Going off feed

[NotBrandon]

My 9 month old almost refuses to eat crickets anymore. I have dubia roaches too so its not a total issue, but its still a starter colony and very few roaches are the right sizes anymore. Is there a little trick to get her back to eating crickets for a couple more months?

 

[acpart]

You can keep offering and hope for the best. I have found my geckos to be as stubborn about food as my kids were when they were younger.

Aliza

 

[kholtme]

How are you offering the crickets? In a bowl, tongs, or just free roaming in the cage? Are they moving when you gecko looks at them?

 

[IHaveNoIdea]

There aren't just crickets and dubias. Try to offer him some red runners for example.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Maybe she's tired of crickets?

Try spicing up her diet with some hornworms.

 

[kholtme]

Maybe offer a small dubia, then a cricket right after to get her interested in crickets again? Or buy some different feeders to change things up, or just trick her into eating a cricket again.

 

[amsdadtodd]

One of mine basically went on a hunger strike and lost quite a bit of weight. After much experimentation with environmental changes and different food offerings, I was able to entice her to eat with hornworms, as [MENTION=3989]Elizabeth Freer[/MENTION] wrote above. While feeding her primarily on hornworms, I've also gotten her to eat mealworms kept in a dish, then eventually the occasional turkestan roach, and just last week, she ate a cricket again.
I've just run out of hornworms, and I'm not going to buy any more for a week or so, just so I can see if she's ready to eat the same food the rest of my leo's get each feeding.
Some people have suggested in the past that they get picky when fed too often and that withholding food for a week or so then giving them what you prefer they eat will force them back into eating right.

Todd

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

My 9 month old almost refuses to eat crickets anymore. I have dubia roaches too so its not a total issue, but its still a starter colony and very few roaches are the right sizes anymore. Is there a little trick to get her back to eating crickets for a couple more months?

How is your leo doing now?

 

[NotBrandon]

How are you offering the crickets? In a bowl, tongs, or just free roaming in the cage? Are they moving when you gecko looks at them?

I put them in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes so their movement is slowed way down so she can notice them. Then I place them on the floor of her tank. When they start twitching she notices them and eat 3 out of the 8 then walks away to her sitting rock while the rest crawl around her.

 

[NotBrandon]

She isn't sick far as I can tell cause after she ignores the crickets ill throw in a dubia roach and she'll try to hunt it before it gets under the eco earth.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

How about sharing photos of your leo and the vivarium?

 

[NotBrandon]

 

[NotBrandon]

I was thinking about feeding waxworms or phoenix worms cause they are cheap for 100+. Do they need any special food or care to keep them alive and can I leave them in a cooled room?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

View attachment 36223

Thanks for sharing.

Does your leo have a humid hide that is most always moist on the warm side of his enclosure?

I was thinking about feeding waxworms or phoenix worms cause they are cheap for 100+. Do they need any special food or care to keep them alive and can I leave them in a cooled room?

Waxworms (and butterworms) are terrible food for geckos. It's because they are very high in fat. It would be like people eating ice cream all the time (or worse).

Phoenix worms are high in calcium, are not supposed to be fed after you receive them, but max out at about 3/4 inch long. Some leos like them; some leos don't.

 

[NotBrandon]

Thanks for sharing.

Does your leo have a humid hide that is most always moist on the warm side of his enclosure?



Waxworms (and butterworms) are terrible food for geckos. It's because they are very high in fat. It would be like people eating ice cream all the time (or worse).

Phoenix worms are high in calcium, are not supposed to be fed after you receive them, but max out at about 3/4 inch long. Some leo like them; some leos don't.

Ha geez shows how much I know about the different feeders. But about the moist hide- it's usually the log if she chooses to use it. And what about red runner roaches?

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Ha geez shows how much I know about the different feeders. But about the moist hide- it's usually the log if she chooses to use it. And what about red runner roaches?

I've not used red runners. They are too fast for me! I do have a Blaptica dubia colony that I feed now and then.

Here's a feeder link with info on some feeders. Click: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ckets-blaptica-dubia-hornworms-silkworms.html

Locate the moist hide on the warm end of the enclosure. It should contain moist paper towels, sphagnum moss, or Eco Earth coco fiber. If it is self contained like this, it will be much easier to keep it moist.



How is your leo doing for temperatures? The range I use is from 88-92*F as measured on the floor of the warm dry hide by a digital thermometer with a probe. That's necessary for proper digestion. Cool end ground temperatures underneath the cool dry hide should range from 70-75*F.

 

[kholtme]

I have a colony of red runner roaches and dubia roaches. Both are easy to care for and easy to breed. I follow Elizabeth's instructions for the dubias, and the red runners care is the same. Red Runners are fast, my gecko can catch them if they are free roaming the tank, but he is a great hunter. Some geckos arent as good at hunting. I tong feed 99% of the time, the only problem is the red runners will drop their legs like crickets do when you pick them up by the leg with tongs. So that 1% that I feed free roam in the tank is when they drop their leg and start running around the tank. I use tile so im not worried about impaction, but i highly recommend you only feed from tongs or from a bowl since you use loose substrate. Wouldnt want your gecko to get a mouth full of substrate when hunting down a roach.

 

[NotBrandon]

I have a colony of red runner roaches and dubia roaches. Both are easy to care for and easy to breed. I follow Elizabeth's instructions for the dubias, and the red runners care is the same. Red Runners are fast, my gecko can catch them if they are free roaming the tank, but he is a great hunter. Some geckos arent as good at hunting. I tong feed 99% of the time, the only problem is the red runners will drop their legs like crickets do when you pick them up by the leg with tongs. So that 1% that I feed free roam in the tank is when they drop their leg and start running around the tank. I use tile so im not worried about impaction, but i highly recommend you only feed from tongs or from a bowl since you use loose substrate. Wouldnt want your gecko to get a mouth full of substrate when hunting down a roach.

I mean. It's not sand but I 100% get what you mean and have a bowl ready. By the way I looked up a site that sells red runners but they are out of all stock. Since you claim theyre pretty much the same in care can you recommend me a site that sells medium size in packs of 150?

 

[amsdadtodd]

Ha ha, I had to google red runner roaches before I realized that is what I have. I think most people recognize the other name more readily, Turkestan roaches. I will agree they are very easy to breed and keep. There are many sites which offer them for sale, but I can't make any recommendation based on experience, I got my starter from my local pet shop.

Todd

 

[kholtme]

Yeah I got mine from a local friend because her colony got out of hand. They breed really fast, which isnt a problem, you can sell the excess if you wish or figure something out to do with them if you dont wish to have a huge colony. My colony is just starting or else i would sell you some.