My new leo and switching to mealies

[Nick144]

Hey, this is my new juvenile leo. His (I'm refering it as a him, as of now its unsexed) name is Gizmo, he lives in a 10gal tank with repti carpet with a moist/warm and cool hides.













Now onto the mealies....
Gizmo eats crickets but i want to switch to mealies because of the cricket's odor so, how can i switch gizmo to mealies?

Also, name suggestions for Gizmo would be greatly appreciated.

[dsirkle]

Just drop a mealworm in front of him and he will likely eat it right away. If not, just give him no crickets, only mealworms and it won't take long (maybe a couple of days at most) to get him eating them. Be sure to either dust the mealworms in calcium or leave a little dish of calcium available to him. Mealworms are not as nutritious as crickets are. I feed my leo's mealworms and raise my own mealworms because crickets are so messy and stinky.You can occassionally buy him crickets that he will eat right away for both a treat for him and for the nutrition involved.

[Nick144]

Thanks...I'll try it tommorow night the main reason i was wanting to switch is because of the stench of the crickets and they dont die as quickly like crickets do.

[dsirkle]

I have a 15qt tub that I breed mealworms in. I drilled the lid full of holes. I put 3 boxes of cheap off brand bran flakes in the tub for food. I add a carrot or 1/2 of a potato now and then to supply them with water. The worms will morph into a pupae like waxworm looking thing which will turn into a beetle which will lay eggs. In about 2 months or so you will start getting new worms born. If you order 1000 Mealworms on line for $22 or so you won't have to buy anymore. You may need to buy even less to get started as you only have 1 leo at this point but you get the idea. You add more bran flakes as the mealworms start turning the existing flakes to dust and throw in something for moisture once a week or so,even celery works well for that and that's all there is to it. If you keep the mealworms in too cool of an area (like a basement) they won't develop. They need to be at about at least 70 degrees.

[Larry Suttles]

Good advice Dale! I tried that will the mealies but I feed them off to quick...

[Nick144]

Thanks for the help I don't mind buying so I wont be needing to breed for awhile (that is until I get another leo ) I have another question...I fed him 7 and I'm wondering how much he can intake the worms are medium sized.

[dsirkle]

It is in print somewhere that all they want up to 10 is normal.

[Nick144]

Thanks again for all the help I need to ask one more question...What kinda a morph is my leo? Thanks agian for all the help and I'm sorry for asking alot of questions.

[dsirkle]

He is still a baby and without knowing his parentage it can only be guessed at. He appears to be a Super Hypo Tangerine. He may develop a carrot tail. He appears to have no spots on his head and therefore would be considered a baldy. If he gets all those features he will be a SHTCTB. And that's assuming that it's a he. The vast majority of leo's are temperature sexed in the incubator to be female. You can't tell the sex until it gets a little older. The black bands will fade away as he grows and you will see what he comes to look like but that is my best guess.

[Nick144]

Well...Thanks I do assume he's a baldie because every time he shed the spots an his head seem to fade away..well I guess I'll just have to wait.