What should I feed my Gecko?
Leopard Geckos eats insects. The most common insects available commercially are crickets, mealworms, super worms, wax worms and silk worms. If you use crickets and mealworms as the primary food and wax worms as treats, you should have a happy Gecko.
Crickets
Crickets are a good source of food and nutrition in your Leopard Gecko’s diet. You should “gut load” your crickets before feeding them to your Gecko. “Gut loading” is making sure the crickets are well fed. This way they pass the maximum amount of nutrients to your Gecko. You can feed the crickets’ commercial cricket food and liquid or just use a piece of potato and some oats. Crickets are very resourceful and are sometimes difficult for the Gecko to catch. If this is the case, you may have to remove the rear jumping legs of the cricket. It is always a good idea to leave a small piece of potato, carrot, or apple for the crickets to eat. The food will also draw out the crickets and make them easier to catch.
Mealworms and wax worms
Mealworms are another good food source for your Gecko. Feeding your Gecko mealworms is also a much easier task since they can be placed in a bowl. The bowl must be smooth to prevent escape. This way the mealworms are available whenever your Gecko is hungry. Leopard Geckos likes wax worms, but the worms are too fatty to be a part of the main diet. Wax worms makes an excellent treat and are a good way to fatten up a female after she has laid eggs.
Supplementing the diet
Vitamin and mineral supplements are an important part of your Leopard Gecko’s diet. Calcium is the most important mineral and should be available to your Gecko at all times by placing a dish with calcium powder in the cage. The feeder insects should also be coated with calcium powder prior to feeding. For adult Geckos coat the insects 1 to 2 times per week. For babies, juveniles, and breeding females coat the insects daily. Vitamins are also a necessary part of the gecko diet, but should be used sparingly and not on the same day as calcium. Feeder insects should be coated with vitamins once every 7 to 10 days. To coat the insects place them in a bag or cup with the vitamin or mineral powder. Shake the container around until all the insects are dusted with powder.
Geckos need water
Your Leopard Gecko needs water so keep a shallow dish with water in the cage. Water dishes that are too deep tend to trap and drown crickets, wasting the insect and fouling the water. It is best to use a dish that is shallow in order to give the insect a better chance of escape. You should clean the dish every few day to help prevent bacteria and fungus from growing.
Hope you've enjoyed these feeding tips!
As always...here's to your leopard gecko care success!!
Showing posts with label mealworms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mealworms. Show all posts
Caring for your leopard gecko | some key tips on leopard gecko care
Caring for your Leopard Gecko
Leopard geckos are very easy to care for. They are surprisingly clean animals. They will pick out a specific area of their living space to use for litter which makes them much easier to clean up after. You may even place a paper towel or similar material in the spot they choose so that clean up is quick and easy.
In their natural habitat leopard geckos live on land. They do not tend to climb trees so it is important that they be provided with housing that provides maximum surface area. The bottom of the aquarium should be covered with some sort of artificial turf, paper towels, or even newspapers. Sand is not recommended as there is a risk that the gecko will ingest too much of it when it captures its meal.
Geckos are insectivores and like to eat live food such as butter worms, cockroaches, crickets, mealworms or wax worms. Many gecko owners choose to raise crickets or mealworms specifically for feeding their pets. If you feed your gecko crickets it is a good idea to place a rock in the center of the water dish to provide the crickets an easy way to get out of the water should they fall in. This will prevent them from fouling up the water.
For many different reasons a gecko can be the perfect pet for you. After reading this, you will probably want to go out and look at a live gecko at your local pet shop. The choice to obtain a gecko should not be an 'impulse' decision. They have a very long life span as far as pets go so if you get one be sure that you are willing to make the commitment to take care of it for a long time to come. Leopard geckos may live 20 years or longer. According to one gecko owner, who wrote a letter to the editor of Reptiles Magazine, their gecko lived for nearly thirty years!
Substrates suitable for your Gecko
The use of slate rocks, s. If you can get smooth flat stones this seems like a good option for making a naturalistic environment that holds and distributes heat well, without much diminished risks of ingesting substrate.
The use of sand is considered unsafe by some, due to the risk of ingestion and impaction (either due to accidental ingestion or due to intentional ingestion to meet calcium needs) -- this is a bigger risk for juveniles so sand should never be used with juvenile geckos. In fact, the general advice is to avoid housing any leopard geckos on sand. Other potential difficulties with sand include dust (which can lead to respiratory problems), and bacterial or mold growth in wet sand.
Provide a dish of calcium supplement to help meet calcium needs. Feeding prey items in a dish can also reduce the chance of ingestion.
Also, monitor for signs of obstruction, which indicate the need for an urgent visit to a vet: decreased appetite, decrease in bowel movements, lethargy, and dark spots on abdomen.
The use of paper towels are one of the best substrates, and are the recommended substrate for juvenile leopard geckos (as well as sickly geckos), but can be used for any leopard gecko. With paper towel substrate, there are no worries about ingestion or inhalation of substrate, and it is absorbent, hygienic, and easy to clean (which reduces the chance of illness). It also makes monitoring health (e.g. eating, bowel movements) easy.
Leopard geckos are very easy to care for. They are surprisingly clean animals. They will pick out a specific area of their living space to use for litter which makes them much easier to clean up after. You may even place a paper towel or similar material in the spot they choose so that clean up is quick and easy.
In their natural habitat leopard geckos live on land. They do not tend to climb trees so it is important that they be provided with housing that provides maximum surface area. The bottom of the aquarium should be covered with some sort of artificial turf, paper towels, or even newspapers. Sand is not recommended as there is a risk that the gecko will ingest too much of it when it captures its meal.
Geckos are insectivores and like to eat live food such as butter worms, cockroaches, crickets, mealworms or wax worms. Many gecko owners choose to raise crickets or mealworms specifically for feeding their pets. If you feed your gecko crickets it is a good idea to place a rock in the center of the water dish to provide the crickets an easy way to get out of the water should they fall in. This will prevent them from fouling up the water.
For many different reasons a gecko can be the perfect pet for you. After reading this, you will probably want to go out and look at a live gecko at your local pet shop. The choice to obtain a gecko should not be an 'impulse' decision. They have a very long life span as far as pets go so if you get one be sure that you are willing to make the commitment to take care of it for a long time to come. Leopard geckos may live 20 years or longer. According to one gecko owner, who wrote a letter to the editor of Reptiles Magazine, their gecko lived for nearly thirty years!
Substrates suitable for your Gecko
The use of slate rocks, s. If you can get smooth flat stones this seems like a good option for making a naturalistic environment that holds and distributes heat well, without much diminished risks of ingesting substrate.
The use of sand is considered unsafe by some, due to the risk of ingestion and impaction (either due to accidental ingestion or due to intentional ingestion to meet calcium needs) -- this is a bigger risk for juveniles so sand should never be used with juvenile geckos. In fact, the general advice is to avoid housing any leopard geckos on sand. Other potential difficulties with sand include dust (which can lead to respiratory problems), and bacterial or mold growth in wet sand.
Provide a dish of calcium supplement to help meet calcium needs. Feeding prey items in a dish can also reduce the chance of ingestion.
Also, monitor for signs of obstruction, which indicate the need for an urgent visit to a vet: decreased appetite, decrease in bowel movements, lethargy, and dark spots on abdomen.
The use of paper towels are one of the best substrates, and are the recommended substrate for juvenile leopard geckos (as well as sickly geckos), but can be used for any leopard gecko. With paper towel substrate, there are no worries about ingestion or inhalation of substrate, and it is absorbent, hygienic, and easy to clean (which reduces the chance of illness). It also makes monitoring health (e.g. eating, bowel movements) easy.
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