Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, finally got my albino from petco today, poor guys been scared all day and hiding all over the place, and i am sure i didnt help any by checking the hides every 15 mins nervously. but i will try to restrain myself from now on. my question is, i bought home some mealworms, took out 3 and stuck them in the worm feeder bowl, with a mixture of calcium w/d3 and calcium w/o d3 on the bottom, just in case the the gecko decides to brave it and try to find something to eat. but its now been 7-8 hours since i been keeping those mealworms at room temp, and they havent moved AN INCH on their own!!! if i poke them, the squirm, but they dont squirm on their own at all? not like the ones i saw in the store's food bowl, they were climbing, squirming, wiggling. but the one i put into the bowl just lays there, covered in calcium dust, and frankly i dont think the gecko think they are alive. i even caught the gecko in the bowl this afternoon, completely in the bowl, probably trying to check out its cage, and nope, never touched the worms. i know new animals most likely dont feed on the first day, but i am just worried that the gecko will never recongize the mealworms as food, if they dont make an effort to act like food. is there something wrong with these 3, dying? changing? still need to be warmed some more? i just looked now, and one of them had shed.?! what are they brain dead?

If you want more active mealworms, don't refrigerate them for at least 24 hours and keep them well-gutloaded. Petco and Petsmart keep their mealworms in sawdust so you have to feed them real food before offering them to your leo. Not only will this make the mealworms more nutritious for your leo but it will also increase their movement. And congrats on the new purchase. If you're like the rest of us, you'll have another leo within a few months.
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5.6 leopard geckos

chickabowwow

I've noticed that mealworms get really slow when they're getting ready to make that "alien cacoon" for themselves and turn into beatles. Try digging for some more active ones in that sawdust!

Also heat plays a factor in movement. Is your dish in the cooler side of the cage?
I hand/spoon feed one of my leos (cuz the other one just bites the spoon and not the food) and i've noticed when i drop them onto the heated tile they go nuts, prolly cuz they're burning up.

Its also better for your leos to be trained to eat none moving prey items, otherwise i find they only go after things that are moving, regardless of what they are.

I have a leo that will eat stuff that's not moving cuz she realizes the worm shaped thing in my dish is food and doesn't have to have it move in order for her to "see" it

My leo just dont eat worms in his dish...he prefer to have me drop them one by one in front of him...and if they dont move he dont touch them and then look at me like saying..."do something, you see they dont move!" Then i pinch the worm, it wiggle and he eat it. LOL pretty fancy guy.
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Mizar 21
1.0 Collared lizard (Ganymede)
1.0 Leopard Gecko (Gethsemani)
1.0 Nerodia Fasciata (Serpentard)
1.2 Cats