Food besides crickets, dubias, and mealworms

[VeganZombi]

I thought I'd just say something about the phoenix worms, so all hope isn't lost on them. My leo hates them as well. I read on another site that this is pretty common because of the smell that they have, I guess a lot of leos don't like the smell. I didn't want to completely give up on the phoenix worms though because they seem to be so nutritious and I really want my leo to have a good variety of food. So I tried rinsing my phoenix worms in some lukewarm water, for the smell, and dried them off a little bit (they can climb out of a bowl with ease if left wet) and my leo happily ate them all up, plus after rinsing them they are pretty squirmy and active making quite enticing prey . Because of that I really do think it has to do with the smell (not that I am any expert).

It is a bit "prepare" the phoenix worms, but like I said I just really want to keep variety in her diet.

Hope this helps :b

I'm sorry if anyone has already mentioned this I was skimming through posts about food sources and noticed some talk about some geckos not liking phoenix worms.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I thought I'd just say something about the phoenix worms, so all hope isn't lost on them. My leo hates them as well. I read on another site that this is pretty common because of the smell that they have, I guess a lot of leos don't like the smell. I didn't want to completely give up on the phoenix worms though because they seem to be so nutritious and I really want my leo to have a good variety of food. So I tried rinsing my phoenix worms in some lukewarm water, for the smell, and dried them off a little bit (they can climb out of a bowl with ease if left wet) and my leo happily ate them all up, plus after rinsing them they are pretty squirmy and active making quite enticing prey . Because of that I really do think it has to do with the smell (not that I am any expert).

It is a bit "prepare" the phoenix worms, but like I said I just really want to keep variety in her diet.

Hope this helps :b

I'm sorry if anyone has already mentioned this I was skimming through posts about food sources and noticed some talk about some geckos not liking phoenix worms.

For many geckos order the largest size: 3/4 inch.

After you tried the following, your leo feasted upon his Phoenix worms! :drool:

• Rinse the medium off. A fine mesh sieve works great.
• Let them crawl around on a paper towel to dry, then feed. If they are dry, they will not climb.
• Even some of the black ones "rejuvenate" when rinsed if they are not too far gone.
• The darker ones are higher in calcium.
• Save the dead ones. They may morph into flies, which your gecko may eat.

 

[JessJohnson87]

I've rinsed mine off in lukewarm water to and that didn't help. I'm going to try again once he sheds. I did notice today that phoenix worms have these hairs on them, I thought it was weird but I've never looked at a regular maggot up close to see if they have hairs.

 

[Britt005]

Well, unfortunately I still haven't had much luck with Rizzo eating. She hasn't eaten since that single dubia on the 20th. The antibiotics haven't been going well either. I've used the technique seen in the video posted earlier but she just refuses to open her mouth. The card trick (sliding it in between their lips causing them to open up) worked once but never again. The other times its just been whatever I end up squirting in her face that she may or may not lick off in the end. Sigh...she is pretty stubborn and it's pretty frustrating. She doesn't seem to be losing weight though which is interesting. I compared pictures of her when I first got her now, and her tail is just as fat. She's also is still pretty active when I let her roam free. These aren't very good pictures I know, it's so hard to get her to stay where I want her! The brighter one was taken last night, the one with her on the flowered bed spread was taken 2-3 days after I brought her home. It might even be a little fatter?

View attachment 38644

I've been getting her warm baths in, which has been much easier since I started just putting her in the sink. She can't get out and as long as I stay out of her direct eyesight, she doesn't even try. And I can regulate the temp of the water better, just adding more warm when it starts getting cool.

I'm going to try to get her to eat tonight BEFORE I traumatize her with antibiotics and baths, maybe we will have more luck. I'd really like her to eat tonight or tomorrow morning as I'll be out of town from early tomorrow evening to late Monday evening. It would really make me feel better knowing I'm leaving her on a full stomach!

 

[MissFrances]

It's almost funny, this is exactly what my gecko's going through too. I understand your stress!

My gecko had a gut infection and isn't eating again now, I don't think it actually cleared up fully when the vet told us to stop giving her the antibiotics. She's also super active and lively, and she has only now started to lose weight (bearing in mind we've been dealing with this for about a month now!

Do you have a syringe to give her the drops? The biggest thing for us was just being patient, it took us a good few minutes to get her mouth open sometimes, but it does eventually. If you do have a syringe, my vet showed us it has to go pretty far in. If we didn't put it far enough in, she shakes it out.

They really seem to hate the antibiotics. Izzy shook like a dog whenever we gave her any. The other thing we had to do is leave her a few days before we fed her, she just would not eat before that. It might've been because of the stress or because she was being force fed too.

I hope she gets better soon! I know I'm having serious stress dreams about the whole business!

 

[rabzouz]

Atractomorpha sp. are another food option.

 

[JessJohnson87]

Locusts are illegal to sell or breed in the US, I wish we could have them.

 

[MissFrances]

[MENTION=57605]Britt005[/MENTION] how's it all going? We found a bit of a trick to getting Izzy to open her mouth today, if we gently stroke her mouth on both sides, she opens her mouth. I don't know if it's a one off thing or not but if you're still struggling, worth a try! Just be carful not to get bitten

 

[Britt005]

Hey miss! Ive been out of town all weekend, so I haven't tried in a few days. The vet called me on Friday as a follow up (my own doctor doesn't even do that!) and I told them about the trouble I was having giving her the drops. They said they'd be able to give her shots instead, but I'd really hate to do that . Especially because I'd have to do them myself, as I can't bring her to the vet multiple times a week. So I will start again on Tuesday and see if I can get her to cooperate. The good news however is she ate a pretty meaty dubia on Thursday and 7 Phoenix worms Friday afternoon! I was so happy, lol. So I think I have more time to try the drops, it's not a dire situation.

I'm glad you have had some luck! I'll try your trick has izzy been eating at all, or is it just a little infection?

 

[MissFrances]

Fantastic! It's good she's eaten something! It's good you've got a really supportive vet too! Mine asks me to call him regularly with updates at the moment too.

She's not eating at all - she stopped about a month ago, we found the infection and started antibiotics, she started eating again so we were told to stop the antibiotics, but she stopped again and it turned out her infection hadn't cleared up at all! It's a shame, she was just becoming sociable again after the first round of meds!

I hope trying again goes well for you!

Edit: She's eaten a singular silkworm, which is better than nothing! I like feeding her silkworms at this stage because they can't move very fast which gives her the option to just graze without me having to watch or destroy her viv to find missing bugs.

 

[Britt005]

Oh wow, that's a long time to go without eating. Has she been losing weight?

Glad that she is making some progress! I haven't tried silkworms yet, I think I will get some at one point. But every place I see online selling them are super pricey. How much did you get yours for? I'd hate to buy them and they go the way of the hornworms, which was pretty much straight into the trash (she actually physically recoiled from the hornworms).

When I got home from my trip last night (I was gone from 5pm Friday till 10pm last night) she had pooed twice, and they looked like normal poos. One was a bit small but the urates were white again, and the brown bit looked solid. So I wonder if it has passed or if I should do another round? Your experience tells me I should do another round, but I also don't want to overdue it. At this point she has been off them for 4 days anyway, so I guess I should just see what happens and go from there.

 

[MissFrances]

She did start to lose weight but based on a really quick weighing last night after we thoroughly upset her with the syringe, she seems to be putting it back on with the force feeding she didn't lose wipeight for ages though, throughout the whole first bout of infection she didn't lose anything, it's only now it's started to drop.

I'm in the UK so I'm not much hel I'm afraid! I get mine for about £5 (about $7 I suppose?) for 50. It's a bit prices but she does eat them. I understand what you're saying, though. Basically every feeder I'm buying is going in the bin entirely untouched at the moment ):

I think the safest thing to do is to call your vet and see what they say. She would poo if she ate (which she did!) but if she's still not eating regularly then there's probably still something up?

 

[Britt005]

Glad to hear she isn't losing a lot of weight. But I'm sure she will be much happier once she starts eating on her own.

My vet actually called me again yesterday after work to see how she was doing. I was shocked, seriously better service than most human doctors lol. They told me not to continue the drops if she wasn't doing better, and go with the shots instead I guess it's a different kind of antibiotic and they don't want her to build an immunity to either one. But she ate FIVE dubias last night so I think she is doing at least a little better! Later after her bath I caught her stalking around her tank, possibly looking for the 6th one that got away from her (I'd taken out by that time.) No poo this morning, but hopefully when I get home tonight so I can check to see if it's still mucus-y. ew

Yeah, that's about 7 or 7.50. Most of the places I look online are out of stock (maybe they are out of season?) and the only ones who have them are selling them for like $15. I'll try to look again in a few weeks ago.

 

[MissFrances]

It's fab news she's eating again, at least! Not sure I'd like to give her the shots but perhaps it will be easier than drops? Izzy is getting wise to is all now and it took forever last night to get all hers in. She's starting to show some interest in her food but she hasn't eaten it yet. I've left a couple of silkworms in there to see if she'll eat them when it's a bit quieter. Here's hoping!

I think they are out of season at the mo, the place I buy them from is only selling mini silkworms at the moment (but they grow ridiculously fast!) so I wonder if they've only just started hatching? I don't know a lot about them!

 

[rabzouz]

Locusts are illegal to sell or breed in the US, I wish we could have them.

unfortunate but understandable. well its a cricket, but not the usual one, ive heard of cave crickets to make good feeders, as they are less noisy than the usually used crickets. ive read of Phaeophilacris bredoides and Amphiacusta spec. Cuba

 

[Britt005]

I moving away from the crickets or anything jumpy. They just escape too easily and my roommates will kill me if they find crickets hoping all around the house ('m tried of smooshing them anyway). The dubias are so much easier to contain. They are also a little slower which is good, because she is a bit of a lazy hunter. Right now I have her eating dubias and a little phoenix worms. She's been looking at mealworms with disdain, but i'll keep them on hand just in case. A co-worker who also has a leo (just found this out!) says the pet store we both get food at, sometimes carries silkworms. I'm gonna ask them about them when I stop in for more dubias tomorrow.

 

[Britt005]

Alright, so I guess we are doing this again.

Looks like Rizzo is back off food. She hasn't eaten in at least 4 days. She had been trying though, so I left in some dubias in her tank over the last few days. Thought she was eating them, but turns out they figured out how to wiggle underneath the repticarpet. On the bright side, her urates are almost pure white again and she has been very active and alert since the weather warmed up a bit! But her last poo was a bit muscus-sy so the vet recommended doing another round of antibiotics via shots. I can't take her in to get them (and it would just add a layer of stress to it, I think) so I will be doing them myself. Has anyone had to do this before? They showed me how (using a rubber eraser lol) but if anyone here has a few other pointers it'd be appreciated. I can't seem to find any youtube tutorials on giving subcutaneous shots to leopard geckos, specifically. I'm most worried about how to get her to stay still enough for the poke, especially since I don't have anyone who can be relied on to help for all seven doses.

 

[Britt005]

Yay! Rizzo is eating! Like a pig too. Funny I started this thread because I was trying to get her off mealworms, but she has eaten 12 in the last three days (as well as 2 dubias and 5 Phoenix worms) and I'm super happy about it lol. This is the first time since I adopted her that she's eaten a sizeable amount 3 days in row. While the shots haven't been enjoyable for either of us, they seem to be working. And to be honest, they are SO much easier than the drops. I think its less stressful for her too, as it's just one quick poke rather than a 10 minute ordeal. Only 5 more shots to go and hopefully we won't have to do this ever again...

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Yay! Rizzo is eating! Like a pig too. Funny I started this thread because I was trying to get her off mealworms, but she has eaten 12 in the last three days (as well as 2 dubias and 5 Phoenix worms) and I'm super happy about it lol. This is the first time since I adopted her that she's eaten a sizeable amount 3 days in row. While the shots haven't been enjoyable for either of us, they seem to be working. And to be honest, they are SO much easier than the drops. I think its less stressful for her too, as it's just one quick poke rather than a 10 minute ordeal. Only 5 more shots to go and hopefully we won't have to do this ever again...

:yahoo: for you guys!

 

[Britt005]

I figured it was time to dredge this old thread back up and give an update....

The problem with Rizzo not eating has not been solved. I can't get her to eat anything now, not even waxworms! For the last few weeks I've been hand feeding her every 2-3 days. She'll just sit there in the sink and lick at the syringe, eventually letting her eyes close halfway like she is really relaxed lol. So it seems like she likes it. I just hope she hasn't started to prefer the hand feeding to actually feeding herself.

She was 65 grams when I got her in feb, and now she is down to 59. Considering she has all but completely shunned solid food, that's not too bad. Behavior is normal as always - she is active, alert, loves to come out and wiggle around my bed. She's shedding just fine, better than ever actually! She has never thrown anything up. Her only symptoms seem to be not eating. And the occasional slimy poop when she does eat solid food. Sigh...

I took her to the vet again last Saturday, and they took a swab for a culture ($250 with the consultation :yikes . The vet thinks it maybe be a bacteria that was resistant to previous antibiotics. She also threw out crypto, but from everything I read it doesn't seem to fit. But I'm not a vet, so who knows. This culture won't detect it anyway. It sounds weird, but I'm praying that this test shows positive for something. That way I know we know what we are dealing with and hopefully can fix it:fight:! They should be calling today or tomorrow, and I'll update this thread when they do.