I have two leopards they hatched just over a week ago. I have yet to see them eat. I am wondering how I can get them their appetite? Is there a way to force feed them?

what our you feeding them ? It may be to big for the hatchlings . Is there any waste in there cage ? If there is it means there eating .
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Kenny Hogrefe

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I am trying to feed them pinheads. Sadly there was no waste. However I did up the temp in their cage and I did notice a little waste last night. So hopefully that was the problem. What do you think a good temp is? Some books say 85-90F some say 90-95. I am around 88 right now.

-M

As long as you see waste there eating and its a good thing . 88 is about the perfect tempature . Where did you hear 90-95 ? that sound real high to me.....
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Kenny Hogrefe

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There was two small piles but that is all. Today I tried to puree some cricket. I put a small dab on their nose. They barely licked it. They seem so not intrested in food. It is soo frustrating. I don't want them to starve to death but that is basically what they are doing. Even though they are so full of zest and spunk.

-M

Most babies and gravid females dont eat that much . as long as your seeing waste every couple of days there doin ok .

If your not you might have to force feed but as this stage it could be a bad thing because they might get used to it and then you would have to for the rest of there lives .

If there hungry enough they will eat .
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Kenny Hogrefe

site admin

Crickets are way to active for hatchlings and just too hard for them to catch to eat! Just wrong chioce in food for right now that's all. For Juvies- adults is O.K. but they need to 1st get fed w/ mealworms. Mealworms in a dish right outside of the entrance to their hide works great! Tip is to make sure the dish/lid is a low as possible for the baby gecko to easily see the worms,( jar lids work great) and don't forget to add the calcuim and vit./mineral powder to the dish too. The hatchlings and all my geckos will eat daily for about up to 1 year of age. Some try to eat like that even longer, but they're all a bit different, from my experience. The heat for the leos is O.K. anywhere from 88-95 is O.K. I try to keep my heat right at 90 but if it gets up to 95 is O.K. I know it doesn't stay there long and goes back down it's not too hot for them. Just make sure they have a graidient where they can lay else where if they want a different temp. Mine are usually right about 75 (70 is O.K) is what I keep my reptile room at and heat tape/mats all set at 90. Just make sure that you are taking the temp properly, this is where most people make the mistake and will take readings of the air temps instead and not the floor temp on the heat where the gecko's laying on the ground temp- is different. Most thermometers sold in the pet stores only work correctly for reading the air temp, which is O.K. for the cool side. Also as long as your temp is about 90 ( you said yours is eightyeight degrees) they will be hungry and eat, the heat is the way to stimulate their appetite so your already done that all you need to do is give them a dish/lid of mealworms and calcium and they will eat fine. The other way to make them feel safe and secure and they're eat. One other thing is that you want to leave them alone as much as possible, so just feed and give them fresh water for right now that's it no handling,ect.. trust me they're ready to eat and they're hungry. The crickets and just about everything else is stressing them out right now they have to learn everything, what's food and what not,predetors,ect. The mealworms move enough that they will eat them but not too much that they scare them like the crickets do. Also you will see some poop from there shed, usually it's more greenish then when it's from insects too. Keep us updated, they will eat, and your be surprised how long they can go w/o food they have the yolk from the egg. (not saying they aren't hungry now or ready to eat) It's not at all to late. The crickets just seem more like predator to then when they are so new and small. Even pinheads, they're just too quick and crawling over them touching, annoying them when they are trying to sleep this all stresses them then they don't eat. Plus it doesn't help them adjust to the surroundings either- which helps them eat. They need to feel secure in their home and know it's their's not the crickets or anyone else's but theirs. Hope this helped.
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Jessica
http://www.leopardgeckosunlimited.com
Dedicated to producing healthy geckos and outstanding color morphs.

I got a good chuckle watching them. Becuase the crickets are way to active. Whenever their "feelers" brushed one of them it did trip them out a little. They would shake thier foot or move away. It is good to hear what you wrote because all of what you said it true to what I am experiencing. So thanks.

-M

It wont take long for them to grow big enough to eat the crickets though if you want to. Once they are eating they grow very quick b/c they're eat daily plus the mealworms do have more fat in them, so that's another reason why it's good to start them on mealworms. So if you want to feed them crickets you should be able to switch by about 4-6 weeks old, just depends on them but most gecko's will which food pretty easily once they are used to eating. Plus young gecko's love to eat so much that they will start going after any little moving inscect, it's really fun to watch. I've used both crickets and mealworms and can say that the mealworms are easier to work w/ for sure and I like dealing w/ them better. Whatever you decide to use just make sure you Gutload inscects for at least 24-48 hrs. before feeding to your gecko's. Are they eating now?? They're be O.K don't worry. It's so easy to breed your own mealworms too you might want to consider it b/c this way your have every size needed available for your hatchlings up to adult geckos and you can feed them the perfect size mealworms for each gecko. I also like breeding my own worms b/c I know what my geckos are getting and they're so healthy compared to any other worms I got from a pet store. Plus it's very simple to do. The only good worms I bought has been online in bulk, you can refrige them so I would buy them in bulk just for a couple geckos and is cheaper too. I was just thinking about trying to find mealworms small enough for hatchlings, I think that would be hard, I've never had to do it. The small ones I remember buying- wouldn't have been small enough. Plus mealworms bought from the pet stores were dead or almost dead that I couldn't ever gutload them either. If you want to start breeding and /or want good healthy mealies go to wormman.com or Bug Co.com or another breeder online is your best bet- these 2 have the best prices though, bug co. can get higher though b/c of shipping but they do arrive quicker and wormman has great worms but we've had trouble w/ our orders before, make sure if ordering through them to do it online, not the phone! The Bug Co. is great and very professional never any trouble. Good Luck! Your Welcome.
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Jessica
http://www.leopardgeckosunlimited.com
Dedicated to producing healthy geckos and outstanding color morphs.

I have moved this topic as I felt it was good info but not directly related to the care sheet .
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Kenny Hogrefe

site admin