Zoo Med’s gecko food is carefully designed with nutritional science in mind and uses four probiotic sources for digestive health – perfect for crested geckos, leopard geckos, emerald skinks, gargoyle geckos and other New Caledonian species.
Contents
Crested Gecko Diet
Crested geckos are frugivores, and therefore require a variety of food sources in their diet in order to be healthy. Unfortunately, many prepared diets fail to provide their captive crested geckos with sufficient nutrient ratios.
Feed your crested gecko a high-quality insect diet to ensure its proper nutritional needs and reduce the risk of MBD (malnutrition-based disorder).
Crickets should be gut loaded for at least 24 hours before offering them to your reptile for feeding, then distributed slowly over 10 or 15 minutes so as to prevent overfeeding. This will help avoid potential health concerns due to overeating.
Greens such as escarole, endive, and alfalfa provide your crested gecko with essential nutrition. Rich in calcium but low in phosphorus levels and free from antinutrients like oxalates and goitrogens, these food items should be offered several times each week for optimal results.
Leopard Gecko Diet
Leopard geckos are strict insect-eaters and require only insects in their diet, including mealworms, crickets and roaches as prey items for best nutrition value. Hornworms offer extra protein, calcium, fiber and phosphorus while still remaining low-in-fat content and chitin content – an ideal treat!
Overfeeding can put undue strain on their bodies, cause health issues and lead to death. To maintain the best conditions for captive lizards, variety, quality feeder insects, proper schedule and habitat must all come together in harmony for maximum health and vitality. By following these simple rules you can ensure your leopard gecko receives everything it needs for optimal health and vitality.
Gargoyle Gecko Diet
Gargoyle geckos can enjoy treats of fresh fruit for enrichment and occasional treats. Unfortunately, many fruits contain an imbalanced ratio of phosphorous to calcium that could result in hypocalcemia over time in captive reptiles. Furthermore, some contain compounds like oxalic acid which inhibit body calcification processes.
To prevent this from happening, it’s best to feed only fresh fruit that has been lightly steamed or baked and limit how often fresh fruits are offered to your gargoyle gecko. As an alternative, use pre-formulated diet powder and live insects to provide him with all of his essential nutrition requirements.
Allen Repashy has developed a nutritionally complete crested and gargoyle gecko diet made up of water mixed into a smoothie-like consistency and offered in biodegradable or reusable feeder cups for sale at most local reptile and exotic pet stores, often sold along with wall-mounted feeding ledges.
Day Gecko Diet
Giant day geckos make an exhilarating addition to any planted terrarium. As diurnal creatures, these fascinating critters add plenty of interest and activity during the daytime and can bring great charm into your home or office environment.
Captive geckos require insects and fruit as food sources; crickets and silkworms provide high amounts of protein for this animal. Calcium powder should also be applied prior to feeding time, along with multivitamin supplements as part of their diet.
Fruit should be provided multiple times each week and should include tropical fruits like pineapple, mango and cantaloupe as treats or sneaked into insects as food sources. Other tasty fruit offerings could be Kiwi, Figs Dates and Berries as tasty treats for insects.
Gecko diets require leafy greens as an essential staple. Endive, escarole, dandelion greens and alfalfa are great examples of these nutritious sources which provide many essential vitamins and minerals which may otherwise be hard for insects to acquire through food sources such as insects.
