feeding questions from a noob

[donkeykong]

My name is Sal, I just bought a 5 month old Albino Fat Tail Gecko. It was a present for my niece, she is 11. She has done very well with the land hermit crabs i got her a year ago, but wanted something a little more interactive. I have a couple of pics that i will get up later tonight. Now to the questions

1. How often do most of you feed your fat tail?

We currently only have crickets, but i am going to pick up a few other types of worms to give him a variety.

2. At his age how much should he be eating?

He has only been with her since sunday, but has already picked a bathroom spot, and is drinking water. We put three crickets in with him and are assuming he ate one since there is only two left.

3. Especially at the begining as he gets settled, is it ok to leave 2 or 3 crickets in his tank overnight so when he does get hungry there will be food for him?

 

[Palor]

It is not a good idea to leave free roaming crickets in his cage. You should get a nice food dish and put mealworms into it, let him regulate his food intake. I give my leos about a dozen and replace any uneaten ones every few days. The worms are in addition to the other feeders i offer, like roaches I feed them almost every day or everyday depending on the gecko.

FT's are slow to settle in and are naturally very shy. Give him time to adjust before handing.

 

[fallupinreverse]

My fatty does not show any interest towards worms at all, and I've read many accounts of other fatties who feel the same way. Just a bit of warning before you go out and buy too many worms! Buy a small amount of them at first to see if there is interest, then if there is then you are good to go.

I second the not leaving crickets in the cage. I prefer to take my time and feed my fatty every night and always make sure she eats all of the crickets before I walk away.

It's hard to give a general answer as to how many crickets he should be eating. What size is your fat tail? What size are the crickets that you have? The general rule would be: as much as he is willing to eat!

 

[donkeykong]

I was only planing on buy a few worm for just that reason, the crickets are small/mediums. He has seemed to take to my niece pretty well, he will climb to her hand if she reacjes in to the cage. I didnt let her handle him the first 24 hours, and said to only handle him for a short period of time IF he came out willing, not if she had to chase him at all. He measures about 4.5 inches here are some pictures

 

[robinson]

My fatty will not eat any worms of any kind, he is 2.5 years old and has never shown any interest in worms, But like some of the others have said there is nothing wrong with putting in a dish with some worms in it. Make sure the dish is big enough that the worms cant escape so that they dont get out and burrow into the substrate. If ur fatty doesn't show any interest in them then no big deal. However he does love his crickets he slightly larger than your fatty, about 2 inches longer or so from head to tale. He eats anywhere from 8-12 large crickets every other day, but he is fairly fat and a good eater lol. To compare to a smaller gecko i have 2 2 month old fattys and they eat 6-10 small crickets every single day so ur gecko should probably be eating somewhere in between these but its hard to judge the appetite of a gecko as long as he is eating, keeps a nice fat tail and doesn't lose wait then he should be getting enough food.

 

[donkeykong]

Oscar ate, Wahoo!!!! after almost a week of not eating, and showing no interest at all in the crickets, he finally ate. His tail was starting to slim down just a touch and was making me nervous. But tonight i held a cricket in my fingers close to his face, not right in his face buggin him just close enough where i knew he could see it kicking, and bingo he took it from my fingers. Then it was like he remembered what they were there for and started hunting the others down. I am going to pick up a couple of different types of worms this weekend and give them a try, just to give him some variaty and also see what he will eat just in case we can get crickets for some odd reason and had to use something else for a couple of days. Thanks for all of the input.

 

[lemonjello]

Give him whatever he wants to eat-- Buy some "samples" of worms and see what he likes. Sometimes they will eat them and throw them up later (Oh my poor little fat tail, I am so sorry... ). Let him eat however much he wants to. They'll stop when they get full.

It can also depend on how active he is. My gecko is extremely inactive, so she only gets maybe 8 crix a week. My other geckos which are very active probably get somewhere around 24 a week.

 

[donkeykong]

that is the plan, i am going to buy the small packs of several different worms and see which ones he takes to. My biggest concern was getting him to eat, and since he has proven he will, now finding his range of foods that he will take is the next step.

I have a water dish that i use to have for her hermit crabs. I boiled it and let it dry, now i plan on throwing the worms in it with some calcium in the corner. It is tall enough that they cant escape, also the calcium will be there for them to roll around in and for Oscar to eat if he just wants to eat the calcium. Does that sound like a good plan?

 

[Saille]

What a gorgeous fatty! Lucky niece.
My male fatty won't eat worms, (only crickets and roaches for him!) but my female loves super worms, mealies, phoenix worms, and occasional wax and silk worms as treats.
She loves crickets and roaches as well.
I have to agree with not leaving crickets in with the fat tail over night, unless and only if you have a food source for the crickets. Crickets have been known to chew on sleeping lizards if they get hungry enough! So if I feed crickets and I can't check to make sure she eats them all, I make sure to put a little dish of crested gecko diet in there to gutload them if they get hungry, so they won't gnaw on her while she's sleeping.
Gutloading crickets, I always use crested gecko diet and organic (only organic!!!) fruit and veggies. What goes into the crickets ultimately goes into the gecko so only the best for my gex!