Wild geckos enjoy eating an array of food items such as pollen aggregates, berries, various insects, fruit juice and even carrion; to replicate this diet in captivity many keepers feed their geckos a special powder called Crested Gecko Diet (CGD).
This diet should include crickets, waxworms, earthworms, hornworms, and fruit flies as food items for your geckos. When feeding geckos their feeder insects it is essential that these are pre-gut loaded in order to ensure maximum success and survival rates.
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Feeding Guidelines for Hatchlings and Juveniles
Proper nutrition for geckos can ensure their long and healthy lives, from hatchlings and juveniles through breeding geckos. Specialized care must be taken with hatchlings, juveniles and breeding geckos so they receive adequate nourishment.
Geckos often feed very little in the first few days after hatching, perhaps getting all their nutrients through their waste products, an indication that their gut load is working effectively.
Juveniles develop quickly. For their safety and wellbeing, juveniles can be kept in small enclosures like a faunarium or very small terrarium and should be fed daily.
Geckos are insect-eating reptiles, so their diet should include an assortment of insects. Crickets should form the backbone of its diet; however, for optimal results it’s also advisable to provide other species such as dubia roaches and live feeder insects along with pureed fruit mixes designed specifically for geckos. Furthermore, water should always remain available as geckos can become dehydrated quickly.
Feeding Guidelines for Adults
Leopard geckos should be fed a mixture of insects and fruit. When hunting their prey in the wild, leopard geckos shake their heads and vibrate their tails to spook insects into moving so they can capture them with their powerful jaws. Leopard geckos are adept hunters with keen eyesight and strong senses of smell – these characteristics help make them capable hunters!
Ideal gut load feeder insects 24 hours before feeding your gecko to enable them to absorb all of the vitamins and minerals necessary for its diet.
Crested geckos feed on various insects such as crickets, hornworms, wax worms and dubia roaches with soft exoskeletons more digestible for crested geckos than crickets – especially mealworms which have hard exoskeletons which may lead to impaction issues. They can also enjoy snacking on fruits such as papayas, figs, guava mango berries watermelons apples.
Feeding Guidelines for Baby Leopard Geckos
Leopard geckos grow rapidly, so they should be fed frequently. Each day, offer hatchlings a few appropriately sized insects per inch of body length; hatchlings should receive more frequent meals than juveniles or adults.
Leopard geckos need to receive all of their essential nutrients through food sources such as feeder insects. Dubia roaches (commonly referred to as African dwarf cockroaches) provide ample amounts of protein, calcium, fiber and phosphorus while still remaining low in fat and chitin levels compared with other feeder insects like crickets and flies.
Hornworms make an excellent treat, providing protein, fiber and phosphorus at lower fat than mealworms – easy for baby leopard geckos to digest as well. Be wary not to overfeed as this could lead to obesity; add multivitamin supplements for added protection if possible and only feed fruits or vegetables occasionally!
Feeding Guidelines for Adult Leopard Geckos
Geckos are extremely sensitive creatures and require a varied diet in order to thrive. A combination of insects, fruits and vegetables as well as a clean substrate will help avoid impaction or digestive issues in adult lizards. Weighing your leopard gecko weekly during its babyhood years and every two to four weeks as an adult will allow you to keep tabs on its health; should he start losing weight or cease eating, seek medical advice immediately from an accredited exotic veterinarian.
Avoid offering your lizard foods that lack nutritional value, like earthworms and nightcrawlers, which can lead to serious illnesses in reptiles. Fatty treats, like waxworms and super worms are great treats; just be careful that they’re eaten sparingly to avoid weight gain in geckos. All insects should also be dusted with multivitamin powder or calcium supplements before being offered as treats so that these supplements are properly absorbed by them.
