Feeder insects are bred in captivity to feed pet reptiles and some birds. There are many species of feeder insects available on the market, and the list is increasing.
Mealworms are probably the most popular and most widely sold live food for lizards and other pets as well. They are easy to keep and breed, and geckos accept them readily. There has been a lot of debate about using mealworms as a primary food because of their relatively high-fat content, and their poor phosphorus-to-calcium ratio. However, one of the greatest authorities on captive-bred leos — Ron Temper, state that mealworms make a perfectly good staple food for leopard geckos.
My own experience has been in line with that. As mealworms are the easiest feeder to raise at home, you should keep a colony so that you can have a sustainable food resource at all times, regardless of outer circumstances. Never give your leos mealworm beetles, as their shells are tough to digest and may cause impaction. Crickets are another readily available feeder insects.
They take more space to keep than mealworms, are usually noisy and keen on escaping, if you take the right steps, they are still easy to maintain and breed. Also, crickets have a good protein ratio and are relatively low and fat, but you should always serve them dusted with vitamin powder. Different species of tropical roaches not the kind from your bathroom make very suitable feeders.
Dubia roaches are easy to breed and are lasting if you provide the right temperature and appropriate hiding places. Plus, they have excellent nutritional value. Because of their fat content, waxworms are something like gecko junk food, and naturally — leos love them. There are more attractive feeders available from breeders, such as silkworms, hornworms, various other roaches, etc.
Black soldier fly larvae are especially attractive because of their near-perfect calcium to phosphorus ratio. Wild insects are a good way to add variety and more nutrients to your leopard gecko diet. On the other hand, be aware of the risk of introducing parasites and disease is higher than with regular feeders. Every gecko enthusiast should decide for himself if the benefit is worth the risk. Additionally, stay away from spiders and caterpillars.
Spiders can give your pets a nasty bite, and many caterpillars have chemical defense mechanisms which can harm your geckos. Unlike bearded dragons and green iguanas, leopard geckos do not eat fruit and vegetables. They are purely carnivorous lizards. Save your vitamin-rich fruits and veggies for gut-loading the feeder insects. Some breeders will advise you to feed your gecko an occasional newborn rodent — the so-called pinkie.
If you have a breeding female, you can give her one pinkie a week. Also, pinkies have been known to help young geckos to meet their nutritional needs during growth sprouts. If you are feeling uncomfortable with the idea of giving live baby rodents to your geckos — they will do just fine without it if you provide quality, supplemented insect feeders.
Unfortunately, no home diet can replace the variety that lizards enjoy in their natural habitats. That is why the feeder insects should be dusted with special reptile vitamin and mineral supplements in the form of powders, and why they should be gut-loaded before giving them to your pet. As for powdered supplements, go with the multi-vitamin carnivorous reptile powder from a reputable producer. You should lightly dust the insects before every feeding.
Since my geckos are quite old, I occasionally skip dusting to avoid burdening their livers. Leopard geckos have high calcium requirements which sometimes cannot be satisfied only through dusting — this especially goes for juveniles and breeding females.
Therefore, you can leave a small tray with pure calcium supplement in the tank. Dusting your insects with a calcium supplement will help make sure your pet has the nutrients it needs for strong bones. If you are using ultraviolet light in your habitat, the calcium supplement is enough, but we recommend calcium and vitamin D3 supplements if there is no UVB lighting. The feeding amount will depend largely on the size and type of gecko you have, but most popular breeds will eat 5—10 gut-loaded and supplement-dusted crickets every other day, while baby geckos can eat up to 20 small crickets each day as they are developing.
Crickets are usually a good size for most geckos, and their jumping around will help your pet stay active, but the downside is that the crickets can escape or be difficult to catch. If your gecko is getting older, it might prefer a diet of mealworms instead. Avoid feeding food that is too large for your cricket to eat and only give fatty insects like the waxworm to your pet as an occasional treat or coax it into eating its food.
While it may be tempting to feed your pet insects that you catch around the house, doing so can transfer dangerous parasites and bacteria to your pet that can make it sick. We recommend feeding only captive-bred insects to keep your pet healthy.
While geckos eat a wide variety of insects in the wild, they will primarily eat crickets in captivity. The gecko diet may sound complex but is very easy once you start doing it. We hope you have enjoyed reading over this guide, and it has helped answer your questions. If we have helped you provide a better meal for your pet, please share this guide to what a gecko eats in the wild and as pets on Facebook and Twitter.
Ed Malaker is a veteran writer who has contributed to a wide range of blogs that cover tools, pets, guitars, fitness, and computer programming. Skip to content. Ed Malaker.
Aug 25 In the wild, geckos eat anything that is small enough for them to overpower or capture and consume. Insects such as crickets and grasshoppers are their mainstay dietary choice in their native unrestricted environment.
Geckos will also consume arthropods such as spiders, centipedes and small scorpions. Small rodents -- particularly young still in the nest -- are also on their list of prey. They even have cannibalistic tastes: They will eat hatchling geckos. Exact duplication of a wild diet in a captive setting is not a likely option. However, providing a variety of food choices such as crickets, mealworms, silkworms, waxworms and locusts goes a long way toward giving geckos the nutritional variety they require to remain healthy.
The bulk of a captive gecko's diet should come from crickets, as the various types of worms geckos enjoy eating do not offer the same level of nutrition as do insects. Fruit flies are like candy to baby geckos -- only they're nutritional. Give adult geckos a pinkie, which is the pet trade industry name for a one-day-old mouse, once a week to simulate their wild habit of eating small rodents.
Because crickets are the bulk of a gecko's diet, pay extra attention to obtain quality crickets when feeding captive geckos. Not all crickets contain the same level of nutritional value for your gecko. This is especially true if the cricket has been at the pet store for a longer period of time.
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