Food besides crickets, dubias, and mealworms

[Britt005]

What are some good regular food for geckos not including mealworms, crickets, or dubias? I mean like food you can feed them regularly, not stuff like waxworms that I know should be served sparingly. Crickets keep escaping from the tank, plus they are fast and she has trouble catching them. She also doesn't seem to care much for the dubias, and while she will eat mealworms I know they need more variety in their diets. Any ideas?

 

[JessJohnson87]

Silkworms, hornworms, phoenix worms.

 

[Britt005]

And those can be feed daily/every other day? She seems to like wormy things so I'll look into buying them... From somewhere Hah.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I'd alternate these worms with crickets, dubia, and mealworms.

Scroll beyond the initial post on the following threads for sources and some tips.

Click:

• http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...eeding-issues-/68585-hornworm-guidelines.html
• http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...eeding-issues-/68584-silkworm-guidelines.html
• http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ckets-blaptica-dubia-hornworms-silkworms.html

 

[Britt005]

Nice, some good information there! Appreciate it! Just placed an order for some hornworms and phoenix worms. I'll start with those and see how it goes!

 

[JessJohnson87]

My leo hates phoenix worms, they're hit or miss. My CG on the other hand will gobble them up.

 

[Britt005]

Well I just ordered 100 so she better eat them! She is a picky little bugger, I have a house full of bugs she refuses to eat :crackup: I'm sure part of it is that she is still adjusting, but I think part of her thinks it funny... :evil:

 

[thepianoguy]

lol!

sometimes horn worms, wax worms, super worms...silkworms etc...

 

[LilA]

Well I just ordered 100 so she better eat them! She is a picky little bugger, I have a house full of bugs she refuses to eat :crackup: I'm sure part of it is that she is still adjusting, but I think part of her thinks it funny... :evil:

Haha same here! Gonna have to do like you and try some alternatives . I'm still trying to get mine to gain weight!

 

[Britt005]

Hope you have better luck, because my girl is totally not eating them lol. I think she has gone on a hunger strike because I took her meal worms away. But I she passed meal worm exoskeleton in her poo the other day, so I don't want to give her anymore till she starts eating other stuff! Thankfully she isn't underweight (she might be a little fat actually! I'm gonna take pictures and post them here to get other people's opinion) and she's pooping normally so I'm not worried yet. I figure if I keep sticking them in her face, she'll eat them eventually.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Rinse them off really well and then let them wiggle about on a paper towel to dry off and try again. I don't know what it is about them that some geckos do not like, they can sometimes smell like ammonia so that may deter them.

 

[LilA]

Yeah mine loves some mealworms but I'm cutting back and trying to get it to eat more crickets! I'm pretty much going about it the same way you are. Daylight savings messed up our eating routine tho!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Hope you have better luck, because my girl is totally not eating them lol. I think she has gone on a hunger strike because I took her meal worms away. But I she passed meal worm exoskeleton in her poo the other day, so I don't want to give her anymore till she starts eating other stuff! Thankfully she isn't underweight (she might be a little fat actually! I'm gonna take pictures and post them here to get other people's opinion) and she's pooping normally so I'm not worried yet. I figure if I keep sticking them in her face, she'll eat them eventually.

Have you tried rinsing them as Jess mentions and then leaving them in a feeding dish overnight and into the next day?

My leo did not eat them at first, but by the next day 13 of 17 were history.

How are you doing with viv temperatures?

Here's a temperature guide for all leopard geckos as measured by the probe of a digital thermometer

• 88-92 F (31.1-33.3 C) ground temperature right underneath a leo's warm dry hide
• no greater than 82ish F (27.8ish C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the warm end
• no greater than 75 F (23.9 C) air temperature - 4 inches above ground on the cool end

Leave the UTH on 24/7. Turn off overhead lighting/heating at night (~12 hours on and ~12 hours off) unless ambient room temperatures are particularly cool during the night.

 

[JessJohnson87]

It sounds cruel to but you can always keep your gecko off food for a day then offer some phoenix worms in an escape proof dish and leave it in there over night. I think I need to take my own advice and do this so I can get rid of mine...

 

[Britt005]

Hello! I really appreciate everyone's help!

I haven't tried Jess's advice in regards to rinsing them off yet. I didn't get home till late last night. On Friday I was able to get her to eat one phoenix worm, but they stinky little things so maybe it put her off. She's also not eating the hornworms or even crickets the last time I offered her food (Sunday). She came out her cave this morning sniffing around though, possibly looking for food. So I will try the phoenix worms again this evening after a rinse and dry. Than leave them in the dish overnight.

As far as temperatures, she has 4 hides total. The cool hide is 65-70. (hope the weather warms up soon). The warm side is about 90-92. Her moist hide is near the warm side (usually measures around 82 but she never goes in it anyway) and a hide that straddles the cool and warm side (about 72-74).

I'm not worried about her yet, because she was eating a quite a bit at first (mealworms and crickets). So she isn't starving or thinning out. I think it was Wednesday last week that I found the exoskeleton in her poo and took away her mealworms than she went on her hunger strike. But I will just continue to be persistent.

 

[JessJohnson87]

She shunned hornworms :shock:

Mine never passes up a juicy hornworm. Eventually she will get hungry and eat.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Can you scoot the humid hide over some so that it is totally over the heat mat just like the warm hide is? That's best.

Often leos spend their time between the warm dry hide and the warm humid hide. My leo uses her large cool hide for her outhouse!

 

[LilA]

Can you scoot the humid hide over some so that it is totally over the heat mat just like the warm hide is? That's best.

Often leos spend their time between the warm dry hide and the warm humid hide. My leo uses her large cool hide for her outhouse!

My Leo does the same thing!

 

[Britt005]

She sure did shun them. She inched close to it slowly, licked it a few times, then walked away. She probably has never had them before, so she's like "What in the world is this?". Now I'm trying to keep them cool enough so they don't grow, hopefully she will eat them some day. Those suckers were not cheap!

I can try to move it over, but I'm not sure. Her warm hide takes up a lot of space, and the little space that's left she has designated her toilet. I could probably angle them a bit, but I dunno if she'd be able to get back there...Is it gonna throw her off if I cover up to poop ground? I'll see if I can play some terrarium jenga...

 

[Britt005]

Ok, no progress on the Phoenix worms. I rinsed and dried them and they are sitting in the dish uneaten. Uuuggh.

Something wierd is happening with the hornworns I think. I put one near her with tongs and she immediately closed her eyes and pulled away. I tired again with same results. It looks like if someone put a freshly cut onion under your nose. So maybe they went bad? They do, and have always, smelled super bad. Probably why she won't eat them..