Won't eat after being handled, or out of a bowl?

[AlphaGeckos]

so my leopard gecko, athena has some weird eating problems, well i don't know if you'd call them problems but they are weird.

so first off, she HAS to be hand fed mealworm, she will NOT eat out of a bowl! gah! i don't know why, does anyone have any suggestions? the bowl isn't big it's like 1/2 inch tall with slanted sides...

second, when i feed crickets she has to be fed in her enclosure, i bought a separate bin to feed her crickets in but she won't do it, i don't think it's the bin she doesn't like, it's me touching her, because whenever i hand feed her mealworms inside her tank, if i touch her she freaks out and won't eat, so i have to hand feed her without touching her. it doesn't really bother me feeding her crickets in the tank it's just kind of a pain trying to find them when she's done.

do any of yours do this? why do they do this? any answers/suggestions would be awesome.
Thanks,
AG

 

[Allee Toler]

If she's being hand fed it's not uncommon. Some of my geckos don't understand their bowls. I use tongs with some of them. When they're stubborn like that I use the tongs and guide them to the food bowl holding a worm (with a bunch of worms in the food dish) until they see the dish full of worms and go O.O and get the idea. It takes a couple weeks but they get it.

My geckos won't eat outside of their enclosures or while being held.

 

[thehotchik1000]

I have a few that will eat out of the enclosures and some that won't. I think it's the stress of the handling and the different environment. Some take it better than others. With the
Bowl thing. Any bowls use are very low. I've even cut the sides down on some of them so that they are even lower. Like 1/4 of an inch. They are animals that are highly based on movement for their prey. Some have better eyesight Ibe noticed so Some see the movement where as others need it right in front of their faces. I think this is all pretty normal behavior that you are seeing.

 

[bwoodfield]

Ya our leo has actually stepped on meal worms and crickets and not even realized that they're there if they don't move.