Bottle-cap portions for a gecko that weighs almost nothing
A mourning gecko is only a few inches long, so its daily need sounds almost comically small: a thin smear of prepared powdered gecko diet mixed with water, about a bottle-cap amount per adult, offered every other evening rather than topped up daily. Between paste nights, tiny live food adds hunting enrichment and variety, with a few fruit flies, pinhead crickets, or tiny roaches once or twice a week. Babies and juveniles, which appear regularly in this self-cloning species, eat the same foods in smaller amounts and benefit from paste being available a little more often while they are growing. If paste remains untouched two rounds running, serve less and check that the consistency is a smooth nectar rather than a stiff lump.
Why paste plus micro-prey suits this species
Mourning geckos lick fruit, nectar, and soft foods in the wild and also snap up very small insects, so a complete prepared gecko diet mirrors that mix in a form that keeps well in a dish. Live micro-prey still matters because it triggers the quick tongue-flicking hunt that paste cannot, and it lets younger geckos practise catching food at their own scale. In a colony, appetite is social as well as individual: a confident adult may park herself on the ledge while a juvenile waits, which is why two feeding stations at different heights give a truer picture of how much the group actually eats than one crowded dish.
Setting out food a whole colony can reach
Mix fresh paste in the evening, when these nocturnal geckos are waking, and set out small cups on magnetic or suction ledges near cover so timid animals can feed without crossing open glass. Serve a thin layer rather than a deep cupful, since mourning geckos lick the surface and deep paste mostly dries or grows mould in the humid enclosure. Remove the previous cup before replacing it, wash the cup rather than scraping and reusing old paste, and scatter fruit flies after the lights dim so the hunt happens while the geckos are active. Watch bellies from the side through the glass: a gently rounded profile is right, while a visibly bulging body on a mostly paste diet suggests easing the insect extras back.
Counting mouths when the colony grows itself
Because mourning geckos reproduce without males, a pair quietly becomes a colony, and yesterday's right amount slowly becomes too little as juveniles graduate to adult appetites. Recheck how fast cups are emptied whenever you spot new hatchlings, and add a station instead of simply piling more paste into the original cup. Separate age groups rarely need separate enclosures for feeding, but placing one low ledge near the juveniles' favourite hide helps them compete. Keep notes on hatchling sightings alongside feeding changes, since the two are directly linked for this species in a way they are not for most pet geckos.
When tiny appetites go quiet
A single gecko skipping paste on a cool night is seldom a worry, yet a colony-wide refusal, visible weight loss along the tail, or a gecko that sits away from cover in daylight should prompt a check of temperatures and humidity and then advice from a reptile veterinarian if it continues. Crusty paste, a mouldy cup, or a diet mixed too thick can also cause a refusal that looks like illness, so refresh the food first and observe the next evening. Recording paste changes in KinsLe through Care Teams, with each swap marked done at a set time, keeps fresh food in front of the colony and gives a clear history if appetites dip.