my son recently got 2 leo geckos.He's done a ton of research but has found so many conflicts on several topics.His geckos are about two months old(guessing from what the pet shop said)and 4-5 inches (still waiting on a scale so no exact weight) They are alert and eat well.10-14 crickets each daily.They both accept crickets well from his hand.One question is are they old enough for mealies.Some say wait because there is to much chitian (sp?) for them and other say OK from day one.What about calcium?If the crickets are dusted w/ calcium do you need a dish too...or just a dish and no dusting.Some say daily dusting only some say dust 1 weekly and dish.Sorry so long but the info we have gotten from reading old post leads us to believe we can get a straight, informed answer here.
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mealie for young-ones
Replies (2)
>>my son recently got 2 leo geckos.He's done a ton of research but has found so many conflicts on several topics.His geckos are about two months old(guessing from what the pet shop said)and 4-5 inches (still waiting on a scale so no exact weight) They are alert and eat well.10-14 crickets each daily.They both accept crickets well from his hand.One question is are they old enough for mealies.Some say wait because there is to much chitian (sp?) for them and other say OK from day one.
I agree that mealworms could be fed from day one. That being said, I have never had a hatchling go for them. My hatchlings like to eat only crickets (likely because they are more active). If you really have to feed hatchlings these, you could feed them ones that have just shed (usually whitish in color), because their exoskeleton is much easier to digest during this time.
What about calcium?If the crickets are dusted w/ calcium do you need a dish too...or just a dish and no dusting.Some say daily dusting only some say dust 1 weekly and dish.
I do both. Leave in a dish and dust once a week or so (always dust with a multivitamin like herptivite), and dust with calcium more often for breeding females.
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Brian Skibinski
Brian@MilwaukeeReptiles.com
WYSIWYG 
I switched to mealies after feeding crickets for over 15 years. In the last 4 months since switching over 150 hatchlings have gone from meal 1 on baby mealies. The baby fat tails were given a few crickets at first just because a few of them were slow starters. I find the mealies stupid easy to hatch and am very pleased. I dust every meal with Osteoform or Minerall I and have never had a case of MBD. Ron Tremper and a few other big quantity breeders insist they use nothing but mealies. I do sometimes long for the sweet stench of crickets but will just have to get over it.
