Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have now had my gecko about 27 hours and I just got it to eat 4 mealworms out of my hand. Ill admit I had to chase it around the aquarium but I finally got it to eat. I apologize if that offends anyone but I wanted to make sure it ate atleast a little bit. I left some shredded lettuce in with the meal worms and it appears to have all "disappeared". My question is is lettuce an "okay" gutload? Or should I try something else? There are also little multi-colored balls in there that where in the mealworm container. I assume that is some sort of food for them. Anyway, I left 6 more mealworms in with the calc/d3 supplement. I have it can find them Thanx in advance for any info

lettuce is good for moisture but thats about it. It has almost no nutritional value at all, that's why it's not recommended for vegetarian lizards. I use the baby carrots you can buy peeled and cleaned at the grocery store. I always have them around anyway for myself so just toss a few of them in the bin every week. As long as you make sure they are fresh they are a good source of moisture as well as more nutritionally valuable. It's much better for the worms which is better for the geckos.

Heather
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Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson after.

Hs Kritter Kove

from what i understand you should also have some kind of grain.oats and stuff like that.

I put my worms in a container of oat bran and maybe a carrot for moisture.

It's not very nutritional, and the point of gutloading is to pack in the most nutritious stuff you can find. You should try using some other kind of vegetables. Collard greens, carrots, alfalfa. I use fish flake food for protein, but make sure it doesn't touch any of the veggies 'cause it'll stink up the place. You also need to be gutloading the mealies outside the tank for at least 24-48 hours before you put them in to be fed to your leo.

And let me get this straight, you chased your leo to pick him up and have him eat from your hand? ~_^ That sound stressful for your leo. You could just drop the mealie in front of him, and he'll gobble it up himself.
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chickabowwow

actually no, i never picked him up. he just ate the worms i hand pinched between my thumb and first finger