# Gecko not eating mealworms



## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hi, i am new to the forum and new to keeping reptiles so i apologise if this is a stupid question! Had my leopard gecko about 3 weeks now and have tried everything to get him to eat mealworms. He is eating aboout 4 or 5 hoppers a night and the occasional cricket but dont know if thats enough? He will eat the worms if you dangle one in front of him and acts if he is hungry but wont touch them unless i put one in front of his nose. I want him to eat them when he wants so that he is not hungry all the time. Any ideas?


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Hi, welcome to the forum. Congrats on your new Leo. It is good that he is eating - some take a long time to settle in. The fact is that most Leos prefer hoppers to almost anything. Given the choice they will choose hoppers and they are more nutritious. If you want him to eat mealworms then I think you would have to withold the hoppers - but I DON'T think this is a good idea at this stage. Just leave a bowl of mealies in the viv 24/7 (change them regularly) for him to help himself if he is hungry. Feed him the hoppers and crix as well.
If you weigh him weekly you will be able to tell if he is getting enough to eat. As a juvenile he should be steadily gaining weight or as an adult he should be maintaining his weight. Make sure all his food is correctly supplemented and well gut-loaded too. Hope this helps.


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## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

Thanks for replying, yeah i wont take the worms out in case he does decide to eat them and will carry on with what i am doing regarding feeding him hoppers. Noticed that some people only feed their leo's every other day, thinking this might be an option to try as at the moment he is getting fed hoppers nearly every night. He might decide to try the worms if he is more hungry then. I am gut loading the hoppers with tropical fish food and carrot by the way. Do you think 4 or 5 hoppers is enough? The guy in the pet shop said he was about 4 months old but i am not convinced he is that young.


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

dale36 said:


> Thanks for replying, yeah i wont take the worms out in case he does decide to eat them and will carry on with what i am doing regarding feeding him hoppers. Noticed that some people only feed their leo's every other day, thinking this might be an option to try as at the moment he is getting fed hoppers nearly every night. He might decide to try the worms if he is more hungry then. I am gut loading the hoppers with tropical fish food and carrot by the way. Do you think 4 or 5 hoppers is enough? The guy in the pet shop said he was about 4 months old but i am not convinced he is that young.


If he is about 4 months old then he will need feeding every night - this is why I did not recommend dropping the hoppers at this stage. Once he is adult sized (at roughly 8 - 12 months) then you can drop feeding down to every other night as long as he is a good weight - and also try making him go cold turkey with the hoppers to try to get him back onto the mealies.
If you post a pic of him we can perhaps try to give you an estimate of his age :2thumb:


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

Hiyah,

nice to see another Warringtonian with a leo ! :2thumb:

If he hasn't been raised on mealies as a staple diet (particularly from a bowl) he may struggle to see them as 'food' - certainly as a preference over locusts which I have always found get THE best reaction of all....

Jools' advice is (as usual !) good, but it would help if we had a pic to advice on age and whether it's 'safe' to try withholding the locusts for a couple of days or so....

and :welcome:


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## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

He is about the same size as this, possibly a little smaller. http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/members/big-red-one-albums-leo-s-picture67480-bella-nov-09.html

Have not worked out how to put photos on yet!


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

That pic is of an adult Leo and impossible to tell the size. The markings on a young Leo show the age rather than the size of it so I'm afraid that pic isn't much use. There is a sticky somewhere - think it is on the Newbie section - about posting pics


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

sure is - That's my Bella and she's a real chunk and about 2 1/2 yrs old...:lol2:

have a look here :

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/newbie-advice/112135-how-post-pictures-using-photobucket.html

It's easy enough to set up an account and upload then...

Where did you get your leo from btw ?


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Big Red One said:


> sure is - That's my Bella and she's a real chunk and about 2 1/2 yrs old...:lol2:


Thats a very rude thing to say about Bella :lol2:- she's lovely


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

jools said:


> Thats a very rude thing to say about Bella :lol2:- she's lovely


meant in the nicest possible way ! :blush:

She is my fave to be honest - an absolute sweetie.... :flrt:


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## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

He is from pets at home, the wigan store. I will try and put a photo of him on here soon, i understand its difficult to age him from a picture like that! I think he could be an adult.


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## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

I hope this works!


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Yes looks like a very nice ADULT normal to me. If you want to get him on to mealworms and off hoppers then personally I would leave it a couple of weeks to make sure that he is settled and eating well. Then you could try reducing the hoppers and leave the mealies in a bowl 24/7.
And I would get rid of the calci sand if he were mine - sorry - too much of an impaction risk for my liking.


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## Big Red One (Oct 17, 2007)

jools said:


> Yes looks like a very nice ADULT normal to me. If you want to get him on to mealworms and off hoppers then personally I would leave it a couple of weeks to make sure that he is settled and eating well. Then you could try reducing the hoppers and leave the mealies in a bowl 24/7.
> And I would get rid of the calci sand if he were mine - sorry - too much of an impaction risk for my liking.



Yup - lovely looking leo.. :2thumb:

As for the sand - yeah my personal opinion is as per Jools, I'd replace it with something less likely to cause impaction. I favour ceramic floor tiles or lino cut to size, with a statted heatmat underneath......


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## dale36 (Feb 4, 2010)

Thanks for all your help, i really appreciate it. In regards to feeding, how much do you feed your leo's a night or every other night? Mine is eating around 4 or 5 hoppers, is that enough? Really pleased tonight, Dave has just let me lift him out of his tank to hold him for a while. He seems alot more used to my hand being in his tank and actually walked onto my hand so i could lift him out!


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Feed him as many crix / hoppers that he wants to eat in 10 minutes. Every other day would be fine imo. Leave a bowl of mealies in 24/7. The thing is once you get to know him properly you will be able to judge how much he needs. A very useful thing to do is to weigh him once a week to see if he is maintaining his weight. I weigh all of mine routinely.


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