Lazy Hunter

[pjg250]

Hi, we picked up a new leo on Saturday (Lemon), and she's great! She looks healthy, her stool is healthy-looking, and she's fairly even-tempered, if still a bit skittish of us.

The only problem is that she is a fairly lazy hunter. I've got a dish of mealworms in her vivarium, but she barely touches those. She'll eat them if you drop them right in front of her, but otherwise she barely touches them. We've given her a couple waxworms as treats, and even those she seems a bit indifferent towards.

She LOVES crickets, but she won't go out and hunt for them. She will only try to eat them if they wander to her. We've been feeding her small crickets due to her size, but they are such a hassle to even get into the cage. Also, they disperse almost immediately and often hide in the moss of the humid hide. We've been taking all of the decor out of the cage when we feed her to try to help her, but we think it's stressing her out.

TLDR: Any advice on getting a lazy hunter to hunt for her food without stressing her out?

Attached is a picture of her.

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

Lazy eaters usually get around to chasing their food. She's still getting used to her new surroundings- geckos sometimes take more than one week to acclimate. I've had some shipped that took 2-3 weeks to start eating. Once she get's used to it (and when she actually gets hungry) she'll chase them. If she doesn't start after a week or so, then maybe it's something else.

Do you know if her previous owner hand-fed her? Because sometimes they get lazy due to pampering- haha. I have one like that.

 

[pjg250]

She definitely wasn't hand-fed. We thought it might be because she is still getting acclimated to her new environment.

Haha, I am just so tired of having to deal with crickets, I especially hate having to run them down in the vivarium at the end of the night when she doesn't eat them. Also, since we give her the small crickets, sometimes they are a bit too fast for her; she strikes, but they jump away before she can get them!

 

[BlackDiamondGeckos]

You can try taking off their hind legs- then they just crawl around. I've done that with some smaller geckos. Also, if you give the cricket some food source like fish flakes or something then they eat that and you don't have to worry about leaving them in. (that's what I've heard). I just use mealworms now, so much easier.

 

[pjg250]

Thanks for all the help. I will try taking off their back legs. And I give them some apple pieces for food, so I guess I won't worry too much about leaving them in.

 

[Gonser]

Thanks for all the help. I will try taking off their back legs. And I give them some apple pieces for food, so I guess I won't worry too much about leaving them in.

If you take off the hind legs and the main side legs with a tweezers they can still crawl but cannot escape. Drop them in front of the gecko and BAM!

I feed the crickets well in their own terrarium and make sure they always have fresh orange segments for water and vitamins so they are well nourished going into the gecko's body...

 

[pjg250]

Thanks for the help! Recently (in the past few days) she's been a really good eater. I'm leaving the crickets in the cage with her overnight, and when I wake up in the morning they have all been eaten. She loves her wax worm treats too!

You guys were right, I think think she was still getting used to her new place.

Also, she's begun to think it's feeding time whenever I come over, and perks her head.

She's even been venturing out of her heated hide more often just to lay outside and relax.