Leopard geckos are natural insectivores and should receive a diet rich in insects to meet all their nutritional needs. By selecting various feeder insects to feed to them, you will ensure they receive all the essential vitamins and minerals they require for their wellbeing.
Leopard Geckos make excellent feeder insects. Crickets, superworms and dubia roaches are easy to find, inexpensive and nutritionally rich choices that should all make for good options.
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Mealworms
Leopard geckos are insectivores and live off of eating insects such as crickets, mealworms and roaches for sustenance.
Mealworms make for an easy and healthy diet option for your leopard gecko, providing essential protein and calcium.
Feeder crickets are an economical solution, yet can be quite pricey to provide to leopard geckos in large numbers. When feeding, be sure to dust them with vitamin powder first and ensure they’re appropriate in terms of size for your leo’s diet; too small or large may pose a choking hazard and need to be fed at least once daily (more frequently for juveniles or adults). Baby leopard geckos typically eat them once or twice weekly while juveniles and adults need at least twice weekly feedings.
Superworms
Leopard geckos love eating bugs and will quickly devour anything you place before them. Unfortunately, many of the commonly available feeder insects can be detrimental to their health; for optimal nutrition it is wise to seek alternatives.
Dubia roaches are one of the most nutritious feeder insects you can provide your leopard gecko with, thanks to their low levels of fat content, easy gut load process, and versatility in care and storage.
Be sure to dust your dubia roaches with multivitamin and calcium powder prior to feeding them to your reptile, taking special care not to overfeed as this could lead to obesity or even impaction, a blockage in the digestive system.
Black Soldier Fly Larvae
Leopard geckos should be fed a variety of feeder insects throughout the day to ensure they receive all of the essential vitamins and nutrients. This will ensure they receive optimal care.
BSFL are easy to raise and an excellent source of protein and vitamins for gecko health. As with crickets, they should be gut-loaded with powdered vitamins/mineral supplements before being fed to your gecko.
Some owners like to switch up the geckos’ diet every few weeks by providing treats like hornworms (moth caterpillars that are high in protein) and phoenix worms (low fat, average calcium/phosphorous ratio). Grasshoppers can be fed too, although hard chitin exoskeletons should be avoided for optimal digestion. All treats should also be gut-loaded to maximize health.
Dubia Roaches
NutriGrubs are an excellent alternative to crickets and black soldier fly larvae as food sources for leopard geckos, as they are easy to store, possess an ideal protein ratio, and more calcium than traditional feeder insects. Furthermore, NutriGrubs don’t make as much noise or tend to escape than their counterparts.
Young geckos benefit more from eating these types of snacks due to their thinner exoskeleton, making digestion simpler. As they contain high levels of fat, only feed these occasionally for best results.
Before offering them to your gecko, be sure to gut load them for at least 12 hours and dust them with a multivitamin/calcium supplement containing vitamin D3. Cockroaches should not be larger than the distance between their eyes for optimal health reasons and to prevent choking and other health concerns.
Waxworms
Leopard geckos require a diet rich in variety to meet their nutrient requirements. Offering only one type of feeder insect may lead to deficiencies in essentials like protein, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Dubia roaches make great staple feeder insects as they contain low levels of fat while providing essential protein that leopard geckos need for healthy development. They also boast an excellent ratio of calcium-to-phosphorous ratio and don’t jump out of dishes like crickets can do.
Gut-loading feeder insects is also simple so that geckos can gain additional vitamins and nutrients without eating them directly, using powder specifically formulated to gut load feeder insects, or placing them in a container with fresh leafy greens and carrots 24 hours before giving to their geckos as sustenance.
