Only eating the "guts"?

[NCleopardgeckos]

I know this is going to be like any other "plz halp mee my gecko isnt eatin!" post, but I am worried about my little buddy

So, my one gecko, Pepper Mint, is currently in a 20gal long, hot side is about 90*f, cold side is about 75-80*f (depending on our house's temp.) He is on paper towels, has calcium, all that good stuff.

He was eating fine a few weeks or a month ago, but then he stopped eating. I was hand feeding him meal worms dusted with calcium then. Now he is still eating, but he won't eat the outside of the meal worms. I was worried when he stopped eating, and went to my uncle for help (he has had various reptile and insects through out the years), when he said to try and get him to eat by cutting the head off of a meal worm, and sticking it by his nose, he should lick it and then eat it.

He did a few times, and is interested in eating, but only the inside, or guts of the mealie.. If I move the meal worm away from him, he follows it and continues to lick it, and when he finishes one, he looks for more..

Is this okay? Is it just a habit?

 

[Dog Shrink]

I would try superworms insted of mealies. It just might be more shell than he cares for. Also try making your hot side hotter. IMO 90 is the bare minimum I would be happy with for my leo. Try between 93-95 and see if that doesn't perk up his appetite. Some leos just like it hotter than others. Do you notice if he spends the majority of his time in the hot hide? Also I don't see anywhere in your post that he is getting regular dustings with a multi vitimin powder. They need both the multi vit and the calcium with D3 suppliment. You can get the Repashy calcium plus ICB and solve this whole issue. I believe recently T-Rex brand has taken over this but I prefer the Repashy brand specifically . There are several threads on here explaining the use of the Repashy. Also approx. how old is peppermint?

 

[NCleopardgeckos]

I can see if I can get some superworms, my LPS doesn't carry them so we would have to check around a little. I can turn it up to 93-95, and he normally spends his time on the cold side, or inbetween the cold and hot. I can pick some up when I go to get more fish food and mealies tomorrow, I will check into some of those threads. I am not really sure, I got him from BigAppleHerp, which I regret not waiting and saving up for a more reliable seller/breeder, so I don't know for sure, but he is still to small to tell his gender (just using he as a general thing)..

 

[Dog Shrink]

Check bait shops if your local pet shop doesn't carry supers. Also about how much does he weigh? he may be too small for supers just yet. Remember food needs to be no wider around than the space between his eyes.

 

[NCleopardgeckos]

I can check, people here love to fish haha. I don't have a gram scale yet, I was going to go buy one this weekend or the next weekend, so I don't know his weight yet. Maybe they are too big? I can check to see if mini's would work.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Like I said, as long as the worm isn't wider around than the space between your leos eyes it should be fine. Don't let the length scare you, as long as the girth is with in those parameters you should be fine. Minis wouldn't really be any different than feeding mealies imo. Maybe while you're at the bait shop you could see if they have any phoneix or silk worms just to change things up a little and get him re-interested in live prey.

 

[NCleopardgeckos]

Okay, their girth isn't too big, I was just afraid that they might have been too long for him, since he is rather small. I picked some more mealies up at my LPS for my other gecko today, and they didn't have any Repashy, but we are going to go to a larger pet store this weekend, so hopefully they would have some. I know they have supers there, and they might have silk worms or phoneix worms, but I am not sure.

Thank you so much for your help

 

[Dog Shrink]

You're welcome Also if you can't find the repashy at the larger store there are plenty of places you can order it on line.

This is the T-Rex version of the repashy http://www.reptiledirect.com/leopardgeckodusticb.aspx

The actual repashy calcium plus icb: http://www.joshsfrogs.com/product/1367/27/repashy-calcium-plus-icb-4-oz

 

[NCleopardgeckos]

Thanks! I think that my LPS would carry the T-Rex version, but when we went they hadn't restocked their shelves yet, so maybe I can pick some up there. I will see if I can order Repashy online though