My leos a terriblle hunter.

[IonBaller07]

So Ive noticed both of my leos are pretty bad hunters but one in particular is just terrible. They both have always done stuff like wait for the cricket to come to them instead of chasing it, or go on long chases as the cricket runs around only to stop as they get close enough to "examine" their meal in turn letting the cricket run away again.

But my one leo, the bad hunter, will smash his face in to the glass or plastic in an attempt to get the cricket and still end up missing it. He has to wag his tail before he attacks so it takes forever to chase one down. And today when I put him in his "feeding container" I had the bad idea to move the entire coconut hut he was sitting on in there so I didnt have to scare him by touching him. Well he saw the cricket and lunged from the top of the coconut about an 1" and a half up and faceplanted on the ground. He managed to catch the cricket in this act but it looked painful.

Just thought Id share.

 

[Dirt McGirt]

lol If you have the heart, u can try pulling off one of their legs. Might slow them down a bit.

N8

 

[acpart]

I have lots of bad hunters. Here's what's worked for me at different times:

--take the furniture out of the cage. Block off part of the cage with a piece of plexiglass. Put a few crickets in the cage and herd them towards the gecko

--hold a cricket by 1 leg and wiggle it in front of the gecko until it takes the cricket

--as a last resort, hold the gecko and push the cricket against its mouth gently.

Good luck.

Aliza

 

[IonBaller07]

lol If you have the heart, u can try pulling off one of their legs. Might slow them down a bit.

N8

I used to do that when I would put the crickets in his cage,until I realized he was missing most of them and they would go off hiding. So now that I take him out to eat I dont really have to worry about it, he still gets them it just takes a while.

Thanks for the tips I will try them if it starts affecting his eating.

 

[RampantReptiles]

use a small feeding container... something shoe box size or smaller so they dont have to run so far to catch it.
A little bit of chasing isnt a bad thing. Geckos need exercise too!

 

[IonBaller07]

use a small feeding container... something shoe box size or smaller so they dont have to run so far to catch it.
A little bit of chasing isnt a bad thing. Geckos need exercise too!

Im using a critter keeper thats about 9"x5"

 

[malgecko]

my leo prefers my hand feed to hunt itself!

 

[sleepyjones]

Never tried it myself, but you can apparently put your crickets in the refridgerator for 20 minutes before feeding as this slows down their metabolism and means they don't move quite as fast.

Not sure if there would be any implications feeding these cold crickets to a cold blooded gecko though?

 

[AMoore311]

My Leo regularly has trouble with meal worms...... yes meal worms lol.

He overshoots his strike all the time. I think they have trouble seeing things right in front of them.

I've resorted to hand feeding mine. It actually takes less time for me to hand feed him, then for me to wait for him to actually catch all the crickets or meal worms I put in there.

 

[Stomlin35]

I hand feed now as well. My little girl refuses to hunt or eat out of a dish. But she's not good at hunting, so it turns out okay. I have the feeling that's why she ended up on craigslist... i don't think they knew how to get her to eat.