Iv'e recently bought 2 female leos approx 10mths old, and they have only ever been fed mealies, is it possible to change them from mealies to cricks or locusts. I have bought mealies for them but i worry about feeding them cause of the horror stories! At the mo they are not eating anything as i'm guessing they are still settling in, i offer them cricks, mealies and locusts every day is it likley that they will eat either the cricks or locusts? Anyone managed it?

ahh they should be changed over to brown crix immediately...they shouldnt have much problem changing over, if anything they'll like a good treat!! important to note that crix are a leos staple diet as well...feedin them just mealies will not provide them with a full balance of all the right nutrients. just make sure the crix are the right size and you'll have no probs!! same with locusts...should only be given to the leos occasionally and not used as a staple diet

__________________

Yes, you can switch their food around.

No, mealies are no more harmful than crickets or locusts... yes, there are horror stories about "mealies ate their way out of my gecko and killed it"... which are equally likely to have been "mealies ate their way INTO my already dead gecko".

I have also heard about crickets biting or stabbing reptiles eating them... and locusts can have pretty sharp leg spines too.

__________________
- Ssthisto





Lizards: 2.1 E. macularius1.2 H. caudicinctus1.0 R. ciliatus0.3 A. fragilis1.1 T. merianae1.0 V. niloticus ittibittiusColubrids: 5.7.10 P. guttattus1.0 P. guttatus X E. climacophora1.1 P. o. rossalini1.0 P. o. lindheimeri0.1 E. anomala0.1 C. radiatus1.2 Lamprophis spp1.0 L. g. nigritus0.1 L. g. californiae1.0 H. n. nasicus1.0 P. m. melanoleucusBoids: 1.1 E. c. maurus 0.1 E. conicus12.14.4 P. regius1.1 A. maculosa
We HAD a three-bedroom house... Current lodgers: 1.0 E. c. maurus, 0.1 P. regius

lindseykim...if you read my thread on killer mealies - plz dont be alarmed, it seems its quite rare if anything.

__________________

thanks guys, i dont like mealies at all and know that feeding cricks is the best option, i'm still offering everything just to get them to eat while they settle in, and then hopefully switch them to cricks but at the mo they look like theyve never even seen a crick before!
I'm not too worried about the stories of killer mealies as my leos have been brought up on them for 10months without any harm, just get them to eat and then switch them with any luck.

aww im sure you shouldnt have any probs. stick a few in the viv with their mealies and see what happens!! let us know how it goes!! x

__________________

will do

i had some success today, they all had a couple on waxworms that i hand fed them, fussy buggers, wouldnt take any mealies though, have been putting cricks in every night but no interest. At least they ate something though! Do you think i could be trying them with the wrong size mealies, i'm using mediums is that big enough for 10mth old leos?

__________________
1.0.0 "max" normal leo
0.2.0 "Weasel" & "Tooty Fruity" tremper albinos
0.1.0 "Leodama" normal het albino
0.1.0 "Tiger" Tangerine albino

0.1.0 "Muffin" Springer Spaniel

Loads of tropical fish and 1 goldfish called "Legend"

Did you mean to say the wrong size crix?? If so mediums should be ok, i feed mine small/medium. But ill be honest, mine dont bother with crix at all, they eat everythin else but crix. I just dust small/medium hoppers and they wolf them down. On top of that i always make sure they got a bowl of medium mealies and wax worms for addtional protien.