Golden geckos may require more care and maintenance than some other reptiles, but once you understand their needs they make rewarding pets. Golden geckos thrive best in an ideal humid rainforest environment.
Provide your animal with a large water dish and mist their cage regularly to maintain humidity levels of between 60-80%. Offer live insects like crickets, mealworms and superworms along with occasional cockroaches or wax worms as food sources.
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Insects
Most types of geckos, including leopard, African fat-tailed, frog-eyed, tokays and house geckos–such as leopards, African fat-tailed geckos, frog-eyed tokays and house geckos–are insectivores that require insects for proper nutrition. A range of pesticide-free live insects – crickets, waxworms mealworms roaches fruit flies earthworms moths or grasshoppers should be offered every two or three days along with multivitamin supplements like Repashy Supercal NoD and Herptivite with Beta Carotene for optimal performance). Repashy Supercal NoD and Herptivite with Beta Carotene both make excellent options!
Golden geckos enjoy eating insects as well as tropical fruit mashes made commercially, which should be fed daily in an evening dish and removed the following morning. As arboreal species, golden geckos require warm and humid surroundings – we suggest misting their cage daily and providing a small water dish in their tank that needs to be kept inside at all times; any spillages must be cleaned off regularly using reptile-safe disinfectant spray or scrubbed out using an old toothbrush soaked with disinfectant for easy clean-up!
Fruits
Though some geckos enjoy eating fruits, these should only be given as occasional treats. Fruits contain inedible or toxic parts like apple seeds which contain small amounts of cyanide that can prove fatal for reptiles. Furthermore, certain fruits contain high concentrations of oxalic acid which binds calcium absorption from gecko diets, impairing their overall health.
An effective solution would be to offer your gecko a range of fruit purees and baby foods. Also add vitamin supplement powder twice or thrice weekly; multivitamins every other day for best results.
Diet should include live insect prey such as crickets, waxworms, mealworms, dubia roaches, butter worms and cockroaches – always use pesticide-free insects and gut load them prior to feeding to reduce metabolic bone disease risk; metabolic bone disease occurs when too much protein and not enough minerals are consumed in their diets.
Substrate
Golden geckos are among the easiest reptiles to keep as pets. They don’t require large or complex enclosures and can live up to 10 years when properly cared for – all it requires is healthy diet, humidity levels that stay optimal, and adequate space in your home!
Add plenty of branches and plants for them to explore, as well as hiding spots. Use a substrate that retains moisture efficiently such as reptile bark or coconut fiber substrate; regularly misting will ensure humidity remains between 60-81%.
Golden geckos feed on various insects for food, including crickets, waxworms, mealworms and cockroaches; wild-caught insects may contain parasites or pesticides which should be avoided. They will also consume fruit such as banana slices or pureed baby food before drinking from shallow dishes of water or plant leaves.
Water
Golden geckos, being rainforest lizards, require plenty of water. As part of their care regimen, give them access to a shallow dish of clean and fresh water each day and add drops of multivitamin solution for added nutrition and health benefits.
Substrates you select for your golden gecko’s enclosure must be designed to retain moisture and keep humidity levels consistent, such as coconut fiber, reptile bark or an organic soil mix suitable for their skin. However, avoid sand and potting soil, which could scratch or irritate their delicate skin.
Golden geckos, being nocturnal animals, don’t require UVB lights in their environment, though installing one is still recommended to help your pet absorb Vitamin D3. This is especially crucial as golden geckos don’t naturally receive enough of this nutrient in their native habitats. A hygrometer should be used to monitor humidity levels within 60-80%.