Please help as soon as you can! Lost mealworm in baby leopard gecko enclosure

[LukesterB]

I have a new leopard gecko baby, and while I was feeding it i lost a mealworm and cannot find it for the life of me will my leopard gecko be okay and how dangerous are the beetles to the baby? it is about 2-3 weeks old

 

[vastra]

In my experience the worm will stay hidden, while it's true feeders should be removed and may bother your gecko one worm isn't a big deal and the beetles aren't terribly aggressive. If you end up with a beetle your leo may try to hunt it but will find it very unappetizing, I don't know if the beetles can bite hard but they can definitely stink!

The worm is pretty harmless and would take time to pupate, you might be able to catch it by leaving a chunk of carrot behind a rock (or anywhere you'll leo won't get to it).
Either catch it while it's eating or replace it's food (which will also distract it from your leo) until it pupates, then you can find the larva while cleaning the tank.

 

[acpart]

Don't worry. Eventually either you will find the mealworm or your gecko will. When I was using mealworms with hatchlings and feeding up to 50 at a time I really didn't worry about the whereabouts of every single mealworm and everyone was fine.

Aliza