Feeding a skittish leo

[majahawt]

We're having some trouble feeding Eclair because she's pretty much terrified of us. She refuses to come out of her hide unless we're in bed. I sometimes see her in the mornings but she runs back to her hide if she hears me.

So far, all we've done is put a few small locusts in at night and hope that they're gone in the morning. I know she'll mellow out after a while, but meanwhile, how can we ensure she gets enough food?

 

[hmarie186]

The best thing you can do is confine the feeders to a dish and remove them in the morning if not eaten. That way she can eat when she feels comfortable and the feeders are not loose bothering her.

 

[majahawt]

It seems like every single time I post a question about her, she decides to "get better" the same day!

She was up and about doing her stuff most of the evening yesterday, and she ate two of the small locusts I put in, as well as at least one mealworm. To make her more comfortable, I covered the front of her vivarium with paper last week and I've been removing one sheet each day and it seems to be working :3 She's getting one of those hides you can see into as well, so she can be in a nice, safe, cozy place and get used to us being around at the same time

 

[PowayRock]

Sounds like you are paying close attention to you gecko :yahoo:

I would say he/she is in good hands. My geckos Love roaches, (if thats an option) they are expensive compared to crickets but much easier to feed. My geckos prefer the roaches over the crickets. Almost to the point where they wait for roaches and pass on crickets . They are fed in a dish and the geckos seem to prefer being lazy and eat from dish rather than hunt crickets. If you notice you leo continues to be skidish I would recommend A hide that completely hides them rather than one you can see in. I have a skiddish one as well, just his personallity. Feeling secure is very important for these geckos, the are frightened easily. Over the year he has only calmed a little but is happy and stands guard in his moist hide nearly 100 % of the time with his head peeking from the entrance ready for war :shock:

 

[majahawt]

Of course, I've put the see-through hide in in addition to her other regular hides! Her warm dry hide is very small so she will outgrow it at some point and that's when the see-through hide will take its place. If it turns out that she's uncomfortable with it, I will of course put it against a wall or cover it with plants instead :3

Eating-wise, she's been a good girl. When putting locusts in, we've removed all plants so they can't hide and she's been eating mealworms when dropped in front of her. I remember Donut had some trouble realising that food would be in the food-dish in the beginning as well, so she'll probably get it at some point.

Tomorrow is a big day for her, as our scale will finally be arriving so we can check if she's actually gained any weight since she came here! We'll do a weigh-in for Donut as well but that's mostly out of curiosity; in the two-three months he's been here, he's pretty much doubled in size >:3

 

[Tongue Flicker]

I agree with top posts. I have one skittish male as well and I can see him scurrying towards his hide the moment I come near him. He is now eating well despite that. Just make her feel secure and do bonding moments when she's not eating i.e. just putting your hand beside her for her to lick and get familiar with

 

[majahawt]

Well, today was weighing-day and Eclair is up to 22 grams. We got her about three weeks ago, and then she was around 16 grams so taking into account that she barely ate at all the first week, I'd say she's getting on pretty well! She's 4 months old and so far it looks like she's definitely always going to be a lot smaller than Donut. She did not at all appreciate being taken out of the tank, but once she was out she was like a dream! She ran around on the bed, exploring and crawled all over us and took small breaks on our hands to warm up. We didn't measure her length because we didn't want to stuff lots of things in her face all at once.

She just started eating really well the other day so I expect her weight-gain to be quite different next time!

Donut, the fat sausage, is a nice 58 grams! We measured him the other day as well and he's already a whooping 20 cm. We're not entirely sure how old he is, but I recon about 2 months older than Eclair, so around 7 months.

What to you guys think, do these weights seem fair?

EDIT: the breeder I got Eclair from just updated their site saying that her sister from the same clutch is currently at 20 grams so that's a huge relief!