What is a geckos favorite food

The number of different leopard gecko foods can feel overwhelming for first time owners. The list below will give you an overview of what foods are best for your gecko and what foods you should avoid. Worms: Yes. They can eat worms occasionally, but most tend to dislike the slimy secretions given off by worms.

Worms have a high water content but are low in nearly all other nutrients. Mealworms: Yes. Mealworms are a good food for leopard geckos. However, it is important to supplement them with other insects because mealworms have a lot of chitin, which is hard to digest. Crickets: Yes. House crickets and banded crickets are the number one feeder insect for leopard gecko.

Use tongs or a feeding dish to serve crickets. Caterpillars: Maybe, it depends on the species. Some caterpillars, like silkworms and waxworms, can be fed as treats. Other species and many wild caterpillars are toxic or covered in stinging hairs. Weevils: No. Weevils have a tough, chitinous shell. They are generally too tough for baby geckos and too small for adults. Pinky mice: Yes. Pinky mice can be given to a breeding female. It helps them build fat after laying eggs.

Male geckos should not be given more than one pinky a month. Nightcrawlers: Yes. However, like worms, nightcrawlers are not very nutritious and many leopard geckos do not like the texture.

Large nightcrawlers should be chopped into bite-sized pieces. Dubia roaches: Yes. Dubia roaches are an excellent food.

They are high in protein, calcium, fiber, and phosphorus, while low in fat and chitin. Hornworms: Yes. Many leopard geckos love hornworms as treats. They are high in protein, calcium, fiber, and phosphorus while staying low in fat and chitin. Unlike many popular lizards, leopard geckos should not eat fruits or vegetables. Along with fruits and vegetables, there are several kinds of live prey and human foods that can cause health problems.

Do not feed your gecko anything from this list:. Leopard geckos should also not eat foods made for other lizards. They should not eat crested gecko or bearded dragon food. These foods contain plant products that are not meant for them. They are unable to break down cellulose, a major component in plants, and do not have the right digestive system needed to digest them. It may be tempting to catch wild insects, but this is not a good idea.

Wild-caught insects should never be fed to your lizard. Wild insects can carry parasites, disease or could be exposed to harmful chemicals. They can contain trace amounts of herbicides and pesticides that can be dangerous to your lizard. Offering high-quality insects will keep your lizard much healthier. Foods with a low nutritional value, like earthworms, nightcrawlers, and weevils, should not be fed.

Many individuals enjoy freeze-dried insects as a treat, but this should not make up most of their diet. Leopard geckos are an easy lizard to feed, but there are still some mistakes made by new keepers.

Feeding Mealworms Mealworms are a healthy option for adults, but they should be fed alongside other insects like crickets or cockroaches. Feeding just mealworms can lead to reduced growth and vitamin deficiencies. Mealworms have a high ratio of chitin to meat, this makes them less nutritious than softer insects and harder to digest.

Babies under four inches should not have mealworms at all. Overfeeding This species stores fat in their tail and is naturally chunky, but they can still become obese. Geckos love to eat. It is easy to give in and feed them more than they need. Keep your pet on a feeding schedule and watch for signs of over-eating. Unless the tail was dropped, in that case, regrown tails tend to be shorter and fatter than regular tails. Not Providing Calcium Using a calcium supplement is very important for a healthy gecko.

A lack of calcium causes metabolic bone disease and intestinal problems. Leopard geckos should also have UVB lighting to metabolize calcium into vitamin D3. However, don't wait too long to consult an expert. Avoid feeding waxworms to your insectivorious gecko as a sole food item as it could become sick and fatigued which could eventually lead to more complications. Additionally, the size of insects matters when deciding what to feed geckos, whether its hornworms or mealworms.

This is because smaller geckos cannot handle eating insects that are too large, so remember to always provide food items that are smaller than the width of your gecko's mouth. Lastly, some insects such as fireflies can harm your gecko and should never be offered as food. For this reason, it's crucial to purchase gecko food from reliable sources like the experts at RodentPro. RodentPro is proud to offer a diverse line of live and frozen foods to meet the nutritional needs of your pet.

Shop our selection today! We look forward to providing you with premium quality products and unparalleled service. Search keywords or SKU. What Do Geckos Eat? By RodentPro. What Do Geckos Eat in the Wild? What if Your Gecko Doesn't Eat? Choose from our wide variety of options and give your gecko the very best! Related Articles Animal Welfare. The bulk of a captive gecko's diet should come from crickets, as the various types of worms geckos enjoy eating do not offer the same level of nutrition as do insects.

Fruit flies are like candy to baby geckos -- only they're nutritional. Give adult geckos a pinkie, which is the pet trade industry name for a one-day-old mouse, once a week to simulate their wild habit of eating small rodents. Because crickets are the bulk of a gecko's diet, pay extra attention to obtain quality crickets when feeding captive geckos.

Not all crickets contain the same level of nutritional value for your gecko. This is especially true if the cricket has been at the pet store for a longer period of time.

The Learning Center at VMSHerp advises "gutloading" crickets, or feeding crickets fresh vegetables and fruits or tropical fish flakes to improve their nutritional value before serving them to the geckos.

Allow your gecko five to 20 minutes to eat the crickets. After that, remove uneaten crickets. Leaving uneaten live crickets in your gecko's enclosure after he is full is not advised. Crickets can become aggressive and tear at your gecko's body.

Feed geckos every other day. Two to 10 insects per adult gecko is within normal eating habits.