leopard gecko still rlly not eating

[muted elk]

Hey, so my leopard gecko is a couple months old and just does not eat now. I was told that maybe it likes different feeders so I gave it a rather large hornworm which hesurprisingly ate, but he hasn’t really eaten anything else other than two meal worms last weekend. Should I be concerned about him not eating and if so, how can I get him to eat? I also noticed that he tends to go up and lick the mealworms I feed him and then he walks away and doesn’t seem to care for it. I also try to feed him crickets which he used to hunt enthusiastically, But for quite a while now he doesn’t seem to care much about them and they just die in his tank and I have to get rid of them

[dry bluff]

Hi

First off, do you have an exact age of the gecko? Can we see the tank? How often do you feed them?

[muted elk]

I try to feed him every day

20 gallon long

He’s 3 months and 3 weeks old

[muted elk]

If u need any more info lemme know

[muted elk]

@dry bluff u have any idea y he’s doing this?

[dry bluff]

Have you tried any other feeders?

Besides just mealworms?

Also what's your substrate? What's your heating?

What temps do you keep the tank? Ambient? Basking spot?

Also, as a recommendation do not put crickets in the tank for him to just go and hunt.

You can't ensure he is eating them.

[muted elk]

Yeah crickets and hornworms

[dry bluff]

Hornworms are used as treat feeders and not staples. I would bring other things into their diet like silkworms, bsfl, and dubia roaches.

[muted elk]

Substrate is coco fiber and the tanks cold side is 75 Fahrenheit rn and hot side is at 92 Fahrenheit

[muted elk]

Yeah Ive only used ‘em as that so far

[muted elk]

What’s bsfl?

[dry bluff]

I would rip out that coco fiber as a substrate. Its far too dusty for leopard geckos, not a natural substrate for them, and is not able to hold any form of tunnels.

[dry bluff]

Black Solider Fly Larva.

[dry bluff]

What is your basking spot?

[muted elk]

He’s got this one place I think is a basking spot I can send a pic if needed but he’s never basked at least that I’ve seen before… he only comes out at night at least while I’ve had him

[dry bluff]

But what is the temperature of that basking spot?

[muted elk]

Gotcha ok, I do see he likes to dig sometimes, what do u suggest I replace it with?

[muted elk]

During the day around 92

[dry bluff]

70% organic top soil and 30% washed play sand mixed together.

[dry bluff]

Is that what your thermostat is set to?

[muted elk]

How do I ensure he eats them?

[dry bluff]

Tong feed them.

[muted elk]

It used to be higher until I noticed it went to like 102 but now that weather is cooling I can prob adjust that

[dry bluff]

What is the thermostat set to though?

What do you have it set to?

[muted elk]

Ah ok, will I sometimes be able to let him hunt on occasion?

[muted elk]

90 rn

[dry bluff]

I wouldn't personally risk it.

[muted elk]

But I’ve noticed he’s been on the cold side almost exclusively lately

[muted elk]

Ok

[dry bluff]

You add other factors into the enviornment when you have crickets free roaming in an enclosure.

[dry bluff]

Set your basking spot to 95.

Where do you have the probe?

[muted elk]

Gotcha that makes sense

Here I’ll send a pic

Ok so the top flat rock is supposed to be the basking spot he’s yet to use and the prob is on the other rock being pinned by the top rock where it sticks out

[dry bluff]

What brand thermostat do you have?

Can you send me a picture?

[muted elk]

Yeah I’ll send it now

[dry bluff]

Can you send me a picture of your gecko as well top down and side?

[muted elk]

Sure! Also when u say down u me like the belly area right?

[dry bluff]

Top down.

Like a picture from above.

[muted elk]

Gotcha I’ll take him out for a pic rn

Here’s the pics I just took but lemme know if u need other angles

[dry bluff]

Hmm ok

[muted elk]

He looks ok tho right?

[dry bluff]

Yeah.

[muted elk]

Ok good

[dry bluff]

Rip out the coco fiber and replace it with paper towels for now

[muted elk]

Ok

[dry bluff]

You need to expand that basking area so he has actual space to properly bask and cryptic bask.

You also need to add other feeders into his diet.

[muted elk]

And how often should I change the paper towels, or should I just spot clean?

[dry bluff]

He might be extremely tired do what you're offering.

[muted elk]

Ok so like more rocks?

[muted elk]

Gotcha I’ll get on that immediately

[dry bluff]

Spot clean what he gets dirty and change the paper towels out entirely like every 2 weeks.

[muted elk]

So crickets and mealworms are good but I need to spice it up to make it interesting for him right?

[dry bluff]

At 3 months old he should be eating every day. So him going into a hunger strike is concerning.

[dry bluff]

They need to have variety in their diet.

Its important to them just as it is to humans.

Staple feeders are: Dubia Roaches, BSFL, Silkworms, Mealworms, and Crickets.

There are other roach variations you can feed as well but Dubias are the most commonly used.

[muted elk]

Gotcha

[dry bluff]

If someone fed you spaghetti every single day. I'm sure you would get tired of it as well.

So that might be the same situation for him.

[muted elk]

Is there any way to avoid the riches as my family is rlly weird about them so I’d prefer to avoid those

[muted elk]

Yeah I get it

[dry bluff]

Also as a heads up. You will have to upgrade his tank down the line.

[dry bluff]

I mean you can.

[muted elk]

I figured so

[dry bluff]

But if you want a reasoning for the roaches. You can tell them that they won't infest their home.

Its quite difficult for Dubia roaches to infest a home.

They need high temperatures to properly breed.

And they can't climb smooth surfaces like plastic.

[muted elk]

I’ll try but like everyone in my family hates anything roach for some reason

[dry bluff]

Well a gecko is going to eat them.

[muted elk]

We’re in socal so that could be a problem

[dry bluff]

So everyone can watch your gecko kill a roach.

[muted elk]

Yes

[dry bluff]

Nah.

[muted elk]

Release the attack gecko

[dry bluff]

They still won't infest your home.

[muted elk]

Ok good to know I’ll try to convince them

[dry bluff]

Anyway, make some changes to the tank and up the basking temperature.

If you want examples of tanks you can look in #enclosure-inspo

Wait.

Are you keeping the heat on at night?

[muted elk]

Yes

[dry bluff]

Does your house drop below 65f?

[muted elk]

Is that a no no or ok?

[muted elk]

I don’t believe so but my room is cooler cause I have a fan going

[dry bluff]

If it doesn't drop below 65 then no you do not need heat.

Also what is your heat source?

What is the bulb?

[muted elk]

And rn nights are around low 60s

It’s a deep heat projector

[dry bluff]

As long as your house does not drop below 65F, specifically your room then you do not need night time heat.

However, if it does do not set your DHP to the usual day time basking temperature.

Drop it down to 70 to 75.

[muted elk]

Ok I’ll get like a thermometer to check how it drops at night

[dry bluff]

Its natural for them to have a drop in temperature at night.

[muted elk]

Gotcha ok

[muted elk]

Makes sense

[dry bluff]

Right now the overall goal is to get your gecko eating again.

[muted elk]

Ok

[dry bluff]

After that we can go into more detail about how you can improve your tank overall.

Make sure you are also dusting his feeders.

[muted elk]

So I’ll pick up crickets in the morning and do u know where I can get the other feeders?

[dry bluff]

Do you have a set of tongs to feed with?

[muted elk]

Sounds good to me

[muted elk]

Yes but they are like short plastic ones

[dry bluff]

If you want bigger ones get a set of metal tongs with rubber tips.

[dry bluff]

Petsmart you can usually get hornworms, mealworms, crickets, and dubias from.

But those bugs are not of the best quality usually.

Also make sure you are gut loading your feeders.

[muted elk]

Gotcha

[dry bluff]

!feeders

[silent ruin]

https://i.imgur.com/p7bzlMX.png
More nutrition info: https://reptifiles.com/feeder-insect-nutrition-facts-chart/

https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/
https://dubiaroaches.com/
https://www.joshsfrogs.com/live-insects-feeders.html
https://flukerfarms.com/
https://aafeeder.com/
https://www.rodentpro.com/
https://bigcheeserodents.com/
https://perfectprey.com/

[dry bluff]

Here are websites you can use to order bugs.

[muted elk]

What do u personally feed ur geckos?

[dry bluff]

I feed a lot of things.

It varies on what I feel like ordering or what I have in stock from what I breed. I feed things like silkworms, dubia roaches, bsfl, mealworms, certain isopods, and other roach species.

Then my treat feeders vary.

This is what my basking spot looks like for reference.

[muted elk]

I’ll be using this, thx

[dry bluff]

I would also look over the guide once more.

!guide

[silent ruin]

Server: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SKbLFeeE4pxPQdi4EP3-elTuvVSfAw3L/view?usp=share_link

[muted elk]

Which ones do u breed?

[dry bluff]

Dubias, mealworms, and silkworms.

[muted elk]

How do u do silkworms?

[dry bluff]

I wouldn't breed silkworms

[muted elk]

How come?

[dry bluff]

Far too much of a pain of in the ass with too much micromanagement

[muted elk]

Oh

Not like an auto system?

Also you were talking about geckos digging earlier, how can It do that with the paper towel?

[dry bluff]

There is no way to really auto them

[dry bluff]

You can give him a dig box for the time being

[muted elk]

K

And how long should I use the paper towel?

[dry bluff]

Just until they are eating.

Like regularly

[muted elk]

Like a month ago consistent eating? And then after that what do I switch to?

[dry bluff]

A month, yeah. And what I mentioned earlier 70% organic top soil mixed with 30% washed play sand.