What do geckos eat? Keep them very happy.

What do geckos eat? The diet of gecko can include crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, mealworms, other insects or insect larvae. Keep in mind that as your leopard gecko grows the diet will also need to be adjusted on the size of your gecko, you will need to feed more and larger animals. It is also important to provide the insects with calcium and vitamines to keep your geckos in optimal health. Also provide your gecko with a good UVB lamp.

What do geckos eat, locusts

Locusts can be purchased in various sizes at terrarium specialty stores and online on amazon. Try to feed crickets that are about one-third the size of the lizard’s mouth width. Crickets are true escape artists and once they escape in the house, they are difficult to control. Feed just so many that your leopard gecko will eat them all at once. (This takes some patience at first to figure out exactly how much your gecko wants to eat).

You can keep feeder locusts alive by providing them with good housing, proper ventilation, and give them nutritious foods that also hydrates them. Locusts are animals too and need proper care to use them as food for other animals. Provide them with enough space, a plastic container is suitable. Fill it with for instance paper toilet rolls or egg cartons. Keep them in a temperature of 20 degrees celcius, if possible even 26 degrees celcius. Feed them fresh cut grass, especially the long grass stems, are eaten very well by locusts. Vegetables can also be fed, such as carrots and endive are eaten quite well and contain a lot of moisture to keep them hydrated.

Learn here more why crickets keep on dying.

what do geckos eat

What do geckos eat, grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are generally available in 2 different sizes: small and large. Grasshoppers are great for feeding to leopard geckos, these animals do not escape or gnaw on your lizard. Adult grasshoppers are often just a bit too large to feed to your gecko, at most a grasshopper that has just moulted can be eaten. Preferably feed the smaller size grasshopper to your leopard gecko.

Housing grasshoppers is very easy. You need a container that is big enough, has some ventilation and can be closed properly to prevent the grasshoppers from escaping. Grasshoppers can chew through fabric gauze, so net cages or cages with a fabric cover are not suitable.  If you keep the grasshoppers to feed them to reptiles, holding them in a plastic container is the easiest way to keep them, as it is lightweight and cheap. Make sure the container is big enough for the grasshoppers. You can also buy already dead grasshoppers.

what do geckos eat

What do geckos eat, cockroaches

Argentine bush cockroaches or dubias are a very high quality food to give to your gecko. These animals themselves can also be very easily fed. You can feed them vegetables and fruits to be made even more nutritious for your pet. Dubias are not pests if they escape. (Unlike some other cockroach species). You can feed them a certain amount of roaches.

To feed cockroaches, you can provide fruit, vegetables, moistened dry cat food, moistened fish food, rotting wood and rotting leaves. Not all species eat the same food. Some species only live of specific food sources such as rotting woods for instance. You can feed your cockroaches just by placing the food in their enclosure on the ground. If the food goes bad easily, like fruit and vegetables, remove it before it starts to mold or rot. in the enclosure. You can also buy dried cockroaches.

geckos food

What do geckos eat, mealworms

Mealworms are also eagerly eaten by most reptiles. However, these animals possess little nutritional value and thus cannot be used as the only food. Eating too many mealworms can lead to obesity and calcium deficiencies, as well as sometimes causing constipation by geckos (intestinal blockage).

Storing fresh mealworms is best done in a cool place like in the fridge. When the worms are kept in a cool place, the worms will enter in a state of dormancy. This will delay the pupation process to keep them good. When the mealworms are kept longer it is necessary to feed the mealworms a thin slice of carrot or potato to provide enough food and water for them. You can buy them on amazon to

geckos eat mealworms

What do geckos eat, caterpillars

Caterpillars such as those of the wax moth, silk moth or pintail butterfly are a good food for geckos that have just had a period of bad eating or have been sick. The caterpillars are nutritious and easily digestible for the geckos.

Storing caterpillars is best done in a cool place like in the fridge. When the worms are kept in a cool place, the worms will enter in a state of dormancy. This will delay the pupation process to keep them good. When the caterpillars are kept longer it is necessary to feed them with some fresh leaves to keep them fed and provide moisture.

gecko eat caterpillar

Where to find food for geckos and how to provide?

Food animals are for sale in terrarium stores and on amazon. They should always be powdered with a calcium and vitamin supplement. To process calcium into a usable building material for bones and eggshells, vitamin D3 is needed. This vitamin is produced in the skin under the influence of UVB rays which they get from a good UVB bulb.

When provided with care your gecko will be happy and grow well. Always provide your gecko with a UVB lamp. Also don’t forget to powder the food with calcium and vitamines to provide the right food for the geckos to stay healthy.