Leopard geckos are predominantly insectivores, feeding on insects and small invertebrates such as gut-loaded crickets, Dubia roaches and Phoenix worms (black soldier fly larvae or calci-worms) available from most pet stores.
These insects provide high amounts of protein, calcium, phosphorus and fiber while being low in fat and chitin content. Furthermore, they’re easy to keep.
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Feeding Schedule
Leopard geckos are opportunistic predators and will consume any insects or small invertebrates they come across to survive in their environment. Once adults, however, their fat stores provide significant energy reserves and require less food intake for energy needs.
Baby and juvenile geckos should be fed daily, while adult geckos can be fed once every other day. Be wary not to overfeed as this could lead to obesity; for this reason it may be helpful to weigh your gecko before and after each feeding to ensure he receives enough food.
As your geckos grow, you can begin offering larger insect prey items. When feeding it to your gecko, cover each insect in supplement powder so he can more efficiently consume its nutrition without biting through to swallow all of it at once. Within minutes your gecko should stop showing interest in its meal as a sure sign it’s full!
Insects
Leopard geckos are insectivores and need a meat-based diet of insects to remain healthy and happy. To keep their metabolism running at maximum efficiency, baby geckos require constant stimulation – baby geckos should be fed as many crickets or Dubia roaches in 10 minutes as they can consume, then any uneaten bugs should be removed from the dish immediately after.
Crickets are an ideal food source for leopard geckos, being readily available and providing an excellent protein to fat ratio. Plus, their less likely impaction compared to mealworms means less chance for impaction! For optimal results when feeding crickets to leopard geckos it should first be dusted with vitamin powder prior to feeding them to your pet.
Mealworms, waxworms, and grubs provide leopard geckos with valuable nutrition. Easy to keep and dusted with nutrient powder as needed, they should always be gut loaded before feeding to ensure all vitamins and minerals reach your pet during digestion.
Insect Containers
Leopard geckos are predators in their own right, hunting insects, small mammals, and reptiles in the wild. When kept as pets in captivity they must be fed a variety of feeder insects – most commonly crickets (house or banded), which should be presented using tongs or feeding dish; dubia roaches, mealworms silkworms or even hornworms as treats should also be offered regularly to them.
Young leopard geckos should be fed a diet consisting of crickets, cockroaches and Dubia roaches, which provide high levels of protein, calcium and phosphorus while being low in fat and chitin content. In addition, these food sources are easy to gut load while providing vital vitamins and minerals to their gecko.
Hornworms make a delicious treat for leopard geckos and provide extra nutrition with their high levels of protein, calcium and phosphorus. Plus they’re easily housed in plastic totes without risk of impaction!
Supplements
Leopard geckos in captivity require daily supplementation with calcium/vitamin D3 supplements, and this powder should be dusted over their bodies on a weekly basis to prevent MBD, an illness which deforms bones severely. Reptivite, available from most pet stores, is an ideal calcium/multivitamin product which also provides essential extra reptile vitamins such as A (to prevent hypervitaminosis A) and beta-carotene that is often lacking from feeder insects.
Some owners also opt to gut-load feeder insects (such as crickets, worms, hornworms and waxworms ) with vitamins and minerals before offering them to their lizards for feeding. This process is especially useful for leopard geckos as juveniles require additional vitamins and minerals than adults; simply place your feeder insects into a Ziplock bag covered in nutritional powder so your lizard will consume both its supplement and prey at once!
