While feeding your leopard gecko is far from rocket science, there is quite a bit you need to learn. For starters, like most of their reptilian kin, leopard geckos are insectivores. Many first time gecko handlers attempt to feed them fruit and vegetables. It is important for you to remember that while these are nutritious to humans, it isn’t what your lizard needs. The diet of the leopard gecko is slightly more complex than you might have anticipated, but it isn’t that difficult either.
The most common items on the leopard gecko’s menu are crickets and mealworms. Unfortunately, feeding them isn’t as easy as dumping a handful of insects into the terrarium. There are a few nuances you’ll need to get familiar with first.
- You must feed your leopard gecko LIVE FEED.
- The feed must be fed.
- Nourish your lizard with supplements.
- Hydrate your gecko with fresh clean water.
While feeding your leopard gecko canned crickets may have its benefits (canned crickets are pre-loaded with reptile vitamins), live feed is recommended by most leopard gecko aficionados. The live feed make feeding time stimulating. Crickets, in particular, are the most stimulating. Needless to say, they are more agile than mealworms.
Yep, you read that right. The stuff you feed your leopard gecko needs to be fed. The right term for this is “gut loading”. The way that this is done is pretty simple. You put your live feed into a plastic container (a Rubbermaid food container does a pretty good job) and fill it with hog mash, or special insect food you can purchase from specialty pet stores. Some of these commercial feed you can buy include Zilla’s Gut Load, Calypso Cricket Dust and Zoo Med’s Cricket Feed. There are some things from the pantry you can use as well. Vegetables like romaine lettuce, mustard greens, squash, sweet potatoes, apples or oranges. Cover the container and leave the critters in there for around 12 hours. After this process, you can feed them to your pet lizard.
Feeding your leopard gecko with crickets and worms isn’t enough. Reptiles that are bred in captivity often suffer from calcium deficiency. You can enhance their diets by “dusting”, which entails putting the live feed in a zip-loc bag with calcium supplements and giving it a good shake. You can also put the calcium powder in a small pan. The lizard instinctively knows how much it should take, so there isn’t much to worry about there.
Lizards are not big consumers of water. They are able to get the hydration they need from the insects they consume. However, it is important to put a small stable pan of water in their habitat at all times. Make sure the water is replaced daily, as stagnant water poses health risks.
Now you know all there is to know. Enjoy feeding time! Here’s a video from YouTube on gecko feeding.
