Feeder insects need to be infused with calcium before being fed to Leopard geckos; otherwise they could develop Metabolic Bone Disease, not grow properly, or experience fertility issues.
Crickets, cockroaches and mealworms are popular feeder insects. Mealworms can be easily purchased both in pet stores and online and make less noise than crickets when breeding them.
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Mealworms
Leopard geckos love mealworms because they’re readily available, cheap, healthy and don’t make as much noise or bite like crickets; making them the preferred live food choice of leos. Gut loading mealworms is important in order to get the maximum benefit out of these feeder insects.
“You are what you eat” applies perfectly here – commercially-bred mealworms usually lack many of the essential vitamins and minerals for gecko diets; gut loading helps remedy this.
To gut load mealworms, place them in a small storage container or bag with a lid and cover them in apple puree. Next, sprinkle in some calcium powder or vitamin dust and shake your container or bag so the mealworms become coated in it. Leave these tasty morsels alone for 24 hours before feeding them to your gecko; repeat this weekly to ensure maximum nutrition from these highly nutritional mealworms!
Apple Puree
Leopard geckos that feed on insects may benefit from gut loading their feeder insects. Store-bought or online-purchased mealworms may have been raised with subpar feed, leaving essential vitamins and minerals out. By adding extras into their prey’s food source, Leopard geckos may get exactly what they need from its diet.
Gut-loading mealworms with fruits, vegetables, and supplements is one way to address an imbalance. Simply grind up some apples into a puree and add it directly into your storage container with mealworms – two hours prior to feeding them directly to a gecko, soak the mealworms in apple puree as an incubating agent.
Alternately, you can dust the bugs with calcium and vitamin powder specifically made for reptiles – an efficient and fast way to feed your leopard gecko and keep him/her healthy and contented! You can find such supplements at local pet stores as well as online resources such as Northampton Reptile Centre.
Vegetables
Leopard geckos need various nutrients, though they can be selective eaters. If they stop eating altogether it may indicate health issues that should be addressed immediately. Gut loading insects with vitamins and minerals is one way to ensure that they receive all they require for good health.
Mealworms are an attractive option for feeding leopard geckos because they’re easy to find, affordable, high in protein content and have a long life-span that can be extended through refrigeration. Unfortunately, however, geckos often find them hard to consume due to their slow movement and associated chirping noises – potentially disturbing neighbours in the process!
Add gut loaded vegetables to mealworms can encourage them to feed more readily and it is vital that geckos get all of the nutrition they require from fruits and vegetables, such as acorn squash, butternut squash, bell peppers, prickly pear leaves, hibiscus flowers and common button mushrooms for optimal health. These foods contain beta-carotene which is converted to retinol which plays an essential role in overall gecko health.
Crickets
Feed your Leopard Gecko a variety of feeder insects to maintain optimal health. Only feeding one type could result in deficiencies of essential vitamins and minerals.
Crickets are an easy, cheap, and nutritious food source to offer your Leopard Gecko as feeder insects. Additionally, they must first be gut loaded to increase calcium to phosphorus ratio and add extra vitamins.
Leopard Geckos should also be fed dubia roaches or black soldier fly larvae as a source of protein and calcium/phosphorus balance, rather than crickets. Phoenix worms may add variety but their lower fat content makes them less suitable as staple foods; they may however serve to stimulate feeding by wiggling around and attracting their target.
