Feeding question

[Emma's Lizzy]

Feeding: won't eat crickets, only roaches

We got our leopard gecko just after Christmas 2011 and she was small, only a few inches. She has grown alot and weighs about 1 oz if my scale is accurate. She was eating about 8 med. sized crickets daily and I think would have eaten more if I would have given them to her. I started feeding her roaches (dubia) a few weeks ago as well as crickets. Most of the roaches are too big for her so I have been trying to get her to eat the crickets, she won't. I put a few crickets in with her and she just looks annoyed when the crawl on her. I have tried waiting a couple of days between feeding to see if she gets hungry maybe she will eat the crickets, nope. She may eat one every few days. Her tail is still fat and I am going to weigh her every couple of days to make sure she isn't losing weight. I always put crickets first and wait about 10-15 minutes before offering a roach. Once the roach goes in she snatches it and looks for more. My questions is will she go back to eating crickets if hungry enough? Could she just be slowing down and doesn't need to eat as much? I am not experienced at don't want to starve her so could use some sound advice.

 

[acpart]

She may be slowing down and not needing to eat every night, but she also just loves those roaches. It's possible that she'll go back to crickets if you stop offering roaches, but you could also just give her the roaches which are good for her as well.

Aliza

 

[Emma's Lizzy]

My problem is that my roaches have not multiplied enough to feed only them. I do not have a local supplier. I can however easily get crickets from the pet stores. I really think she is just picky now that she has had the roaches. I am just afraid to not offer anything and have her get sick or worse. How long is too long between feedings?

 

[cricket4u]

My problem is that my roaches have not multiplied enough to feed only them. I do not have a local supplier. I can however easily get crickets from the pet stores. I really think she is just picky now that she has had the roaches. I am just afraid to not offer anything and have her get sick or worse. How long is too long between feedings?

That's only one of the reason not to offer the same insect over and over. It's best to offer more than one insect at each feeding or a different insect at each feeding. Not just spoiled, they become lazy. You can skip one or two days of feeding and then offer the crickets or you can also try other insects.

 

[Emma's Lizzy]

Problem is I was giving both. Crickets first then a roach. Now she ignores the crickets all together. I don't know how long she can go without food?

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

You can always try a different type of roach that breeds faster like lobster roaches or B. lateralis. B. lateralis are the natural prey items of leos in the wild. So they tend to love them. They're cheap, and they breed much faster than dubia. Spend $20, get yourself 1,000 lateralis, and feed them until your dubia colony gets bigger.

 

[acpart]

Although it's ideal for the geckos to eat every few days, many of my adults don't eat for a few MONTHS during the winter (one usually fasts between Nov. and May and was good enough to wait till Jan before starting his fast). I had another gecko that got out and spent 3 weeks in my downstairs neighbot's linen drawer before he was found. They can go quite a long time without food and sometiems choose to do so. Just keep offering and see what happens.

Aliza

 

[Emma's Lizzy]

You can always try a different type of roach that breeds faster like lobster roaches or B. lateralis. B. lateralis are the natural prey items of leos in the wild. So they tend to love them. They're cheap, and they breed much faster than dubia. Spend $20, get yourself 1,000 lateralis, and feed them until your dubia colony gets bigger.

Where do find them for that price? I am looking online and they are priced at $50 per 100.