Leopard geckos cannot digest fruits and vegetables due to a lack of a cecum that helps break down cellulose. As such, their digestive tract passes the nutrients directly through unnoticed, leading to health problems such as diarrhea, bloating, and malnutrition.
Fruit can only be fed to cats if prescribed or advised by their vet for illness or as treats. There are two methods for doing this; gut loading or pureeing the fruit.
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Mealworms
Leopard geckos are insectivores, meaning that they prefer eating live insects over dry food as it provides vital nutrition.
Crickets are an ideal food source for leopard geckos, as they can quickly fill their stomach and provide high protein with minimal fat content, all at an economical price point and readily available at pet shops.
Mealworms are another favorite treat of leopard geckos as they do not move much and do not bite back at them. Additionally, their lifespan can be extended further through refrigeration.
Mealworms don’t need to be fed on an ongoing basis, though it’s best practice to replace their discarded food at least every week or so in order to prevent rotting. Furthermore, maintaining an environment that provides cool, dark and damp conditions will slow development while prolonging lifespan and making mealworms last longer before pupating occurs.
Crickets
Crickets are one of the most beloved foods for leopard geckos. Not only are they readily available and inexpensive, but their nutritional content makes them the ideal food source. Before offering them as treats to your lizard friend, however, make sure they have been gut loaded first.
Crickets provide an ideal ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Furthermore, their high moisture content makes them especially suitable for reptiles requiring frequent hydration.
Pretzels can make an excellent addition to the diets of young, sick and pregnant leopard geckos. Just ensure that they’re coated in calcium powder before giving them to your lizard!
Your lizard needs crickets two to three times a week, as well as being monitored to make sure that it receives adequate food. Likewise, make sure to monitor its weight and appetite as you monitor their feedings to ensure adequate sustenance is being delivered to them.
Dubia Roaches
Dubia roaches make an ideal alternative to crickets for leopard geckos, as they grow much longer without developing an offensive smell and have less chance of fleeing your home than crickets do.
Tropical cockroaches provide protein for reptiles. Their highly adaptive bodies make up for any lack of sustenance by moving forward without stopping to digest anything they may find along their journeys.
Food supplements come in all sorts of sizes for leos ranging from juveniles to adults, providing consistent sources of nutrition throughout their lives.
When purchasing dubia roaches for leopard geckos, make sure they have been gut loaded by feeding them nutritious powdered food for 12 hours prior to being fed to them. This process allows them to become familiar with being handled as part of their food source and will increase chances of successful feedings.
Bananas
Bananas can make an excellent addition to the diet of leopard gecko pets. High in calcium and low in phosphorus content, bananas offer essential nutrition for your animal companion.
But bananas aren’t the only fruit suitable as leopard gecko food; pineapple and watermelons also make great options.
Gecko-friendly foods are easy to digest and should only be fed occasionally to avoid harming their digestive tracts.
Fruit can be an important addition to leopard geckos’ diets; however, too much sugar or acid could lead to diabetes and other serious health issues if consumed on an ongoing basis.