Feed your leopard gecko a supplement that contains appropriate calcium-to-phosphorus ratios and vitamins; Zoomed’s ReptiVite is an excellent option.
This meal replacement powder is an excellent dietary addition for herbivorous herps such as crested geckos, day geckos, leachies, and gargoyle geckos. It can be fed either as a paste, gel or slurry feedings.
Dusting Insects
Leopard geckos are insectivores, feeding on only live insects. For optimal nutrition, leopard geckos need variety in their diet – in the wild this means licking mineral deposits or salts; hunting rodents; or catching baby rodents/lizards that contain vitamins/minerals for extra vitamin/mineral sources. In captivity they rely solely on their caretaker to provide all their needs.
Supplement your geckos’ feeder insects with an all-in-one calcium and multivitamin powder for best results. Many available today have fine textures that allow for easy dusting on insects before feeding them to your lizards. Some experts advise dusting every feeding; others suggest only dusting once at feeding time; regardless of your schedule preference, however, always ensure that they have access to clean fresh water sources; dehydration can lead to serious health complications, including kidney failure.
Fresh Insects
Fresh insects offer your gecko the most complete source of nutrition, and Exo Terra offers pre-mixed single-serving packages of these tasty treats that make mealworms and crickets less likely to contain too much phosphorous or cause impaction risk than usual. Their food includes protein from black solider flies as well as peas, lima beans, and soy.
This flexible diet can be provided as a gel, paste, or slurry and mixed in with existing meals or fed as a topping on dry kibble diets. As with all insect-based food sources, it’s essential that it be gut loaded and dusted prior to feeding it to your leo. In addition, use of a calcium tray is highly recommended alongside high quality multivitamin supplements with added Vitamin D3. For adult non-breeders Fluker’s Calcium Reptile Supplement with added Vitamin D3 may suffice as an adequate replacement source.
Feeder Roaches
Reptile owners frequently recommend crickets as the ideal leopard gecko food, since they are easy to access, affordable, high in protein content and relatively low in fat content. You can purchase crickets at most pet stores or online. Since crickets move around a lot and may bite their owners frequently, for optimal nutrition they must be gut loaded properly so your gecko receives all its vital vitamins.
Feed your gecko mealworms. Mealworms make an ideal alternative to crickets as they do not produce noise when feeding them or bite, they provide nutritious foodstuffs without wings and can easily be purchased at most pet shops; additionally, their lifespan can be extended through refrigeration. However, mealworms are more costly and tend to live shorter.
Pre-killed insects are another excellent addition to your gecko’s diet, such as Zoomed’s ReptiVite product which offers optimal calcium/phosphorus ratios as well as an extensive spectrum of vitamins – this meal can either be fed in liquid form or as a solid gel form for easier feedings.
