Oh, just chillin'

Mr. Chunky man just chillin after refusing some Dubia roaches. (Previous owner only fed wax worms and crickets) :frowning: trying to get him to eat something else is a struggle.

On another note, can someone tell me the meaning for his eye color being white and red? My other leopard geckos eye colors are completely different than his.

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Getting a leo to switch foods can be tough, but it can almost always be done. It took me like 5 months with one of my females, but I’ve always succeeded eventually. (Keep in mind that you can’t just make them starve until they cave-

Take the preferred food item, crush it, then paint the goo onto the prey item you are trying to switch to. Alternatively, you can try the reverse, by covering the food they are used to with the innards of the food you want them to eat.

I’ve also found that having your gecko trained to tong-feed can help, as it makes it more likely they are going to try striking at a new type of prey, and you can also wiggle it around in front of them to get their attention. Also, if possible, make sure you are using the same powder supplement on the new type of prey as the old type of prey, to increase the presumed perceived similarity between the two.

Also it is the breeding season, and some of my geckos (mostly females but some of my males) will eat less or sometimes refuse food entirely.

With that same difficult to switch female I mentioned (Taffy), it eventually got to the point that I tried holding her and (gently) putting the food directly in her mouth. For some reason that seemed to work for her, and she started making progress after that, but that’s definitely not a technique I would try first as I think it’s far more likely to backfire and cause more harm than good. Usually animals do not respond well in the future to foods they have been assist-fed (especially if it was during an illness), but my girl Taffy was a very weird exception.

His eyes are white and red because he is an albino.

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I tong feed all of my Leo’s! He has showed interest with the dubias when I let them crawl while holding them with the tongs and he will lick them but not bite at them. I won’t give up, I do offer what he prefers right now just in smaller portions. I’ll try what you suggested and update😊

If it comes down to this, I might try. But he’s healthy and active right now so I’m not too worried!

Good to know about his :eyes: lol, learn as I go! @mblaney thank you for your response :heart:

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I’ve never tried this but you could try emptying out the innards of wax worms and filling it with dubia innards. It will look exactly like a wax worm but it will be nutritious.

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