Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi e1
just wanted to ask question bout feeding i asked in my previous post but no one got back to me so thought id post a new one...my new gecko is being picky and only eating wax worms ive tried to give him super worms and meal worms but he wont eat them and i read in other post that some tend to do this..and i also read bout having to make em go hungry enough that he will eat the other worms...is this true?..if it is for how long do i let him go hungry for?

Waxies can be "addictive"...kindof like the ice cream of the reptilian world. I've only had my leos go on a hunger strike for waxies once, and I fixed the problem by smearing waxie guts all over the mealworms. You could also try putting a heaping mass of mealworms and waxies in the leo's dish so that the animal just grabs whatever insects it can. If that seems to work, then just reduce the amount of waxies in the dish until the leo is feeding well off of mealworms alone.

ohhh ok but what if the leo dont eat worms from his dish?..previous owner warned me he wasnt totaly using his dish cause his g/f was just throwin in food in front of him and we have tried to but a couple worms in his dish first couple days i had the leo and he never ate em.. i had to put it in front of him...which is kinda hard i think cause when i put a mealworm or superworm in front of him the worms end up burrowin in sand but boy i put a way worm in its gone!!! so i still learning how to care for this leo and try not to go by what previous owner told me cause its been wrong

try placing the dish right near the entrance to the leo's favorite hide. When he peeks his head out of the hide at night, he's bound to notice the food wiggling in the dish.

ummm what if my leo dont hide i never see him hide hes always by the food and water dish mostly once i even seen him hide under the water dish but anyways i still not sure how to get him to eat mealworms or superworm? so its either smuch waxie guts on the mealworms or put a bunch in dish mixed with waxies?????i will try those 2 things if it dont work ill post in couple days to see if any other suggestions work

it doesnt sound to me that you have a very good setup. Never use sand, no matter how fine. It can cause nasty health problems that are expensive for you. Also, most healthy leopard geckos will use a hide a large percentage of the time. You should have AT LEAST one dry hide and one moist. Dont feed the gecko directly on the sand, it is better in the bowl. When he goes to eat the mealworm he will probably ingest some sand and get impacted. switch from the sand as soon as possible, especially if you feed it on the substrate.

really huh.. well i shouldnt be that surprized i have read that a lil bit since i being doin research on how to care for him but thought i was ok (not sure why i think i am ok in that area all the other info previous owner told me turns out to be wrong).. i guess i should ask what should i switch to???

first off, sand isn't horrible. my 2 adult leos live on sand...but they live on repti-sand which is very very fine grained and they eat exclusively out of a bowl or are hand fed. they are also offered calcium supplement in their dishes so they can lick that instead of trying to absorb calcium from their substrate. as long as your leo is an adult, is on fine grained sand and can dish feed, then sand is a pretty safe substrate. however, since your leo does seem to have trouble eating out of a dish, i have to agree and suggest a switch. paper towels may not be attractive, but its the safest, cheapest, and cleanest substrate out there.

oh ok well thats a hard one to answer i dont know if he is a adult previous owner just said hes had it a few months ..and if i do change out the sand for paper towel then he wont have anything to burrow in..is that ok? i thought they need to burrow in sand to gain their heat or whatever from under the tank heater but since i dont know if hes an adult i think i will switch it out for paper towel and for reason he dont seem to eat out of bowl..ohhh i had other question too bout the calcium i coat the worms in it when i feed him but i read in posts and on sites to have a separate dish in there on a lid of some kind is that for them to roll in or something?....

(BTW..i got him to eat a couple superworms yesterday,so i guess hes not so hooked on wax worms like i thought)

don't worry about the burrowing thing...leo's will just press their bellies against the heat mat to get their temp up. its a good idea to dust your leos food, and to leave a small dish of calcium powder in the tank just in case the leo wants a lick of it when its not feeding time.

ohhh ok then thats good to know then ...the heating pad isnt all the way under the tank it stickin out bout half way i think... is it supposed to be all way under it?