Leopard geckos feed on an assortment of insects, most frequently crickets, dubia roaches and waxworms.
Before feeding feeder insects to leopard geckos, it is crucial that they receive a high calcium diet known as gut loading. Furthermore, it would be prudent to dust these feeder insects with vitamin and calcium powder as an extra measure.
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Gut loading
Leopard geckos in the wild supplement their diets by consuming shed skin, which provides protein and minerals. While this practice should not be allowed at home due to parasites and bacteria lurking on skin shed by insects, you can dust feeder insects with Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 powder that will provide additional vitamins and minerals which they cannot obtain through diet alone.
Crickets and mealworms provide the main protein source for Leopard gecko diets. To ensure maximum effectiveness of nutrition intake by your leo, it is crucial that feeder insects like crickets and mealworms be fed on leafy greens, vegetables and fruits prior to offering them as snacks for feeding purposes. It is suggested to offer two appropriately sized insects per inch of body length dusted with calcium for feeding purposes – watching how often and in how much amounts! Observing appetite patterns is crucial when feeding time comes up!
Vegetables
Note that no captive diet can replicate the variety of invertebrate and vertebrate prey as well as plant species that a Leopard Gecko would encounter in its natural habitat, although some captive reptile owners do notice their lizard consuming vegetable material due to illness – it is strongly advised that you seek professional veterinary advice prior to feeding this way to your reptile.
Vegetables can provide your lizard with vital vitamins, but should only make up a small percentage of its diet. Cabbage does not provide all the required dietary elements needed by Leo; to provide optimal care try offering mealworms, earthworms, waxworms or hornworms instead.
These insects provide high amounts of protein, calcium, phosphorus and fibre while being low in fat and chitin content. Furthermore, they make for an excellent way to introduce vegetables into your lizard’s diet; just be sure that before giving the insects to them your lizard gets gut loaded as per above instructions!
Supplements
Multivitamins and calcium powder that we provide our insects with are also vitally important supplements for leopard geckos. Babies and juveniles should receive both D3 and calcium twice weekly with their meals; adults typically only require once every week.
Reptivite is an excellent multivitamin supplement specifically formulated for reptiles that comes in powder form for easy dusting of feeder insects. This product includes most water-soluble vitamins needed by leopard geckos such as A, B1, B2, C & D3 as well as calcium & iron for proper health.
Take into consideration providing your lizard with supplements containing beta-carotene, which converts into retinol for healthy skin and immune system functioning. Finally, include some moistened sphagnum peat moss in its hide rock to provide adequate humidity levels in their environment.
Mealworms
Leopard geckos feed on an assortment of insects, such as crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches and waxworms. A varied diet is crucial as leopard geckos are natural hunters who require variety in their meals to thrive. Feeder insects should be gut-loaded (see below) before being dusted with calcium powder for best results.
Crickets and mealworms are available at most pet stores and should form part of a leopard gecko’s diet, but to prevent obesity from setting in they should not be fed exclusively to these lizards.
Instead, offer feeder insects with other nutrient-rich foods like dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae and hornworms in order to trigger your leo’s hunting response and provide varied nutrition. Diversifying feeder insect types also reduces mold and bacteria growth risk in feeder containers.