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leopard gecko food

Hi everyone :)

I have a male leo, who wont eat mealies, wax worms and hardly crickets. In fact, he will only eat crix if I put him and them in a tupperware container in a dark area.

He was eating mealies and roaches with his breeder. The only thing I have found he will eat is butterworms. So far. I was going to ask you guys about silkworms and possibly a good breeder with roaches so I could try those with him.

He is about 8 months old now. This past week I think he has eaten 3 butterworms and 4 crickets. Is this enough? Could he just be alight eater? He is my first leo and I just want him happy LOL

I got him to eat a few mealies by putting a hole in them, and offering with tweezers. He wont do it now though.

And, what size do they need to be, before trying a pinkie mouse?

Thanks!
 
diablo, why do you say variety is not a good thing? just curious. i feed mostly mealies because it is easier, but also crickets for variety. I have also read that crickets are lower in fat and can be healthier but i don't remember where.

I also have a picky leo who won't eat meal worms but eats wax and super worms with no problem.
 
say for example your feeding everything mealworms... one day, to add variety, you buy some waxworms or crickets or something... you feed your geckos the waxworms/crickets and now you have half of your geckos who only want waxworms/crickets and the other half want meal worms. now you have to start keeping both and its just a huge pain in the butt.


once you get everything eating the same thing its so much easier.

and really i dont see where there is any benefit from offering them more than one type of food item.... if your dusting them.

I also have a picky leo who won't eat meal worms but eats wax and super worms with no problem.
Click to expand...

see?
 
diablo, i definitely agree with you about the ease of feeding one type rather than keeping a variety of food chirping in the house. I am looking for the healthiest diet for my leos. from your previous post, it sounded like you had some info that put the "variety is best" theory to rest.

i'm a pragmatist...mealies are the easiest, least annoying (chirping and smell), and healthy...but is it the best diet (with calcium and vitamin dusting)? Is it healthier than a variety diet?
 
Crix and mealies

I have my very first leo for about 2 month now....these lizards grow fast !:D When i got him i feed him only crickets...what a pain they are, noisy, smelly, messy. After two or three week, my gecko seem to dont like them anymore, i think that he was tired of running after them. I switch to mealies...a LOT easier. I breed my own mealies for my collared lizard , it's easy and cheap. I buy only about 400 mealies a year ! (these little pigs seem to eat a little bit more than i produce, lol). before i buy for about 10 dollars of crix every week ! now it's about 10 dollars of mealies...a year, lol. I try to vary their diet with occasionnal waxworm and superworms. My collared lizards is on an exclusive mealies diet for 3 years now without ANY problem. I do dust occasionnaly with calcium and vitamins.
 
I am just curious. If crickets are more nutritious then mealworms then why is it that the longevity records are held by geckos that were fed mealworms exclusively for most of their lives? Is there actually published research showing that Loes need lower fat amounts? Or, is it possible that they actually need the higher fat that mealworms provide? I am not criticizing crickets. I personally do not like them and don't feed them, though.

Just my $0.03
Jeff C.
 
Just to throw in my 2 cents, I have very recently switched from crickets to mealies after 6 long-smelly-escapee-ridden years! I purchased 300 from a local pet store, set them up in a rubbermaid conatiner w/ oatmeal, chickn feed, and carrots for moisture. after two weeks i already have a few beetles, and lots of larva! wohoo! lol, i never knew i would be so excited about a worm culture, but its really coming along nicely! and all my herps seem to love them, but most of all i love the ease of it all, i even went on vacation for a week, and all i had to do was whip some mealies in ziplocks labled for every day of the week, and chill them in the fridge so my squeemish mother dosent have to mess with those terrifying crickets! just defrost and dump them in the tank!
 
Longevity records are held by mealworm-fed leos because crickets weren't commercially available back then.
 
No offence but I find that hard to believe. I know for a fact that Fluker's Started up in 1953 and did not add mealworms untill 1980.

Just my $0.03
Jeff C.
 
Yeah, but how easy was it for everyone to get their feeders from Fluker's back then?
 
Well I was just using Fluker's as an example. Crickets were commercialy available long before meal worms were. This is because they were used as bait long before mealworms.

Just my $0.03
Jeff C.
 
magick-bears said:
I am just curious. If crickets are more nutritious then mealworms then why is it that the longevity records are held by geckos that were fed mealworms exclusively for most of their lives? Is there actually published research showing that Loes need lower fat amounts? Or, is it possible that they actually need the higher fat that mealworms provide? I am not criticizing crickets. I personally do not like them and don't feed them, though.

Just my $0.03
Jeff C.
Click to expand...

This could just be the case because (correct me if i'm wrong...) because it seems like most of the top breaders feed just mealworms, or mostly mealworms. so it would just make sense that the peole with the most knowledge about leos have the oldest and healthiest, so its not the food, its the owner?
 
Devious_bunny said:
This could just be the case because (correct me if i'm wrong...) because it seems like most of the top breaders feed just mealworms, or mostly mealworms. so it would just make sense that the peole with the most knowledge about leos have the oldest and healthiest, so its not the food, its the owner?
Click to expand...

I do agree that husbandry plays a role in the longevity of any animal. However, nutrition is just as important. As for the record holder's all being large breeders this is not always true. The Saint Louis Zoo had (might even still be alive) has a 28 year old male. The problem with you theory is that the large breeder breed. Breeding causes stress and stress shortens the life span. This makes nutrition all the more important.

My point here is to simply get people thinking. Maybe, just maybe, Leos need the higher fat that meal worms have over crickets. Has anyone ever seen the fat% of a scorpion?

Just my $0.03
Jeff C.
 
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