Fat Tail WILL NOT eat mealworms! Been two weeks!

[LeoGirl575]

Hey guys. I have two fat tail geckos. One I got two weeks ago, and he's
about 5 months old, maybe more. When I first got him, I happened to have some crickets, so I fed him those. He ate about 6 or 7 in a couple days. After that, I decided to try mealworms, because that is my main feeder for all my geckos, and I rarely have crickets. He would not eat the mealworms. It's been almost 2 weeks since he ate those crickets, and he hasn't eaten since. I don't
know what I should do... Should I just give up, buy some more crickets, and give him those, or should I just wait until he's really hungry enough that he'll eventually eat the mealies? I just don't want to starve him to death, but I also don't want him to only eat crickets, since that's a MAJOR inconvenience for me.

Just a note: the temps are a bit lower, because I'm cooling most of my geckos for breeding.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Carinata]

95% of AFTs won't eat mealworms. They are much pickier than Leos.

 

[Imperial Geckos]

Unfortunately when dealing with Fat Tails, you will always have to have crickets on hand. They are picky eaters, even to the point to where the ones that eat mealworms usally wont even eat superworms. However, generally speaking, no healthy Fat Tail will refuse a cricket.

We run a predominantly cricket free operation. However, we have the select few, that were not produced by us, that will only eat crickets so we need to have them on hand.

All of our babies are started on mealworms. The ones that wont eat, will be fed crickets, then we will try to switch them over later on. If they dont switch, then thats it, we will continue to feed them crickets. None of our geckos are treated differently or fed differently because of what they eat. However, he have noticed faster growth rates and healthier weights on our fat tails eating on a staple diet of mealworms. It has also been much easier to keep the weight on our breeding females throughout the breeding season.

However, when you get an adult, sub-adult, or even a 5 month juvie like in your case that has fed on crickets their whole lives, its almost impossible to switch them over to mealworms. It easier to switch them over to superworms (and not in a bowl, leave them loose) because they are larger and they move a lot more, but the success rate is still pretty low (from personal experience). It is VERY DIFFICULT to get wild caught or Adult fat tails to feed on anything other than crickets, if already accustomed to it. If they were waxworms, everyone would be crying that they were addicted..lol...

So when buying a Fat Tail, if you dont want to deal with crickets, its best to ask the breeder what the geckos current diet consist of.

I would feed it crickets. And then later on try switching it over to superworms or mealworms again. I wish you luck!

 

[LeoGirl575]

Wow, thank you very much for the detailed response. I have one fat tail that eats mealworms, but she's not the biggest fan of them, I can tell, because when I feed her crickets as a treat, she goes crazy! Lol But I can deal with that, I guess, it's just up to my mom to bring me to the pet store to buy crickets every week. Lol How many do you feed your gecko in a sitting?

 

[fuzzylogix]

Fatties are notoriously picky eaters, but I've had luck with dubia with all of mine so far. Started with crix and introduced the roaches slowly. Now all of them are completely off crix.

 

[T-ReXx]

All of my fattails take roaches as well. I have never exposed them to crickets, though.

 

[tlbowling]

They are EXTREMELY picky, and definitely would rather starve to death than be forced into eating a mealworm...I unfortunately have been having to get crickets again too

But I think that is the only downside to the AFT's.

I dont know how old u r or if your mom will let you, but so she doesnt have to take you to the pet store every week, you could always order them through the mail?

Just tell your mom...either take you to the pet store...or have a large rubbermaid container filled with crickets in her house ...lol.

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. You have all been a wonderful help. I was thinking of getting dubua roaches, but they're very hard to find where I live in Canada. I just turned 15, so I can't get my intermediate license for about 2.5 years. Lol I actually work at a pet store now, but I don't know if they sell their crickets (they have crickets, but I don't know if they sell them, because they might just keep them for their own reptiles). If they do, that would be magnifiscent, because I could even get them for free!

 

[Imperial Geckos]

Wow, thank you very much for the detailed response. I have one fat tail that eats mealworms, but she's not the biggest fan of them, I can tell, because when I feed her crickets as a treat, she goes crazy! Lol But I can deal with that, I guess, it's just up to my mom to bring me to the pet store to buy crickets every week. Lol How many do you feed your gecko in a sitting?

We feed our babies (1-8 weeks old) ¼” Crickets. After that they are fed ½” Crickets until they reach 25 grams, then they get 3/4”-1” Crickets. We feed geckos less than 4 months old, 5 crickets everyday. When they reach 25 grams they are fed 7-9 Crickets 3 times a week.

 

[Imperial Geckos]

Ofcourse that is our feeding schedule for cricket eaters. Geckos that feed on mealworms always have a fresh supply of regular sized worms in a shallow dish.

 

[gixxer3420]

All my fatties will only eat crickets. So I ended up switching all my breeder leopard geckos over to crickets.

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thank you. I offered him some crickets, and he ate them readily. I have another question though. My fat tails always back out of my hands when I hole them. How do I stop that?

 

[Carinata]

Well, maybe you are holding them in a way that is not comfortable to them.

 

[Imperial Geckos]

Thank you. I offered him some crickets, and he ate them readily. I have another question though. My fat tails always back out of my hands when I hole them. How do I stop that?

In other words, they arent comfortable with you handling them?. They will get use to be handled with time. Remeber these are reptiles and though some species are more docile than others, most reptiles take time to settle down and become "tame".

In fact most hatchling fat tails are all defensive (not aggressive ) then with time they calm down, sometimes on their own. If i remember from your OP you havnt had your geckos for too long...so...just give them time to acclimate to their new home before you begin handling them. Handling an animal that is not "open to the idea of being handled" really stresses them out.

Just give your gecko time, it will settle down eventually :main_thumbsup:

 

[acpart]

I find that fat tails usually react to wanting to get out of a situation by backing slowly away ("step away from the car . . ."). As they get used to you, they'll probably do it less.

ALiza

 

[LeoGirl575]

Yeah, thanks. I try to handle them gently, and often, but both of them (my female is the worst - she only has 4 nails in total so she slides around a lot) back up. My female (who I have had since August) has been getting worse
for backing up.

 

[Ga_herps]

I would have to say out of all my AFT's I have 1 that sometimes refuse mealies. I hate that you have to deal with it. I would get some crickets, but ever so often try the mealies. I would bet it will switch in time. I feed mainly roaches, and mealies without many crickets being used at all. Keep us posted on how it does.

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thanks, will do. I want to get roaches as well, but can't find
any where I live.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Good luck with feed. My fatty currently eats only lateralis roaches & dubia, although mostly lateralis. She is my only gecko that can catch them.

 

[LeoGirl575]

Thank you for the support. I will keep trying with mealies.