
Below, we’ve included a chart detailing the nutrition facts of leopard gecko’s favorite insects:
Feeder Insect | Protein % | Fat % | Ca:P Ratio |
Crickets | 19% | 5% | 1:9 |
Mealworms | 19% | 9% | 1:7 |
Roaches | ~20% | ~8% | 1:3 |
Silkworms | 13% | 2% | 1:2.4 |
What is the best baby food to feed a gecko?
What Do Baby Geckos Eat?
- Insect foods for baby geckos. Whether or not they supplement their diets with plant products, most baby geckos eagerly consume insects and other small arthropods.
- Plant-based foods for baby geckos. ...
- Baby food and commercial products. ...
- Safe food practices. ...
- Gut loading insects. ...
Do geckos have to eat live crickets?
Geckos are typically insectivorous, so most species primarily eat insects like superworms, crickets, and roaches. Some will even eat certain arachnids! Additionally, many omnivorous and herbivorous species of geckos enjoy fruit, so you’ll often see them described as frugivorous. Day geckos are a great example of a fruit-eating gecko species.
What is the best thing to feed crickets?
What Do Crickets Eat?
- Organic plant matter. Crickets are naturally omnivores. ...
- Fruits and veggies. Crickets are happy to munch on fruits and veggies. ...
- Seeds and grains. These insects are also happy to consume several seed and grain types. ...
- Insects. Crickets often become omnivores when held in captivity. ...
- Dog food. ...
- Water. ...
- Cricket Diet Variations. ...
What vegetable and fruit can you feed your gecko?
What Geckos eat fruits and vegetables? Papaya, figs and raspberries have excellent calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, so they are preferred by most geckos. Although geckos may enjoy banana, peach, nectarine or cantaloupe, and although these foods are nontoxic, they have very poor calcium-to-phosphorus ratios.

What human food can geckos eat?
Human foods can be occasionally eaten by leopard (insectivores) and crested geckos (frugivorous omnivores) but only after adequate preparation. Many, but not all, fruits, and vegetables are safe for crested gecko consumption. Moreover, all geckos should avoid raw meat and never be fed with raw eggs or nuts.
What can I feed my leopard gecko besides bugs?
Leopard geckos are insectivores that need a completely meat-based diet of insects and other small invertebrates. Varying the diet you feed by providing crickets and Dubia roaches will keep your gecko both happy and healthy. You can also feed hornworm and waxworms as an occasional treat.
What else can you feed your leopard gecko?
Leopard geckos feed primarily on live, moving insect prey. An appropriate diet may consist of commercially-raised crickets with smaller numbers of silkworms, roaches, mealworms, superworms, waxworms, and other live insects. Juveniles should be fed every 1-2 days and adults 2-3 times per week.
Do geckos eat anything besides bugs?
Some species of pet gecko eat fruit as well as insects. These geckos can eat pureed fruit mixes or prepared fruit mixes formulated for geckos. However, most pet geckos are primarily insectivorous, meaning they eat insects and other creepy crawlies.
Can geckos eat lettuce?
Leopard geckos are insectivores, which means that they need to eat insects to get the nutrition that they need, not greens and other vegetables. Your leopard gecko most likely won't eat lettuce or other vegetables as they don't like the taste and they can't digest them efficiently.
Can geckos have carrots?
Fruits are not good for leopard geckos due to a high sugar and acid content. Same goes with vegetables, such as a carrots or lettuce – leopard geckos won't eat them. Leopard geckos don't like the taste of fruit and veg, and they will only eat it if they are starving or need more moisture.
What is a geckos favorite food?
That said, due to their relatively small size, most geckos subsist primarily on insects, bugs, mollusks, and small rodents or snakes. Wild geckos almost never eat the carcasses of dead animals, as they prefer to eat live prey. On occasions, wild geckos will eat their own young or eggs, or the eggs of other geckos.
Can leopard geckos eat bananas?
However, leopard geckos are insectivores, which means that their main diet should contain insects and it is highly unlikely that they will have any interest in eating fruit. Bananas have very poor calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, so make sure to offer them only as an occasional treat, if at all.
How long can geckos go without eating?
ten days to two weeksMany adult leopard geckos can go without food for ten days to two weeks because of the fat storage in their tails. It is completely normal for leopard geckos to go without eating for long periods. Unlike mammals, reptiles do not require food every day to survive, particularly during the winter.
What veggies can geckos eat?
Feeder insects such as crickets can be offered fresh fruits and vegetables which is a good way to increase their nutritional value for your gecko. Crickets or even small locusts can be fed a variety of fruits and vegetables such as apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, squash, and leafy greens.
Can geckos eat bananas?
Geckos can eat bananas, nectarines, cantaloupes, etc., but these fruits have poor calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, making them unsuitable for regular consumption. However, geckos can eat figs, raspberries, and papaya based on their favorable calcium-phosphorus content.
Can geckos eat ants?
House Geckos love to eat cockroaches, ants, roaches, moths, small spiders, bed bugs, and many other insects. House Geckos may have chosen to reside in your home because of a plentiful amount of bugs to feed off.
What kind of fruit can leopard geckos eat?
Certain fruits are great for geckos, while others can be detrimental to their health. Fruits with a high calcium and low phosphorus content are best, such as apples, peaches, cantaloupe, papayas, mangoes, peaches, nectarines and apricots.
Can leopard geckos eat eggs?
Leopard geckos can eat eggs occasionally, but it is not part of their normal diet. Leopard geckos are primarily insectivores. Interestingly, females have been known to eat their own eggs if the egg is infertile.
Can leopard geckos eat bananas?
However, leopard geckos are insectivores, which means that their main diet should contain insects and it is highly unlikely that they will have any interest in eating fruit. Bananas have very poor calcium-to-phosphorus ratios, so make sure to offer them only as an occasional treat, if at all.
What geckos eat fruits and vegetables?
Feeder insects such as crickets can be offered fresh fruits and vegetables which is a good way to increase their nutritional value for your gecko. Crickets or even small locusts can be fed a variety of fruits and vegetables such as apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, squash, and leafy greens.
Do geckos eat crickets?
In fact, for most geckos, that’s all they eat. Even pelleted food probably won’t satiate, and your new friend most likely wants to hunt down his own crickets, too. That means you’ll need to be prepared to buy live insects for feeding, so make peace with that part before you dive in. Options include: Crickets. Worms.
Can geckos eat lettuce?
But here’s where it gets tricky: Most pet geckos cannot eat anything that you like to eat ( unless you enjoy crunchy insects). In fact, even the fruit or lettuce other lizards snack on will seriously harm or kill your leo. They simply cannot digest it because they lack the chemicals to do so in their little tummies.
Do geckos need calcium?
Make sure they chow down on it, though they almost always do. On top of this, geckos need calcium in large supply. Some of that will come from the gut loading or the bugs themselves, but we also recommend calcium powder. You can find this at any pet store and will need to dust it on their prey before they go hunting.
What kind of worms do leopard geckos eat?
Fruit Flies. Butterworms. Locusts. Earthworms. Dubia Roaches. Grasshoppers. With the exception of three of the foods on this list, most of these can be fed to your leopard gecko on a regular basis. Yes, a lot of people love the mealworm and cricket diet, but there are also a lot of other owners who prefer some of these other foods on ...
What is the best insect to feed leopard geckos?
Silkworms. If you want to ditch crickets and mealworms or even just simply introduce a new insect to your pre-existing diet, then silkworms are great bugs to consider adding as a staple. They are even considered one of, if not the one and only, best feeder insect out there for leopard geckos.
How long can leopard gecko leaves live?
Luckily, you can order these leaves online, but a lot of leopard gecko owners don’t even know what these leaves are or where to get them from, so that’s why it can be hard to keep them alive no longer than a week in some cases. They are great nutritionally, though.
What do leopard geckos eat?
Grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are another great food to feed to your leopard gecko, but be careful where you get them because just like earthworms, they may have ingested pesticides or fertilizer and should never be picked up from any other place aside from a reputable pet store or trusted online site.
Do leopard geckos eat fruit flies?
Fruit Flies. Although many leopard geckos love to eat fruit flies, they are usually way too small to bring any real nutritional value to the table and would require a whole jar of them at the very least to satisfy your gecko’s hunger and needs. With that said, they should only be fed as treats.
Do leopard geckos need calcium?
Because leopard geckos need calcium to survive, these little critters here are perfect feeder insects for them simply because of the fact that they are extremely high in it. And although this is true, you will still need to dust them with your calcium powder so that they’re getting the right supplementation.
Do geckos like fat?
Of course, by this point, I think it’s safe to say that geckos love foods that are high in fat. And when we’re dealing with foods like these, we should also know that they should only be fed to them sparingly. Butter worms are great, but just like super worms and hornworms, they can cause obesity in your gecko.
What is the best food for a gecko?
This means determining whether crickets or mealworms are a better choice for feeding geckos. To do this you will need to look at the benefits and drawbacks of each food choice, and although you can offer both types periodically you will need to decide which one will be the main food source for your gecko.
Why are crickets considered a disadvantage?
Crickets do have some disadvantages as well though. Because these insects are so active they provide more stimulation for the lizard, but can also become an annoyance if the cricket is not quickly consumed.
Do mealworms affect geckos?
These insects require an extra dish, but they will not roam the cage and cause stress to the geckos. The exoskeleton of a mealworm is harder for the lizards to digest, and they do not contain as many nutrients as crickets, but they do contain a higher amount of fat. breeding geckos, feeding geckos, geckos as pets, pet gecko care, tokay geckos.
Can you feed a gecko mealworms?
The insects may bite and agitate the lizard, causing a stressful situation. Mealworms can be used for feeding geckos as well, but many experts recommend that these worms are only given occasionally as a treat, instead of being used as the main food source for your pet. There are some benefits to using mealworms, ...
Do geckos eat crickets?
Pet gecko care involves proper feeding. Many owners prefer crickets for this purpose for a number of reasons. In general gut loaded crickets will offer superior nutrition for your lizard, because these insects have a higher amount of protein, moisture, vitamin C, and calcium. The exoskeleton of crickets is thinner, ...
Can geckos be pets?
Keeping geckos as pets does not have to be difficult, but you will need to make sure you provide an exceptional diet for your pet so they stay healthy and live longer. This means determining whether crickets or mealworms are a better choice for feeding geckos.
What to feed a gecko to absorb calcium?
Get a calcium supplement and a multivitamin supplement. The calcium supplement should include calcium and vitamin D3, which helps the gecko absorb the calcium. Dust insects in calcium every other feeding, and multivitamins every three feedings. Be sure to not use D3 if using UVB and do not leave D3 in the tank.
How to feed a leopard gecko?
1. Cover insects in nutrient powder. Before you feed the insects to your leopard gecko, you should cover them in supplement powder. Put the amount suggested on the packaging of the supplement into a plastic bag. Then place the specific insects you are going to put in the cage into the plastic bag.
What do leopard geckos eat?
Leopard geckos in nature eat other lizards, insects, spiders, and scorpions. To make up for the difference of its diet in captivity, you need to feed it the right things, supplement its diet, and make sure it is staying healthy. Steps.
Can geckos drink tap water?
Provide tap water treated with Reptisafe, tap water left out for 24 hours, or spring water. Never distilled as this lacks minerals. If your tap water doesn’t contain chlorine (which is the case in countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany)it can be given to your gecko as it is.
Do geckos need insects?
Any pet store should have the insects you will need to feed your gecko. These insects are fed to a variety of types of pets, such as frogs, iguanas, and other types of lizards. Just to be sure, however, feel free to call the pet store before you go to make sure that the insects you want are in stock.
Do you need a lid for worms?
Mealworms, on the other hand, can be kept in the refrigerator and only need a lid to keep the smell in.
Can you feed a gecko bugs?
Feeding your gecko random bugs will not give it the nutrition that it needs. Another problem with bugs from outside is that they may contain parasites, which you definitely don't want to feed your gecko. Additionally, buying bugs at a pet store will guarantee that you have enough to keep your gecko well fed.
What do geckos eat?
Besides insects, worms are also often to feed crested geckos as a treat and shouldn’t be given as often as crickets. There are a lot of different types of worms available as food for crested geckos: mealworms: mealworms are the larvae of the mealworm beetle and are often used as food for fish, reptiles, and birds.
What is the best diet for crested geckos?
For the diet of your crested gecko, you can go two ways: an insect and fruit-based natural diet: this diet closely tries to mimic the diet of the crested gecko in its natural habitat.
What do crested geckos eat?
Crested geckos are omnivores and – in the wild – will feed on insects, fruits, and the nectar of flowers they can find in their natural habitat. In captivity, the crested gecko isn’t very difficult to feed, also thanks to a wide variety of commercial crested gecko diets.
How much should I feed my crested gecko?
In general, a good guideline is the size/volume of the head of your crested gecko: only feed as much as the volume of their head.
What fruits have a lot of calcium?
Some fruits that you can give are papaya, figs, raspberries, prickly pears, berries, grapes, apples, pears, melons, watermelons, cherries, bananas, peaches, and cantaloupes.
Can you feed waxworms to crested geckos?
Waxworms are safe to feed to your crested gecko: they don’t have a hard exoskeleton and won’t cause impaction. superworms: superworms are the larvae of the darkling beetle and are also known as king worms, morio worms or zophobas. This kind of worm is also often fed to reptiles, birds, and fish.
Can geckos eat mealworms?
They have a hard exoskeleton and can cause impaction. That’s why some authorities recommend not giving mealworms to crested geckos.

What Do Geckos Eat?
Why Do You Need to Gut-Load?
- Okay, so you’ve purchased some crickets, worms, roaches, and flies, for starters. Now what? As his parent, one of your tricky jobs includes getting your gecko the right nutrients, and, unfortunately, you will need to add a little something to his meal to do so. In the wild, bugs eat practically constantly and therefore contain all the needed vitamins in their bodies when they ar…
How Do You Feed them?
- If you bring home a baby or juvie, you’ll start by feeding him every day. Since many geckos are nocturnal (the day gecko being an obvious exception), they prefer a nighttime meal. You’ll want to get into the habit of feeding him at about the same time every evening. Once your pet gets a little bigger, you’ll switch to about every other day. And finally, at a year, you’ll cut it down to three tim…