Leopard gecko is one of the most popular pet reptiles in the world. It is not only a popular teen choice but also an interesting pet for adults.
The leopard gecko care is not difficult. It does not require a lot of care from you. It is a lovely, interesting and friendly pet.
However, leopard gecko also needs to be provided with adequate nutrients as well as suitable foods to be able to develop in the best way. If you are planning to raise a leopard gecko, you must find out about it.
Do not worry. We will give you the best food for a leopard gecko. Along with that is some information that may be helpful for your journey and pet leopard gecko.
Is Leopard Gecko A Vegetarian?
ABSOLUTELY NOT. Leopard gecko is not a vegetarian, it is an insect eater and has no vegetables in its diet.
This is an important question that anyone who begins to study leopard geckos needs to know. You need to know what leopard gecko diets are and what foods are suitable for them.
Once you have this information, your leopard gecko pet can develop at its best. If the right food is not provided, it may have digestive problems and development will be affected.
As an insect-eating reptile, the leopard gecko’s diet does not include vegetables and fruits. Unlike the bearded dragon, which is an omnivore, the leopard gecko replenishes itself through various insects.
To supplement nutrients for the comprehensive development of leopard gecko, you should feed it a variety of different insects with a reasonable schedule. You can also get other nutrients through food supplements.
What you have to keep in mind is: DO NOT have vegetables in the leopard gecko’s diet. As a professional leopard gecko, provide suitable insects for its menu.
What Is The Best Food For A Leopard Gecko?
The best food for a leopard gecko is definitely an insect. There are many different types of insects that you can easily find in pet stores or online.
The addition of different insects to the leopard gecko’s diet in a reasonable manner will help your pet grow in the best way.
Here are some of the best insects we have synthesized. You can refer to this list to give a reasonable diet for pets.
#1 Crickets
Crickets are one of the most common and easily found insects. Fortunately, this is also leopard gecko’s favorite food. You can feed your leopard gecko with crickets and of course you should know the insect information.
Crickets are cheap and you can find them at any reptile store or you can buy them online quickly. Besides, it is also a great source of nutrition to supplement leopard gecko. Crickets are particularly rich in protein but low in fat, perfect for leopard geckos.
Moreover, crickets are one of the easy to gut-load insects, so your pet can absorb the most nutrients. Almost all nutrients in crickets will be absorbed easily by leopard gecko. No excess nutrition.
You can easily buy a large number of crickets for storage and for leopard gecko gradually. Crickets do not require much effort to store and you do not need to spend a lot of space to preserve them.
You should choose small crickets so that it is not difficult for leopard gecko to eat.
Crickets are also a moving insect that can stimulate the leopard gecko’s hunting instincts. Your pet will surely feel excited and interesting when it is aroused the original instinct. It will catch any moving insects in front of you as food for you.
However, cricket weaknesses are quite noisy. You might go crazy when storing large amounts of crickets and the noise they make. Crickets are also animals that may find a way out through gaps. They can also hide and you will be hard to catch them.
#2 Mealworms
Mealworms are also another popular choice. This type of food is easy to find, affordable and very convenient to feed. You will also find many other benefits of this leopard gecko feed.
Mealworms are widely sold at pet stores and online commerce sites at an affordable price. They are a good source of protein for leopard geckos, helping your pet grow in the best way.
Mealworms have a long life, they can live long and you can also store them in the fridge. They are also not as noisy as crickets when you store large quantities. So that you can buy a little more quantity to save time investment and shipping.
You do not need to feed mealworms regularly when storing, you can even put them in the fridge immediately after purchase for storage. This is the convenience that many leopard gecko owners love about this insect.
In particular, mealworms do not cause clutter when you feed leopard gecko. They do not try to escape like crickets and just stay in a place where the leopard gecko eats it. But this is also the reason some leopard geckos are not interested.
However, with an affordable price, does not require much effort to store, abundant protein, this is still a good food for leopard gecko. You should only note that mealworms contain a lot of fat so do not give leopard gecko regularly.
#3 Superworms
Superworms are actually larvae of the zophobas morio beetle, so they are also called zophobas. This is a food that many people choose to make food for their pet geckos. And it is also a good choice for your leopard gecko.
Superworms are an excellent source of calcium for leopard geckos. Superworms are often added to the leopard gecko menu during the breeding season or those with bone and skin problems.
Calcium is also an indispensable nutrient in the body of every organism. If provided with the necessary amount of calcium, leopard gecko will not behave like substrate feeding.
Some lizards behave in substrates. This is a natural behavior when geckos are deficient in calcium and minerals, which they replenish themselves by eating the substrate. In the natural environment, this is a common behavior.
But eating substrates will lead to dangerous consequences for the stomach and digestive system. So you should provide enough calcium for geckos so they no longer behave like that.
Superworms are also easy to find insects on the market. They have no odor and are of the right size. This is also the food that many experts use for leopard gecko menu.
However, superworms don’t gut load as well as crickets and mealworms. That is why it is not at the top of the list.
#4 Waxworms
Waxworms are one of the few foods that leopard gecko cannot refuse. This leopard geckos food has motivational motion, suitable size and a charming scent with leopard gecko.
Waxworms are also cheap and you can easily find them at any reptile pet store. It is also sold online with a wide selection of sizes.
This worm is low in protein and high in fat, so it is not a healthy food. If the leopard gecko eats too much waxworms on a regular basis, it may become obese.
That’s why waxworms should never be the majority of leopard gecko’s diet. You use it as a kind of leopard gecko appetite stimulant.
That means waxworms should be used for periods when leopard gecko anorexia. Or consider it a reward for the leopard gecko’s cooperation.
In short, you shouldn’t feed the leopard gecko too much. Let him eat waxworms only once in a week. Although leopard gecko loves this dish, you should not pamper your pet.
On another note, waxworms may have a slightly unpleasant odor for some people. And it also has a short lifespan long enough that you cannot preserve it for long or can breed it.
#5 Dubia Roaches
Dubia roaches are great nutritional choice for your leopard gecko reptile. Although this name may seem a little strange to you, it is a beetle that can provide a good diet for your pet.
Dubia roaches are great in size so they can be easily fed to the leopard gecko. They are high in protein as well as low in fat, so leopard geckos can eat them daily. This amount of nutrition will certainly not cause leopard gecko to be obese.
Besides, dubia roaches are easy to gut-load foods so leopard gecko can get the best amount of nutrition. This is one of the few insects that can provide maximum nutrition for leopard gecko.
Dubia roaches don’t move as much as crickets, nor are they as silent as mealworms. So they don’t cause any clutter or leopard geckos lose interest in their meals.
Especially, dubia roaches have a very long life span, so that you can store them for a long time. They also don’t make crickets to drive you crazy.
However, dubia roaches are not a food you can easily afford. They are quite rare and importantly they are expensive.
This type of food has a huge price difference compared to all other insects on this list. Therefore, it is not a common food. Many people are unwilling to spend tens of dollars on a small amount of Dubia roaches.
What Is Gut Load For Leopard Gecko Food?
In this article, we constantly mention gut load insect, so what is gut load?
You can understand gut load is a term that refers to the addition of guest nutrients to leopard gecko through the addition of nutrients to insects.
Leopard geckos are insect eaters that never like and eat green vegetables or fruits. That is why they cannot absorb vitamins and other essential nutrients from vegetables.
To replenish that deficiency, people use insects – the food of leopard gecko to do this job. Insects will be supplemented with this deficiency before feeding the leopard gecko. This way the leopard gecko can absorb both sources of nutrition.
This process usually takes place around 12 – 24 hours before feeding the leopard gecko. Each type of insect has its own gut load, so you should choose the one with the best gut load.
The additional amount of nutrition may come from fresh foods. Many people feed their fruits and vegetables with worms and crickets before feeding the leopard gecko. Some opt for other options, using directly complementary foods for insects.
Whatever the method, you should keep in mind that ensuring the best gut load time as well as not letting insects long hungry. Do not forget to make sure that the food for insects is of good quality so as not to affect their health.
Without using this method, leopard gecko will probably not be able to develop comprehensively. They are not an omnivore so you need to put more effort into the gut load insect to give the leopard gecko the best diet.
Conclusion
Leopard gecko is an insect gecko that is not a vegetarian. So you have to build a diet that doesn’t include vegetables and fruits. But this is also a challenge when you have to provide the most essential nutrients found in greens and fruits for leopard gecko.
By gut load insect, you will be able to provide the leopard gecko with the deficiency. So besides choosing the right nutritious insect, you should also consider its gut load ability.
Hope the above information will help your journey and leopard gecko pet. Thanks for taking the time with us!