mealworm dish

[sammer021486]

It could be a temperature issue, I saw in another one of your posts that your temps jump from 91-96, yet that should not be a real big problem. I use to keep mine at 88, 90 at the most because that is what was practiced with the other forum I was on.

What I do when I have a leo that does not eat is first I check the temps, then I boost the temp if needed. If the temps are all right I may try another feeder, like crickets or silkworms. If that does not work I just do not give them food for 1-1.5 weeks, going that long will not hurt them. I had a male that would some times only eat 1-3 supers a month and his weight was constantly around 89 grams and he always had a dish full of worms.

I have had good success with the no food for a while. I purchased a female phantom at the beginning of October and she was only 40 grams and 2 years old. Her previous owner said she was not a big eater, so for the first week I had her I did not offer any food, just water. At the end of the week I began giving her mealies, she tore into them and she now has the largest appetite out of all my geckos. The last time I weighed her she was at 56 grams and that was the beginning of December.

 

[geckobeginner22]

i do not think it is a temp issue. today i droped one P. worm and mealworm in front of it and it went after it like always.. it has never had a feeding problem. the only problem is that it will not eat out of the dish. it only eats when i drop the food in front of its face. maybe i will continue to try not dropping food and just keep a dish full of worms and let me find it whenever it does... i just feel bad letting it go a long time without eating

 

[scottjusa]

just leave the worms in whatever dish you have if they get hungry they will find it , its not a big deal if they go hungry a few days if the food is there they will get it eventually.

This is true Sandi.

I use Zilla’s Kidney bowl to keep mealworms in because it has a slippery surface that the mealworms can’t cling to and it is shallow enough for my Leo’s to see into. Sometimes the mealworms will get out of the dish because they pile on top of each other to creating a mealworm latter

 

[sammer021486]

i do not think it is a temp issue. today i droped one P. worm and mealworm in front of it and it went after it like always.. it has never had a feeding problem. the only problem is that it will not eat out of the dish. it only eats when i drop the food in front of its face. maybe i will continue to try not dropping food and just keep a dish full of worms and let me find it whenever it does... i just feel bad letting it go a long time without eating

My apologies I thought that it was an issue of not eating at all. If it is use to hand feeding, have it watch you with the worm, and drop the worm into the dish.

 

[scottjusa]

i do not think it is a temp issue. today i droped one P. worm and mealworm in front of it and it went after it like always.. it has never had a feeding problem. the only problem is that it will not eat out of the dish. it only eats when i drop the food in front of its face. maybe i will continue to try not dropping food and just keep a dish full of worms and let me find it whenever it does... i just feel bad letting it go a long time without eating

It's nice to hear that you care so much for the little one.
Have you tried crickets? Crickets are more active then mealworms and their movement might trigger your geckos hunger instincts.

I give my leopard geckos a nearly constant supply of meal worms along with crickets. I can tell when my geckos have been eating by the amount worms missing from there dish.

 

[roger]

just keep at it.Leave them in the dish.When they get hungry enough they will eat the mealies.Give them something to stand on so they are slightly above the dish,

 

[geckobeginner22]

ok i guess i will keep at it and report back... and i used to feed crickets along with mealworms but i stopped because they freak me out...lol... i just dont like them... i am trying to get it on a diet of just worms.. i hope to be feeding mealworms , p.worms , silkworms, waxworms as a treat, and butterworms. i want to only feed worms till i get more leo's then i will start breeding roachs.. i want to to it now but i think it is not worth it when i only have 1 leo.

 

[geckobeginner22]

Hey guys.. so this morning I dropped about 10 crickets that I got from work into the cage and my gecko ran out of its cage and went right after all of them.. I even saw some tail shaking like crazy... I guess it likes crickets a lot more than worms .. but it am also me it was not hunrgy enuff to go find the dish of worms.. I just could not leave it alone.. it looked so hungry.. and I felt bad so I gave it some crickets... I am kinda sad that it likes crickets more than worms because I already have started breeding mealworms for it.. I now have like 4000 worms..! But I also hate crickets.. I don't know why.. but I do... I would really like to do roachs.. I have read a lot of good things about them... can anyone give me some help on which kind of roach I should breed that is a nice size and easy.. I also do not want like 300 roachs because I only have one gacko right now... also does any1 know a site where I could just order a few.. that way I could try and see if the gecko likes them.. thans alot

 

[#19wingnut]

I have only limited experience(had my first and only gecko for about 4-5 weeks), but I can say from my experience so far that you can't go wrong with Blaptica Dubia roaches. I started breeding mealworms the day I got my gecko and now have a starter colony of about 200 varying sized Dubia nymphs with a few adults. I have noticed that he gets WAY more excited for the roaches than the mealworms, I'm hoping he doesn't lose interest in the mealworms entirely. I haven't found raising roaches and mealworms for a single gecko to be an issue in any way so far, you don't need much space to maintain a colony to feed a single gecko, in fact I find it kinda fun. My four and six year old daughters find the bugs fascinating too! Truthfully I raise my own feeders out of necessity as I live in a rural location and can't count on the only local pet store within 1.5hrs drive for a constant supply of anything other than crickets for the most part(and I hate dealing with crickets), but now that I have started keeping feeders I think I would continue to do so regardless of being able to reliably purchase feeders locally or not(will help you get over any insect phobias you may have in a hurry as well). Well enough rambling, to summarize: yes, get roaches, and no it is not silly to raise your own feeders for a single gecko.

 

[RoninSTi]

Hey guys.. so this morning I dropped about 10 crickets that I got from work into the cage and my gecko ran out of its cage and went right after all of them.. I even saw some tail shaking like crazy... I guess it likes crickets a lot more than worms .. but it am also me it was not hunrgy enuff to go find the dish of worms.. I just could not leave it alone.. it looked so hungry.. and I felt bad so I gave it some crickets... I am kinda sad that it likes crickets more than worms because I already have started breeding mealworms for it.. I now have like 4000 worms..! But I also hate crickets.. I don't know why.. but I do... I would really like to do roachs.. I have read a lot of good things about them... can anyone give me some help on which kind of roach I should breed that is a nice size and easy.. I also do not want like 300 roachs because I only have one gacko right now... also does any1 know a site where I could just order a few.. that way I could try and see if the gecko likes them.. thans alot

I just placed my order for dubia's at the roach ranch. www.theroachranch.com. You can order a whole bunch or just a few to see if your gecko likes them.

 

[HugeGenes&LoLa]

We have a gecko that used to have a dish problem as well, and she would eat forever and ever if we dropped them in front of her. Each night, I drop one in front of her, and the second one I use to lead her to the dish... I let her see it and then follow it all the way there. Then I just fill up the dish and she eventually figures it out. Good Luck!

 

[geckobeginner22]

i think i am going to go with the roachs... i hope they dont get out and start breeding like crazy in my house.!!! thanks alot for everything guys... this mealworm dish is a real confusing thing.. it is kinda hard to find out what your gecko will eat or will not eat