What time do you feed?

[theturvs]

Once upon a time, I tried to buy a leapord gecko. But then my little SoCo turned into a pig.

So since I've had SoCo, I've been feeding him every night sometime between 9 and 11 pm. My thought it, SoCo is nocturnal, therefore I'm feeding him at the begining of his day.
He usually eats about 10 bugs, give or take a few.
The other day, he only ate like 7...not unusual for him, he was getting ready to shed, so I thought nothing of it. When I came down in the morning, he plastered himself to the side of the glass with the "mom, I'm hungry" eyes.
So, I fed him. He excitedly ate like, 7 more bugs.
Same thing happened last night, except he ate ELEVEN bugs this morning at 9 am, and acted like he was starving and hadn't eaten in days. He was all about the mealies.
Now, I may be mistaken, but I was under the impression that most Leo's only ate once a day?? Apparently mine thinks he gets breakfast, lunch and dinner just like the rest of us.
I also know that some of you free feed meal worms, and I'm just wondering what you put them in that the Leo can get in, but they cant get out, cuz I dont want mealies running all over his home....but its starting to look like free feeding may be necessary as he acts like I starve him.

I dont believe anything is wrong with him...he has a healthy big poop every night shortly after dinner, roams around his cage, seems to be getting more and more comfortable with me and hubby, and is growing quite nicely, with a tail that gets fatter by the day. He's shed twice in 3 weeks with very minimal help (just toes). He's just a pig. I have been buying 3 dozen crickets and 50 mealworms every other week since I bought him, and I just went shopping 3 or 4 days ago, and I'm about ready to have to go again. lol. I've also been feeding him waxworms, which he loves, but i only do one every other day or so.

So I guess the questions are...
is my SoCo going to sprout a squigly pink tail?
does your leo ever decide he wants to be fed whenever he demands it?
Is there a certain good time to feed?
How do you free feed without mealies roaming freely?

 

[cat_named_noodles]

Soco is a fatty! hehe. But most growing leos are. I get "the look" from my little piggy, Athena. She will eat an unknown number of mealworms, then some crix, then 3 full-grown roaches, a waxworm, and still stare at me, as if to say, MORE! But Athena is getting big, she's 30+ grams (and with a regen tail, so she would weigh more if she had a full tail). So I've been feeding her and Sprocket (who share a tank) every other day now, 6+ roaches, several crix if I have them and free-feed them mealies all the time.
I keep the mealworms in a plastic dish, just shallow enough for theleos to see them, but not shallow enough for the worms to get free. ut then there's Keenan and Neko. Neko is the other piggy of the group. She's addicted to crickets! Hopefully when my roaches hatch she'll learn to enjoy juicy nymph roaches. lol. THe babies have free choice mealies as well, and small crix when I get them (I was going through about 120 small crickets a week just for those two!). Expensive!
I try to feed the same time every day, after the sun sets (9:30pm?) Sometimes sooner if I'm busy.
I think you're doing fine. Soco is growing and becoming a big boy!

 

[jking]

You mentioned that you buy crickets 3 dozen at a time. How do you keep them alive. I buy about 30 at a time and keep them in a litte critter keeper (that is rated for 30 crickets) with cricket food and that cricket gel water and dry dog food for an additional source of food, but the majority of them die before I can feed them to my gecko (jackie). I feed her about 4 to 6 crickets every night or every other night. Do I need to feed her more? Even feeding her this amount there are always a couple crickets left in the tank in the morning. I am going to start, however, to place a small dish with a piece of carrot and apple in it at night with some cricket water gel to entice the crickets out of hiding. Maybe that would help. Sorry about the tangent.

 

[acpart]

Make sure you have a toilet paper tube or a piece of eggcrate in with the crickets or they'll kill each other. You also may need a larger enclosure. The mealworms will stay in a bowl if you keep some gutload and a piece of carrot in there.

Aliza

 

[theturvs]

You mentioned that you buy crickets 3 dozen at a time. How do you keep them alive. I buy about 30 at a time and keep them in a litte critter keeper (that is rated for 30 crickets) with cricket food and that cricket gel water and dry dog food for an additional source of food, but the majority of them die before I can feed them to my gecko (jackie). I feed her about 4 to 6 crickets every night or every other night. Do I need to feed her more? Even feeding her this amount there are always a couple crickets left in the tank in the morning. I am going to start, however, to place a small dish with a piece of carrot and apple in it at night with some cricket water gel to entice the crickets out of hiding. Maybe that would help. Sorry about the tangent.

I actually bought the smallest cricket keeper they sell (still pretty decently sized, though). I keep anywhere up to 50 crickets in there at a time, and they very rarely die on me.

In with them, I keep:

-A tp roll, cut in half, half on each end. This is replaced whenever it has too much poop on it.
-a little dish of gelly water (bought at a petstore). This is replaced every 2-3 days...it starts to look dried out and shrinks when its time to replaced.
-a fluckers cricket food thing...its an orange square that has vitamins and water and supposedly everything a cricket needs to live...but if you only feed them this, they usually die.
-a little dish with a piece of carrot and a piece of lettuce (or whatever other fruits/veggies I happen to have on hand).

As long as I have all this, I kill very few crickets. One thing you might be seeing and thinking "dead crickets" is the skins...just like your leo, your crickets will shed and leave what looks like dead, dried up crickets in the enclosure.

 

[theturvs]

Soco is a fatty! hehe. But most growing leos are. I get "the look" from my little piggy, Athena. She will eat an unknown number of mealworms, then some crix, then 3 full-grown roaches, a waxworm, and still stare at me, as if to say, MORE! But Athena is getting big, she's 30+ grams (and with a regen tail, so she would weigh more if she had a full tail). So I've been feeding her and Sprocket (who share a tank) every other day now, 6+ roaches, several crix if I have them and free-feed them mealies all the time.
I keep the mealworms in a plastic dish, just shallow enough for theleos to see them, but not shallow enough for the worms to get free. ut then there's Keenan and Neko. Neko is the other piggy of the group. She's addicted to crickets! Hopefully when my roaches hatch she'll learn to enjoy juicy nymph roaches. lol. THe babies have free choice mealies as well, and small crix when I get them (I was going through about 120 small crickets a week just for those two!). Expensive!
I try to feed the same time every day, after the sun sets (9:30pm?) Sometimes sooner if I'm busy.
I think you're doing fine. Soco is growing and becoming a big boy!

I've heard some people say they use a pop bottle lid...is that about the shape your thinking?? Do you have a picture of your mealie dish? lol. I know it sounds insignificant...but the thought of mealies roaming his home all the time kind creeps me out...I want them stuck.
Do you put them in calcium in the dish, or in sawdust like they come in?

 

[cat_named_noodles]

I've heard some people say they use a pop bottle lid...is that about the shape your thinking?? Do you have a picture of your mealie dish? lol. I know it sounds insignificant...but the thought of mealies roaming his home all the time kind creeps me out...I want them stuck.
Do you put them in calcium in the dish, or in sawdust like they come in?

Unfortunately calcium will usually kill mealworms if you put too much in the dish with them. I mix some calcium with Vionate (cornmeal-based vitamins labeled for dogs and cats) and wheat bran, but not much. Just enough to keep them alive. I also throw in a water crystal or two for moisture. I don't have any pics (I would take one but my camera is DOA atm) of the dish, but to give you an idea, I cut a mealworm container I got form the lps down to about 1" around on the side. It works as long as the geckos are small. As the get bigger, they can knock it over, and a ceramic cat food dish comes in handy. I take pics when I get batteries for ya.

 

[theturvs]

Unfortunately calcium will usually kill mealworms if you put too much in the dish with them. I mix some calcium with Vionate (cornmeal-based vitamins labeled for dogs and cats) and wheat bran, but not much. Just enough to keep them alive. I also throw in a water crystal or two for moisture. I don't have any pics (I would take one but my camera is DOA atm) of the dish, but to give you an idea, I cut a mealworm container I got form the lps down to about 1" around on the side. It works as long as the geckos are small. As the get bigger, they can knock it over, and a ceramic cat food dish comes in handy. I take pics when I get batteries for ya.

I hear ya on the calcium killing the mealworms. lol. I used to shake the mealworms I gave SoCo in calcium before i fed them to him, but then i would have to like poke them back to life when i gave them to him so he would eat them. Now I just shake the crickets and put calcium in a dish in his home that he lies in more that he eats. lol.
Don't you get a sharp edge if you cut the cup from the lps down? Can't the mealworms get out?? I'm thinking about just grabbing a dish similar to the one his calcium is in. Its a little tall, but i know he can get into it, because i can see the imprint of his body in it everyday. I'm thinking about switching him over to a clay substrate with a bit of sand mixed into it, because i feel like thats probably the feeling the calcium gives him, which is why he sits in it. Plus hes getting bigger and his aim is getting better.

I attached a few pics of him. He's getting big and hes getting pretty.
Just as an amusing little sidenote, and to explain the mess infront of his house where he is eating, we refer to that cave as "the dragons lair", because that spot where hes eating the mealworm is where he eats most of his food, and therefore by the end of the week before i change the towel, there is a slight dusting of cricket legs, small pieces of sawdust, and mealworm skeletal remains.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

I hear ya on the calcium killing the mealworms. lol. I used to shake the mealworms I gave SoCo in calcium before i fed them to him, but then i would have to like poke them back to life when i gave them to him so he would eat them. Now I just shake the crickets and put calcium in a dish in his home that he lies in more that he eats. lol.
Don't you get a sharp edge if you cut the cup from the lps down? Can't the mealworms get out?? I'm thinking about just grabbing a dish similar to the one his calcium is in. Its a little tall, but i know he can get into it, because i can see the imprint of his body in it everyday. I'm thinking about switching him over to a clay substrate with a bit of sand mixed into it, because i feel like thats probably the feeling the calcium gives him, which is why he sits in it. Plus hes getting bigger and his aim is getting better.

I attached a few pics of him. He's getting big and hes getting pretty.
Just as an amusing little sidenote, and to explain the mess infront of his house where he is eating, we refer to that cave as "the dragons lair", because that spot where hes eating the mealworm is where he eats most of his food, and therefore by the end of the week before i change the towel, there is a slight dusting of cricket legs, small pieces of sawdust, and mealworm skeletal remains.

Wow Soco is getting big, and Beautiful!!!! I am loving the pattern on his head!
I haven't noticed the "sharp edge" on the "dish" hurting anybody. And the mealies rarely escape (I think I found 1 last time I cleaned out the tank). I think if they get out they get eaten anyway. But I haven't seen the mealies actually climbing/crawling out of the dish. Oh, I forgot! In Sprocket and Athena's tank, I use a ceramic 4 oz. Ramekin. I took out the old plastic one because they started knocking it over.
Haha, I like the "Dragon's Lair!" Fits perfectly. My guys just kinda leave bits anf pieces all over the place!

 

[wench]

hi, most of my leos eat between 10pm and 12 am. i have to hand feed the fussy ones, and just put 8 - 10 mealies in one of those brown tubs, the sides go inwards so the mealies cant get out.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

SO I got to thinking about the mealworm containers and went searching for some at walmart yesterday. I found some heavy plastic soap dishes for less than $2 each and they work great! Here's Keenan in one (excuse the calcium everywhere).

 

[theturvs]

hmm...maybe I'll have to try that, because I tried a food dish that looks kinda like a rock from the lps, and there are mealworms everywhere. It's good news I only put like 4 of them in there.

 

[cat_named_noodles]

hmm...maybe I'll have to try that, because I tried a food dish that looks kinda like a rock from the lps, and there are mealworms everywhere. It's good news I only put like 4 of them in there.

lol. I had the same prob months ago with my first mealworm dish! It is now a calcium dish.

 

[Allee Toler]

Mine's a tuppeware container with a hole cut out on the side an inch up put in the corner. Lol. She crawls in when she wants food.

 

[Brandonfb75]

I went to a flower store and bought those little green bowls that plants set on and use those for food and water and they seem to be working great. I feed all of my leos (21) starting about 6 or 630 everyother night. everyone gets 20 to 25 mealworms and seem to be very happy. I have my own colony of mealworms that I started about months ago but for now I still order 5000 a month.

 

[Meldog]

hi, most of my leos eat between 10pm and 12 am. i have to hand feed the fussy ones, and just put 8 - 10 mealies in one of those brown tubs, the sides go inwards so the mealies cant get out.

DID HE EAT THAT MUCH AS A BABY mine barely eats, I have two babies and I have only seen 2 poops in 7 days

 

[KayteEss]

I usually feel my leo Morty at nighttime after the sun has set, when he is justttt beginning to poke his head out of one of his hides.

I will drop mealworms or whatever he is eating into his tank one by one, sometimes a few at a time so that they try to escape the wrath of Morty and he can get that hunting experience. It's very cute watching him charge after the mealworms! He gets that devilish look in his eyes and stands up straight on his front legs, its so adorable. I want to give crickets a try, but any insect that has the chance of jumping away freaks me out. I'm much more comfortable with mealies.

 

[KayteEss]

DID HE EAT THAT MUCH AS A BABY mine barely eats, I have two babies and I have only seen 2 poops in 7 days

If your baby leos aren't eating very much (they should be piggies) then try waxworms just to get them back on food again, then switch over to mealies or crickets. Waxworms are good for fattening them up if they go on hunger strikes, but don't let them become a staple diet, and be careful, because leos can get addicted to them because of their high fat content :O