Spotted geckos feed on various insects in their natural environments, so your pet gecko should receive an assortment of feeder insects that mimic this diet. Dubia roaches and crickets make good staples, with treats of hornworms or Phoenix worms (black soldier fly larva) as supplementary meals.
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Feeder Insects
Your leopard gecko needs insects as part of its diet, just as most pet reptiles do. Variety is key when feeding insects to your gecko because this replicates nature and ensures adequate levels of vitamins and minerals for its proper development and wellbeing. Dusted with Repashy Calcium Plus multivitamin reptile dusting formula may provide your gecko with added vitamin D3 support; which it cannot naturally acquire via sunlight or UVA/UVB light sources.
Crickets are an easily available feeder insect for many pets, making them perfect for feeding geckos as they contain low amounts of fat while offering a healthy protein ratio (see below for how to gut load them). Dubia roaches also make great feeder insects; simply dusting them with vitamin powder will provide your gecko with excellent calcium/phosphorus balance!
Fruit Mix
Leopard geckos are natural insectivores and must rely solely on insects as food, since their digestive systems lack the capability of digesting plant proteins found in fruits and vegetables.
As an alternative, try offering your lizard a mix of bugs such as Dubia roaches. They are easy to digest, low in fat content and highly nutritious. Waxworms and superworms should only be given occasionally as treats as these contain too much fat.
Baby geckos should be fed as many small crickets or roaches in 10 minutes as they can consume, with any leftover food removed immediately to prevent overfeeding and promote rapid growth. When selecting farm-raised insects for feeding purposes, as wild-caught ones could contain parasites and diseases that could harm their health. Pellets do not stimulate your pet’s natural hunting instinct and should instead be dusted every other feeding with multivitamin and calcium powder such as Repashy Calcium Plus or ReptiVite for added benefits when supplementing insects like these are consumed from prey creatures that absorb nutrients more effectively from prey animals they capture!
Calcium/Vitamin D3 Supplements
Geckos in the wild can get all of their calcium needs met through eating mineral deposits or drinking rainwater that contains minerals. But captive geckos require calcium supplements containing vitamin D3 in order to process their calcium intake; these come as pure calcium powder or multivitamin and calcium combo products. It’s important that your gecko’s calcium plus D3 supplement does not contain too much phosphorous which would prevent its absorption into their system.
Fluker’s multivitamin/calcium powder includes beta carotene for eye and immune system health, calcium to support bone strength and vitamin D3 to assist lizards with digesting calcium intake, as well as niacin for healthy skin – just dust this on feeder insects before each feeding!
Some keepers like to add the same type of powder to the water of their geckos as well, although this is unnecessary as geckos don’t drink their water and this powder could clump in their mouth and lead to an impaction issue.
Gut-Loading Insects
Commercial feeder insects tend to be devoid of vital nutrients, but by gut-loading them with nutritious foods prior to feeding, these benefits can be passed along to reptiles who consume these bugs. Furthermore, this helps lower the risk of insects becoming stuck within your reptile’s digestive tract and rotting away over time.
Feeder insects suitable for leopard geckos include mealworms, dubia roaches and crickets (though mealworms shouldn’t be fed regularly as they contain fat; waxworms should only be used as treats). You can purchase these in most pet stores.
Black soldier fly larvae or BSFL (sometimes known as “calci-worms”) make an excellent alternative to crickets for feeding your reptile, providing both protein and calcium in a short lifespan mealworms can’t match. Unfortunately, their high phosphorus content could lead to Metabolic Bone Disease. For best results, gut load all insects before giving them to your reptile to reduce bacterial and fungal growth within the insect’s digestive tract and ensure you provide them with safe meals!
