Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi,
my question is...
how do you present your mealworms to your geckos?
what type of bowl/container?

i would think that it didn't matter much as long as the bowl was not to shallow or too deep. morning after morning i wake up, check the mealie bowl and it looks like none are missing. each evening, i clean the bowl and put in new wiggling mealworms. last night i tried butterworms for the first time. i can't see any of them missing either.
do my geckos not like there bowl?? or could they not know they are the mealies are there?
on that note, i use those natural looking rock bowls. i started out with a very small one, but recently moved up to a little larger one. the larger one that i am using now is aprox: 3 inches across and it is about 3/4 inch deep. the geckos will walk right over and thru the worms and never give a second glance!

my gecko hides are those natural looking stone caves. could the geckos not notice or not be interested in my bowl since they are so simular to their caves? but on that question... they have a water bowl made of the same stuff and they drink from it.

oh, and the hand feeding does not work so far.

i have wondered if my geckos just don't like mealworms. i recently added two geckos to my collection. they are 2 big fat healthy females. their previous owner feed them mealworms. i have yet to see either of them eat mealworms. they just arrived to my house this last tuesday, it may be too soon for them to eat????

any thoughts and ideas are much appreciated!

p.s. sorry to ramble on... i guess i had too much coffee this morning!
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.3.0 leopard geckos - diego, libby, jaws, and sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
2 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles,8.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com

I offer them twice a week and dont leave them in their 24/7 and so far that seems to work best for me.

that makes sense!
i will try that.

thanks!
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.3.0 leopard geckos - diego, libby, jaws, and sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
2 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles,8.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com

No rambling there, just good questions. First off, double check your temperatures at floor (belly) level. That's one of the most common easily correctable problems with eating.

If your warm end is 88-90 and your cool end is about 80 (more latitude there), it could be that they simply haven't noticed the mealworms yet. Placing the dish along a wall can help as they're more likely to stumble across it in their evening strolls. A surprising number need to be "shown" the mealworms as they really don't seem to look down but focus about 6 inches away. I use a pair of hemostat clamps (aka forceps - tweezers will work too) and dangle the mealworm about eye level a few inches away from them. Too close and they don't seem to see it. You'll know by watching their body language (esp. head tilt) when they notice it. Then I move it over the food dish. They usually follow slowly or at least watch. If I can get them to follow until their eye level is above the rim of the dish, I drop it. Usually have to pick up a second or even third, which causes all the mealies to squirm and the leos interest is transfered to the squiggling mealies in the bottom of the dish. At this point I quietly remove the forceps and wait until the leo takes at least one. THEN I replace the lid and quietly leave.

I tried to make this as detailed as possible but if I missed a step or something doesn't make sense, please email me.

Four or so days isn't much for a healthy chunky adult to miss feeding, but the new ones should start eating very soon.

Also just a reminder to anyone else reading this -- quarantine all new leopard geckos for 60 to 90 days. This means feeding your existing leos first, then care for the new ones. Even the very best breeders get caught off guard once in awhile by illness etc. ... it pays to be careful.

Hoping this helps,
Andrea A.
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Andrea A.

My girl now knows what her food dish is for. i placed a medium sized plastic tupperware type lid with sides big enough so the mealies dont get out. At first she ate them from my hand or from tongs. now she knows what is in the dish and I place her food in there while she watche me. She actully comes out of her hide when she sees me. She might eat a couple righ then but usually she will snack then during the night eat the rest. Here lately she has been a pig so she eats them up as soon as they are put in I still give her a couple for late night snakes.
Sorry now im rambling any way at first make sure she sees you with the worms and that they are moving the geckos cant resist a moving prey..LOL
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1.1 Leos
1.1 Corn snakes (1 Lav & 1 Ghost)
0.1 Banan California King
0.0.1 Childrens python
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow boa
1.0 Rat (as pet not food)
1.0 Cat
"whats with you and all those dang reptiles?"

np
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thanks for you're help

i just so happen to work at a dentist office. we have plenty of those long handled tweezers. i think they will work wonderful!

in the past when i tried to hand feed them, i literally feed them with my hand. it would always spook them. i realize some people probably can "hand" feed their geckos, hopefully mine will be that tame someday.

i am also going to try just feeding them mealies every 2-3 days. i think i am guilty of overfeeding. by that, i think i make their food source too available. does that make any sense? for example... when i feed them crickets, i feed them more than they can eat. there are too many left over crickets running around the cage the next day.

thanks again for all the advice!
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Lizards

1.3.0 leopard geckos - diego, libby, jaws, and sobe
0.1 bearded dragon - sydney
0.1 king snake & 0.2.3 corn snakes
2 red eye tree frogs, 3 green tree frogs, 2 firebelly toads
5 anoles,8.0 bettas & numerous tropicals
1.2 dogs (dachshund-pepper, brittany spaniel-jenni, lab-kaci)
1 hubby & 2 boys

www.skayart.com