My Dramatic Fat-tailed Gecko Finally Likes Mealworms!

[sandylovesbreakfast]

I got my baby fat tail when he was 3mo old (named Breakfast ♥) and he is now 7mo old. Right from the get-go the only thing I was able to get him to eat were crickets - which I didn't mind but I wanted him to get a variety of insects so he could get all the nutrients from different foods. Also, crickets were a hassle to keep and required more trips to the pet store compared to other feeders. My partner has 2 geckos (Leachie named Lychee and crested named Prince ♥) that pretty much ONLY eat mealworms for their insect diet, and they were extremely easy to keep and lasted a long time. Alas, my Breakfast wouldn't touch them. One night when I was tong feeding him crickets, I snuck in a mealworm. He ate it and got suuuuper passive aggressive with me - went back in his cave even after apologizing over and over . After that every time I tried feeding him a mealworm he would shun me and go back into his cave. Tried putting a dish in with mealworms overnight a week ago and found him standing over them like some territorial maniac and didn't have a single one. I read on forums that some fat tails would rather starve to death than eat mealworms, but some will like dubia roaches. So tonight I bought a cup of roaches and he ate up about half the cup without any hesitation! So I figured I might take a risk and sneak another mealworm, but assumed he would see through my deception and shun me once again. But this time... he approached the mealworm, sniffed around it, then ate it! And then he ate another one! And another! He must have eaten about 10 mealworms tonight, and he enjoyed them far more than I've seen him enjoy any other insect! I mean, his eyes were LOCKED on those worms. And he had eaten about 5 roaches just prior to this so it's not like he was starving. I don't know what changed - maybe it's because he tried roaches, ended up liking them, and then figured "Why not try mealworms??" I understand he is a lizard with lizard brain, but I'm so happy and proud of him for finally opening up his palate! We will take over the world together!

 

[acpart]

Glade m it worked out. It's true that most fat tails won't eat mealworms. When I was keeping them I had one that would eat super worms but otherwise it was crickets only. I also had some seasons of breeding gargoyles and cresties and used to have to teach the hatchlings to eat crickets. To this day, the geckos that I taught to eat crickets eat them and the ones I got as adults are much less likely to eat them.

Aliza

 

[Herpin Man]

You might also try superworms. Almost as easy to culture as mealworms, larger, and most fat tails will eat them readily.