
Here is a list of foods that you can use to gutload Madagascar hissing cockroaches:
- Dubia Diet
- Apples
- Alfalfa
- Arugula
- Bananas
- Beets
- Bee pollen
- Berries
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Collared greens
- Dandelion greens/flowers
- Hibiscus greens/flowers
- Kale
- Spinach
- Spring mix
- Squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Zucchini
What do I Feed my fence lizards?
DEAR FRAN: It is sweet of you to care about the lizards and want to make sure they are well fed. The two most common lizards we have are the Western fence lizard, also known as a blue belly, and the alligator lizard. Both eat insects, and the alligator also will eat snails. They can fend for themselves, so there’s no need to supply them with food.
What to feed Madagascar hissing cockroaches?
You can think of feeding monitor lizards, nut also meerkats for example. Breeding Madagascar hissing cockroaches as feeder insect is the same as breeding dubia roaches. Madagascar hissing cockroaches make excellent pets. Do you like these hissers, you’ll probably be interested in the other bugs mentioned below, too.
Is Madagascar ground gecko a good first lizard?
The Madagascar ground gecko is a good first lizard and also a precursor to people who have cared for other geckos like the Crested Gecko and the Leopard Gecko. These are wide-bodied geckos that have large heads and eyes. The three stages of growth of Madagascar Ground Geckos are as follows:

What do Madagascar lizards eat?
Giant day geckos mainly feed on arthropods (crabs, insects, spiders and scorpions) but will occasionally eat sweet fruits and like to lick honey. They get water from condensation that forms on leaves. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, they eat crickets twice a week.
What do you feed Madagascar geckos?
In the wild, Madagascar day geckos eat insects, fruit, and nectar; they can maintain essentially the same diet in captivity, with crickets, wax moth larvae, fruit flies, mealworms supplemented by fresh tropical fruits, honey and fruity baby foods.
What do Madagascan day geckos eat?
Diet. These day geckos feed on many arthropods (insects and arachnids) as well as some fruit matter (mashed). They also like to lick hard, tart fruit, pollen and nectar.
How do you take care of a Madagascar day gecko?
Daily misting of the enclosure provides giant day geckos with their water requirement. They will lick water droplets from enclosure decorations. If misted directly, their tongues will remove water from their eyes and nose. Daily misting also acts to maintain the enclosure's desired ambient humidity of 50 to 70 percent.
Can geckos eat honey?
One of the types of food you may be wondering about feeding your crested gecko is honey. What is this? Crested geckos can eat honey. It can be a beneficial treat for them as well as being useful for treating injuries.
Can day geckos eat lettuce?
Greens are a powerful source of nutrition for day geckos. They have more calcium, vitamins and other minerals than the average vegetable. A healthy green must be rich in nutrients like calcium, low in phosphorus and low in anti-nutrients like oxalates and goitrogens.
Do day geckos need live food?
Free-living Day Geckos consume a surprising amount of nectar, ripe fruit, pollen and sap. A mixture of tropical fruit baby food, honey and/or molasses, Avitron Bird Vitamins, ReptiCalcium with D3 (or a similar product) and enough water to achieve a syrupy consistency, should be offered 3 times weekly.
How often should I feed my day gecko?
Food and Water Most geckos will eat three to five insects twice weekly and fruit baby food mixed with a commercial nectar substitute once a week. Juveniles and breeding females should be fed five to seven times weekly. Feed them in the morning when they are most active.
Do day geckos need a heat lamp?
Day Geckos come from a tropical climate and their terrarium must be maintained at the proper temperatures. Always use a thermometer to monitor enclosure temperatures – Don't guess! A heat bulb such as the Daylight Blue™ or Basking Spot Lamp is a good way to provide daytime heat for Day Geckos.
How long do Madagascar day geckos live?
Described in 1870, the giant day gecko is native to Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean just east of Africa's coast. This fast-moving gecko reaches 8 to 10 inches long with males averaging slightly larger than females. One of the larger geckos, the species typically lives up to 15 years in captivity.
What can I feed my day gecko?
Feeding and Diet In the wild Day Geckos are omnivores and will eat fruit and nectar, but the majority of their diet consists of insects. In captivity they eat a variety of invertebrates such as crickets and dubia roaches alongside a staple of Crested Gecko Diet powder mix.
Do day geckos need a water bowl?
You can include a shallow water dish in their enclosure if you want. However, it's not essential. Most giant day geckos aren't going to lap up water from a dish. Instead, they'll get their water from daily mistings.
How long do Madagascar day geckos live?
Described in 1870, the giant day gecko is native to Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean just east of Africa's coast. This fast-moving gecko reaches 8 to 10 inches long with males averaging slightly larger than females. One of the larger geckos, the species typically lives up to 15 years in captivity.
How often should I feed my day gecko?
Food and Water Most geckos will eat three to five insects twice weekly and fruit baby food mixed with a commercial nectar substitute once a week. Juveniles and breeding females should be fed five to seven times weekly. Feed them in the morning when they are most active.
What fruits can giant day geckos eat?
In addition to Gecko MRP, Giant Day Geckos can be offered a variety of real fruit, especially the tropical fruits. When you can't find fresh fruit, canned fruit such as mango, papaya, or red banana can be a welcome treat and will also add variety to the diet.
What can day geckos eat?
In the wild Day Geckos are omnivores and will eat fruit and nectar, but the majority of their diet consists of insects. In captivity they eat a variety of invertebrates such as crickets and dubia roaches alongside a staple of Crested Gecko Diet powder mix.
What do geckos eat?
The Madagascar Giant Day Gecko is an omnivore. It can devour as many insects as it wants, and thus, it eats a lot of insects in the wild. When placed in captivity, these lizards will eat live food like mealworms and crickets. You may also feed this gecko waxworm, silkworms, and other insects.
What are the red dots on a Madagascar gecko?
Meanwhile, adult Madagascar Giant Day Geckos have large sacs found along their necks; these are calcium sacs.
How large does a day gecko tank have to be?
Young giant day geckos need tanks as small as 10 gallons like a small glass terrarium. This will leave them more space and will allow you to clean the tank easily.
Why can't geckos eat in the evening?
Never leave prey roaming inside the tank in the evening because this can wake the gecko and interrupt its rest or sleep. This gecko may also eat fruits, leafy greens, nectar, and pollen. Some geckos have been observed to eat their young, and it’s not known if this is due to hunger or a way to exert dominance.
How many eggs do day geckos lay?
Female day geckos will lay two eggs in every clutch, and several clutches may be laid in a year. The eggs are hard and need a lot of calcium to develop. Females use their calcium sacs along their necks to collect calcium from their diets. These sacs will grow large and will deplete slowly as the calcium is used for egg-laying. The hatchlings will come out of the shell after 48 to 80 days, and this is according to the temperature of the surroundings.
Where do Madagascar day geckos live?
The Madagascar Giant Day Gecko is a diurnal species of day geckos part of more than 70 species and large subspecies. It has earned its name from its size and is native to tropical and subtropical areas in northern Madagascar. This colorful lizard reaches a length of 30 cm from head to tail.
Why do you need to keep a gecko tank clean?
You must keep your tank clean because a dirty, unkempt tank can lead to the growth of bacteria inside the tank, which can affect the health of your lizard. Use a good cleaning product and never products that leave residue and toxins, which again can harm your gecko.
What is the best diet for a Madagascar cockroach?
A good Madagascar hissing cockroach gutload should be plant-based as well. This is consistent with the majority of a hissing cockroach’s natural diet, and plant-based diets tend to be low in protein and rich in vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids. Carotenoids are a bonus, because aside from acting as antioxidants, they also help brighten your pet’s natural coloring!
How do Madagascar hissing cockroaches get water?
Madagascar hissing cockroaches primarily get their water from the food they eat. Making sure that they have access to plenty of moisture is important to their health, as well as the health of the reptile that is eating them if you’re using them as feeders. Well-hydrated feeders promote well-hydrated reptiles, which can help lower the risk of food- and substrate-related impaction.
Can you feed a Madagascar hissing cockroach?
When keeping Madagascar hissing cockroaches as pets, feeding them is a fairly simple task. As detritivores, Madagascar hissing cockroaches are far from picky eaters, and they can do well on a wide variety of foods, including:
Do dubia roaches eat?
As with your pet reptile, it’s best to offer a variety of high quality foods to your dubia roaches. This creates a more balanced diet for the roaches, since they tend to self-select for nutrition. In other words, they eat what they need when they need it. Remove roach food immediately once it starts to mold.
Can you feed cockroaches organically?
When choosing fresh produce to feed to your hissing cockroaches, buy organic whenever possible, as pesticide residues can be harmful.
Can you gutload Madagascar cockroaches?
You can gutload Madagascar hissing cockroaches in much the same way as you would dubia roaches. Although they need plenty of protein for breeding, feeder roaches should have a low-protein diet. Too much protein in a gutload can lead to excess protein consumption for reptiles, leading to gout, which is a very painful disease where a reptile’s kidneys lose the ability to process protein properly, resulting in uric acid crystals getting deposited in the joints. This is a particular concern for insectivorous reptiles like leopard geckos or young bearded dragons. For this reason, if you plan to use a pre-formulated gutload, aim for less than 20% protein (dry matter basis).
What do Madagascar day geckos eat?
Feeding. In the wild, Madagascar day geckos eat insects, fruit, and nectar; they can maintain essentially the same diet in captivity, with crickets, wax moth larvae, fruit flies, mealworms supplemented by fresh tropical fruits, honey and fruity baby foods. Cockroaches, especially dubia roaches, are especially nutritious for these geckos.
How much humidity do geckos need?
Maintaining humidity within the terrarium is also important; make sure to mist daily to keep the humidity between 50 and 70 percent at all times. Geckos lick their water from the surfaces around them, so pay extra attention to the surfaces of the leaves and branches that you mist.
How to keep geckos warm?
Use a high-quality UVB bulb, which will allow the geckos to generate an adequate supply of Vitamin D3 within their bodies; an incandescent light bulb should create a basking spot of 95 degrees Fahrenheit, while the temperature in the rest of the terrarium can hover between 82 and 86 degrees during the day and 75 to 82 degrees at night. Switch to a night bulb at the appropriate intervals every day to continue supplying heat while mimicking the geckos’ natural perception of night and day.
What to feed a lizard?
Celery. Another good vegetable to feed your lizard is celery. This vegetable can be a good staple for lizards that follow an omnivorous diet because of how nutritious and low in harmful macronutrients they are. Try chopping the celery to smaller pieces before feeding it to your pet lizard.
What do carnivorous lizards eat?
Depending on the size of the carnivorous lizard, they can eat a wide variety of meat. Larger ones tend to feast on small vertebrates such as birds, rodents, and smaller reptiles. But the really large ones such as the Komodo Dragon can feast on mammals that are just as large as it is.
Why do lizards eat mice?
White Mice are usually high in fat and lower in other essential nutrients. This is the primary reason why there are some pet lizard owners that still prefer to feed their reptiles with a mixed diet composed of insects and mice. But the good thing when it comes to mice is that they are vertebrates that contain higher levels of calcium compared to insects. As such, you no longer need to dust them with a calcium supplement when you feed them to your lizards. But you really have to be careful when feeding mice to your lizards on a regular basis as they tend to be really high in fat, which can quickly cause obesity.
Why are mealworms easier to keep than crickets?
Mealworms are almost easier to maintain than crickets are because they are hardier and much more resilient. Keeping them in bulk tends to be good practice for those who want to be more economical. Also, mealworms should be gut-fed if you want your lizard to have a more nutritious meal.
Can lizards eat apples?
Apples. If you have an omnivore with you, apples are good for lizards because they are high in vitamins and minerals that can supplement a diet that is based primarily on meat. But be careful when feeding apples to your lizard as their seeds can be toxic. Remove the seeds first before feeding apple slices to your pet.
Is cricket a good food source for lizards?
As such, crickets are a good source of food for such lizards and are also some of the more common options for a lot of different pet lizard owners. The reason why crickets are easily the top pick for insectivore lizards is that they are so easy to come by. A lot of pet stores sell crickets at a very affordable rate.
Can lizards digest mealworms?
However, because of their thick exoskeleton, it might be a bit more difficult for lizards to digest mealworms. This usually results in regurgitation on the part of your lizard. In that case, you might want to watch the number of mealworms you feed your pet.
What do lizards eat?
Lizards that are omnivorous eat a variety of foods. They may feed on a combination of vegetables, fruits, rodents, and insects. Some lizards have different dietary patterns depending on what stage of life they are in. For example, as juveniles, bearded dragons will eat mostly insects with a small amount of greens.
What do herbivore lizards eat?
After basking in the sun, they prefer foods such as fruit and cactus flowers.
What are some examples of omnivorous lizards?
Some examples of omnivorous lizards include: Bearded dragons. Veiled chameleons. Plat ed lizards. The ratio of insects and rodents to vegetables and fruits will vary depending upon the type of lizard that is being fed. Some examples of food that are part of the diets of omnivorous lizards include: Cat food. Insects.
How to know what lizard diet is best for my pet?
Talking to your local vet about your lizard and its nutritional needs is probably the best way to determine what dietary plan will work best. Age, size, and natural habitat are all important factors in determining what foods will be most beneficial and nourishing for your pet.
What are some examples of lizards that are carnivorous?
These types of lizards only consume insects, rodents, and other animal products. Some examples of lizards that are carnivorous include: Geckos. Anoles. Ackies.
How to keep lizards fresh?
Some smaller lizards will not drink from a bowl. In that case, spray water onto the lizar d itself or on the vegetation in their terrarium.
Do lizards need to be housebroken?
Lizards are ideal pets because in a sense, they don’t need to be housebroken. Most of the time, they remain in their terrariums unless you decide to take them out. It is exciting to bring your new reptile friend home, but you may be asking yourself, “What do I feed him?”.
How many species of reptiles are there in Madagascar?
Madagascar is home to over 300 species of different kinds of reptiles that over 90% endemic. 36 out of the 64 genera living in the area were not found somewhere else. The reptile fauna of the island includes snakes, tortoises, turtles, crocodiles, and lizards. The reptiles living in Madagascar are rare and so unique.
Where do boas and iguanid lizards come from?
The boas and iguanid lizards of the island have their nearest relatives originating in South America. The uniqueness of the reptiles found on the island led to a widespread collection for the pet trade of exotic pets. For this page, you will be introduced to some of the wild lizards that commonly exist only in Madagascar.
What are the markings on a lotharas gecko?
The Lotharas Gecko. Image Source. Paroedura lohatsara or the Lotharas Geckos come with cryptic markings that help them to blend perfectly with the fallen leaves where they hide. Most of the reptiles living in Madagascar protect themselves from the predators through camouflage.
What is Madagascar known for?
Image Source. Madagascar has been home to some of the world’s most uniquely adapted amphibians and reptiles. Most of them were isolated to some areas of this beautiful island.
Is Madagascar a good place to visit?
Aside from these chameleons and geckos, Madagascar is also home to more species like the short-horned chameleon, hooded chameleon, Nile Crocodile, Boa manditra, Boa dumerilii, and a lot more. As you can see, Madagascar is truly a wonderful place to explore and find beautiful reptiles that no other place in ...
What do Madagascar cockroaches eat?
Madagascar hissing cockroaches are primarily herbivores. Feed your hissers a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. You can feed them leafy greens (but avoid ice berg lettuce), carrots, tomatoes, peas, celery, apples, bananas, oranges and potatoes.
Where can you buy Madagascar hissing cockroaches?
Many pet stores and reptile expos are selling Madagascar hissing cockroaches . They are quite easy to get, and they are not expensive to buy. Price ranges from $4 up to $8 per individual, although when you purchase multiple individuals, you often get a certain discount.
How do Madagascar hissing cockroaches reproduce?
Breeding Madagascar hissing cockroaches is rather easy when you provide them with a good-sized enclosure and a proper habitat and climate.
What animal is moulting in Madagascar?
Moulting of a Madagascar hissing cockroach male (photo by Seneca Park Zoo).
How many hissers do you need to start a colony of cockroaches?
You don’t need to keep them by the hundreds. If you want a small colony, you can already start with six hissers housed together, but keep in such situation more females than males. Males are territorial and may keep attacking each other. Large Madagascar hissing cockroach colony housed in a dark cave.
How many hissers can you have in a small aquarium?
You can house ten hissers perfectly in a small glass aquarium with a size of 20cm by 20cm. It is better not to go any smaller. When you have more space, you can house larger colonies, but when starting with ten hissers and a little patience, you’ll have soon enough over 100 cockroaches.
Where are the horns on a Madagascar cockroach?
Madagascar hissing cockroach males have horns at the front of their exoskeleton.
What do alligator lizards eat?
DEAR FRAN: It is sweet of you to care about the lizards and want to make sure they are well fed. The two most common lizards we have are the Western fence lizard, also known as a blue belly, and the alligator lizard. Both eat insects, and the alligator also will eat snails.
How to keep lizards in your yard?
The best way to provide them with ample food is to keep your yard pesticide free. The more bugs you have in your yard, the happier the lizards will be, and they’ll stick around.
