IMO hikari should work ..i am a big fan..and dont feel bad about starving him he can surviv up to 2 weeks or more in the wild without food and he will eat if he wants..but because he is already big its going to be hard..i tried on my jardini at 14 " and had no luck so what i do is feed him earthworms..gutloaded..and superworms and crickets that i prefeed carrots appleslices and romain hearts for vitamins, especially the beta carotine from the carrots.
it real close to theyre natural diet..if you search on the net you will find sites that sell like 10'000 superworms for 80$..so cheep
good luck with your jar and the pellets