoving, and the leo won't be interested.

So I would try not feeding roaches for awhile, and see if it begins to eat the worms. This won't be a problem unless your gecko is losing a lot of weight or starting to look thin.

 

[karambola]

tnx daedric,, any more opinions sirs ..pics updated

 

[fl_orchidslave]

She doesn't look thin, but could use a bit more weight. As Eric said, you'll probably have to stop feeding roaches in order for her to be interested in looking for something else to eat. It won't hurt her to go a few days with no food while her appetite builds up. Changing the worms daily helps them stay more active. Just put them back in the container and give fresh ones.

 

[ZooKeeperKarin]

I got one new hatchling to eat by putting a mealworm on a white plastic spoon and sticking it in her face. I kept following her around with it until she finally saw it and discovered it was food.
You may want to try a superworm.

 

[bebetee]

Just a quick question is her tail regrown at the end?

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Yes the tail is a regrown.

 

[Quantumhigh]

Break the mealworm so guts come out and then try rubbing it across her lips. Let her get a taste for it. This worked out great for me and converting one of my older males to supers and gaint mealworms only. I hate crickets!

 

[karambola]

Break the mealworm so guts come out and then try rubbing it across her lips. Let her get a taste for it. This worked out great for me and converting one of my older males to supers and gaint mealworms only. I hate crickets!

how many days should I do this ?? I tried it last night ,,she kept on licking her lips

 

[Quantumhigh]

Any luck getting her to eat?

 

[karambola]

nope still not eating,, (

 

[joshyy_rey]

im having the same issue but im going to try these tips. i brought mine home from the store last thursday and on saturday i threw a worm in front of his hide and he hate it nothing since. hope he adjust to the bowl

 

[vear]

Hey, I'm a newbie, but my gecko wouldn't eat the mealworms either. I bought some waxworms and mixed one of them in with the mealworms. When I came home he'd eaten everything, the waxworm AND the mealworms. I stopped putting in waxworms and now he now eats his mealworms without any problems.

 

[joshyy_rey]

arent waxworms too fatty or something like that?

 

[Jgreen909]

They are a little fatty but if used in that method it would be fine. If you look at nutrition of waxworms they are just slightly more fatty and slightly less protein than supers.