Gut loading your leopard gecko is an effective way to ensure it receives all of the essential vitamins and minerals it requires for a long and healthy life.
Feeder insects like crickets, mealworms and dubia roaches provide leopard geckos with excellent food sources.
They’re easy to locate and affordable to buy; plus they provide nutritional benefits!
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Crickets
Crickets make excellent staple feeders for leopard geckos as they contain high levels of protein and calcium while remaining relatively low-fat. To remain healthy, crickets should form only part of an overall balanced diet that also includes other insects.
Crickets offer very few calories, making them an ideal treat for young leopard geckos that need to lose weight or gravid females recovering from pregnancy. When giving crickets to your pet, be sure to sprinkle some calcium powder onto them first!
Bearded dragons and leopard geckos are insectivores, meaning that they feed solely on insects. Therefore, their diet must include foods rich in the right kinds of nutrients that will meet this need.
Crickets are an excellent option for gut loading a reptile as they are easily maintained and low in fat content. However, they must be fed as part of a balanced diet to balance out calcium to phosphorus ratio.
Mealworms
Mealworms are one of the most widely eaten live foods for leopard geckos and are readily available. Additionally, they’re economical and easy to store in your fridge.
Mealworms can be loaded with various nutritious food items, such as fruit, vegetables or bug grub. By doing this, your pet is getting all of the micronutrients they require for proper growth.
Gut loading foods include carrots, potatoes or sweet potatoes, apples and leafy greens – among many others. Oats also provide ample fiber and calcium.
If mealworms will be your leopard gecko’s primary food source, dust them with calcium powder to both keep them healthy and increase its calcium intake. Doing this can increase its calcium intake.
Oats
Oats provide leopard geckos with an excellent source of calcium, in addition to providing essential vitamins and minerals.
However, they can cause impaction if not fed carefully. To lower the risk of impaction, give them to your lizard gradually over several days and reduce any chance of impaction.
Oats are easy to digest and packed with protein, calcium and vitamins. Plus they’re low-fat and easy to store!
Leopard geckos find them an excellent food source, providing essential nutrition without any harmful toxins or substances that could pose threats.
If you plan on gut-loading leopard geckos with oats, make sure they use high-quality brands such as Bassett’s Cricket Ranch for optimal health.
Vegetables
Leopard geckos are insectivores, meaning that they lack the digestive enzymes required to break down vegetables and fruit as food sources, and calcium, an essential mineral component.
To meet their nutritional needs, leopard geckos require insects such as crickets, Dubia roaches, mealworms and more for sustenance. When giving these foods to your reptile it is necessary to gut load all insects as per the diagram shown below before feeding it to it.
Because they must absorb as many essential nutrients, especially calcium, as possible.
Vegetables can provide your leopard gecko with essential vitamins and minerals for proper growth. Common examples include carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts and bell peppers.
Before giving your leopard gecko mealworms, it’s advisable to first gut-load them with fruits and vegetables, which will allow for easier absorption of nutrients as well as easier consumption by your pet gecko. This should make feeding time much more manageable!
