Mealworm question

[rockybird]

I have a large gecko living in my house. She (or he?) has lived here for the last two yrs. I only rarely see her. When I do, I find her if I get up very late at night hunting in the great room or the bird room. This summer I had a problem with crickets. Two months ago, I had the house and property sprayed for crickets. I also blocked the gap under a large door where I suspected they were entering the house. There are still a handful of crickets in the house at any time, but not in the numbers as before. Now I am worried there is not as much food for the gecko. I got home at 730 last night and found her hunting. I have never seen her out this early, but I suspect she is also very good at hiding. She looked skinnier, but I am not sure.

I went to Petsmart and bought her some mealworms. If I put these in the middle of the floor, do you think they will stay in place for a couple hours? The pet store guy said they wont and that they will bore through walls. I have a concrete floor. I want them to stay in place so that the gecko will find them and eat them. I also dont want another pest problem. I did put them in a little container last night and placed it where I typically see her, but I think the container was too big for her to get into. Thanks!

 

[Ragu]

They make meal worm dishes and sell them at most pet stores, they are made so that the meal worms cannot climb out. I doubt you will get much of an infestation with mealies though. i think their breeding requirements are not usully found i the every day home lol

 

[Brianjaykay]

You can really use anything for mealworms, when I needed them I just used a little candle lid for them.

 

[EmilyS]

You can use shallow ceramic dishes, like a casserole dish. The porous ceramic makes it easy to climb for the geckos and the worms can't climb the sides.
Just a question, why do you have geckos loose in your house?

 

[waterfaller1]

It must be what is called a 'house gecko'. They are pretty adept at catching food for themselves. I would suggest if you really want to help him to leave an outside light bulb on maybe on a porch,unblock the door so he can get out. He should be able to find his way there and bugs will be attracted to the light. I have two that I have seen living in/on my house. And a slew of lizards everywhere.

 

[EmilyS]

Must be a US thing. Up where I live it's rare that we get anything besides house spiders and the occasional stinkbug XD

 

[waterfaller1]

Yes, not sure where the OP lives but here in FL we have all sorts of critters living around, on, and in our homes. My back porch{Called a florida room} usually harbors at least two or more lizards, usually some tree frogs here and there, and at any given time all different kinds of spiders, ants and bugs. I tell my pest control guy who sprays the perimeter of my home not to spray my windowsills. That is where the lizards hang out a lot and catch whatever comes their way.I saw this guy the other day right outside my back porch window. He is a huge Cuban tree frog, about the size of my fist. They eat other tree frogs and are an invasive species here.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I rescued and raised a starling chick several years ago. I fed him mealworms until he weaned and then added other things along with the mealworms. I didn't put the worms in anything special and I never had a problem with them getting loose and to this day have found no infestations; they need some pretty interesting environments to actually grow to their maturity. One thing I did do was keep the adult worms waiting for their debut as lunch in the refrigerator; the cold makes them go into a kind of hybernation and makes them real sluggish. Roscoe would eat most of the worms right away while they were still sluggish, but he had no problem hunting down the ones a litter more active and very much enjoyed hunting them between the layers of newspaper in the cage.

 

[EmilyS]

Yeah, there are frogs and things around where I live, but they rarely venture close to our homes. Usually we get moose, bears, coyotes, and deer running around in our backyards. Once stepped in bear-poo on my way to school

http://i.imgur.com/3QFhW3L.jpg

This little girl was just eating the fallen apples from under the tree. She's probably about 2/3rds her adult size, and she's probably about 4 foot tall right now. We actually have a giant herd of deer nearby. About 12 head. Three HUGE stags with at least 12 points each.
... just realized how Canadian I sound.

12 head= 12 deer
12 points= their antlers are massive, each antler has 6 spikes, which makes 12 total. We call them "points" because they are pointy...
Stags are males

I know the US has tons of deer too, just not sure about Florida.
I wish I had a back yard, probably a lot safer than the forest my house is up against.