Suggestions On Getting LGs To Eat Out Of A Dish

[cowana]

So, I'm having a battle of wills with my Leos. They want me to drop Mealies in front of them one-by-one, and I don't want to. It is time consuming with the three of them. I won't just let the mealworms run loose because then they get under the carpet or water bowl.

I have tried a few different dishes and have found the best dish that will work for us to be a clear soap dish. The mealworms can't escape. Multiple geckos can eat at the same time. The geckos can see the movement in it. I can put food for the Mealies in it. Same height as their water and calcium dishes (which they use just fine). There is only one problem.... They refuse to eat out of a dish... Any dish! Why?

How do I teach them to use it? I see them watching the mealies wiggle around. They will walk through the dish. I have tried tipping it up a bit to make it so they see the actual worms and not the worms through the plastic. I've tried gut loading with sweet and savory. Is there a tip or trick or do I just with them out? Or are they never going to adapt?

Amy

 

[indyana]

They'll adapt if they get hungry enough, especially if they are observed looking at the mealworms and will eat mealworms from the floor.

You can also try doing feeding time where you drop them into the dish in front of them rather than onto the floor?

 

[Munea]

I honestly didn't have to do anything. However, now that it's winter here, she hasn't eaten much of anything and prefers sleeping.

I watched a YouTube video a couple of days before I had her. The guy had a regular dish with calcium, I believe, in it with some mealies already in there. What he did was entice the leopard gecko with mealworms from the tongs and then he lured it to the dish and dropped it in there when the leopard gecko was close enough to the dish. I'm assuming that if you do this enough times they will eventually get the idea that this area seems to be thriving with food and to check on it when hungry. My practices are to feed her by tongs every now and then while she always has a food bowl filled with mealies.

 

[cowana]

Thanks for the tips. I think it will be a waiting gaming. As soon as they hear me walking around or I slid the lid open their head pop out. If I click the tongs they get excited for feeding time. I tried luring them to the mealworm dish where they watched me pluck out the worms to feed them and drop them in once we had arrived. They looked at it for a moment then turned around and headed back to their hides. Brats.