New leo cant hunt

[stephane110]

My new leopard gecko cant hunt my itself. I have to drop the crickets right in front of him before he will even go into striking mode (tensed up, tail flicks etc). I was wondering if there was a way I could "train" him to become a hunter. Thanks for any input.

 

[roger]

My new leopard gecko cant hunt my itself. I have to drop the crickets right in front of him before he will even go into striking mode (tensed up, tail flicks etc). I was wondering if there was a way I could "train" him to become a hunter. Thanks for any input.

pinch off both hind legs

 

[Remy]

I've removed the crickets "jumping" legs before feeding them to my gecko. She doesn't have great aim when it comes to pouncing on the crickets, so I remove at least one leg to make it easier for her.

You do have to be a little careful while doing this, I have accidentally ripped a cricket in half once......

 

[stephane110]

Even when i remove the back legs he wont hunt them. Only attacks if I set it right infront of him and make sure the cricket doesnt run to another part of the enclosure. Even if it runs right past him its like he doesnt even notice the cricket.

 

[roger]

Even when i remove the back legs he wont hunt them. Only attacks if I set it right infront of him and make sure the cricket doesnt run to another part of the enclosure. Even if it runs right past him its like he doesnt even notice the cricket.

so he will eat , its just the fact hes too lazy to go after them lol. try feeding mealies in a diss that way he doesnt have too go too far

 

[Shera]

Once DH brought home crickets from the pet store, and had to do groceries after and the crickets stayed in the cold car in the winter for a little while. When he brought them in I thought they were all dead, but as they warmed up they slowly "came to life" again. I fed them to my girls and they were easy targets, they just layed there and wriggled a bit as they warmed, and eventually started hopping around again. You could probably experiment with cooling them in the freezer or fridge for a short periods and see if you can get them to slow down. I don't know how cold you would want them and for how long, but if you just do one at a time so that you don't accidentally kill all of your crickets, you could probably find a system that works.

 

[Lala]

i thought this was the problem with my gecko, but i bought slighlty larger ones and she seems to be eating fine now! so try bigger prey!

 

[stephane110]

Thanks ill try cooling them down before feeding next time. Seems like a goos idea

 

[roger]

Thanks ill try cooling them down before feeding next time. Seems like a goos idea

the problem with cooling down is u might kill the crix. If u go that route i would try 5 mims

 

[STUTFL]

pinch off both hind legs

Of the crickets.

Yeah, my leo went "lazy" after a while, just gave up on hunting crickets altogether. :laugh: Had to switch to other prey.
Some albino leos have vision problems, but sounds like yours probably just doesn't feel like chasing those pesky little critters down all the time. :laugh:

 

[stephane110]

hah i guess mr. Bojangles (my leo) must jsut be a lazy lil fellow

 

[shadowdragon619]

i have a lazy gecko too...she's either lazy or just gets tired of the same food. i switch between mealies and big crickets for my Spaz.

but yeah, i would try tearing off a leg of the cricket (that sounds horrible to me tho) or cooling them down in the fridge for a few minutes.

or maybe it would help if you put the gecko in a different containter and feed him out of the tank? every gecko is different, good luck!

 

[OhioGecko]

Are you using any kind of lights for a heat source?

 

[GeckoNub]

Most of mine are lazy hunters, u have to put the bugs right under their noses and if they have to walk more than a few steps they just plop down like "oh i cant be bothered".

Peppa though...i dunno if its cos shes albino or just incredibly dumb but she is the worst hunter ever. Even if its infront of her waving she still walks right past it. Lately though shes my clingy one, as soon as the glass door is open who cares about food, its time to climb out and have climbing fun :main_rolleyes:

I dunno if its because i have them in my living room so they always see me but they are just way too friendly for "wild animals"

 

[stephane110]

im not using any lights a heat source, although i do have a red bulb for viewing. It puts out minimal heat.

 

[ngrdawg]

I think vision I've seen small geckos turn down large prey but not the other way around. I'd try lower lighting levels when feeding. I would refrain from cooling crickets as I once read that you should allow your meal worms to warm to room temperature prior to feeding. Which is plausible when you consider that Leos need to raise their body temperature by external means for proper digestion. I definitely believe some albinos particularly R.A.P.T.O.R.s are prone to poorer sight than those closer to the wild strain. I have a male RAPTOR with dual eye mutations one solid red and one red snake eye whose vision is very poor in most lighting but he hunts better in low lighting.

 

[Cornman21]

the problem with cooling down is u might kill the crix. If u go that route i would try 5 mims

cooling actually does work. I do it for my pacman frog. Just take the amount of crickets you want to feed. put them in a small container. and stick it in the FREEZER for a short period of time. I do about a minute 30 seconds or so. When you take them out, they might be laying on their back looking dead. The cold puts them into a sort of sleep state. as they warm up they will slowly start moving and then after about 20 minutes in room temp they will be back to running again. I feed them after about the halfway mark so they are moving extremely slow but enough to stimulate a feeding response.

 

[Shera]

cooling actually does work. I do it for my pacman frog. Just take the amount of crickets you want to feed. put them in a small container. and stick it in the FREEZER for a short period of time. I do about a minute 30 seconds or so. When you take them out, they might be laying on their back looking dead. The cold puts them into a sort of sleep state. as they warm up they will slowly start moving and then after about 20 minutes in room temp they will be back to running again. I feed them after about the halfway mark so they are moving extremely slow but enough to stimulate a feeding response.

Awesome, it's good to know how much time to leave them in for, thanks! Now I can tell people that instead of relaying the entire "my husband left them in the car" story, lol.