Information On What To Feed A Leopard Gecko

A major factor in enjoying a healthy, active and content gecko is providing it with a good healthy diet. Leopard Geckos are insectivores, they feed on insects, such as spiders, moths, mosquitoes, and worms.

Adult geckos can be fed live prey every other day while baby leopard geckos should be fed everyday. You can adjust the feeding to suit your specific geckos needs if this schedule doesn't seem to work for your pet.

Two properly sized mealworms for each inch of the geckos length is a good quantity. And you can also treat your pet to waxworms or superworms once a week. Most geckos do prefer to hunt and capture their own fresh prey as opposed to being given dead or pre-killed prey to eat.

Another very good source of food is crickets, but when giving a gecko crickets as prey, you need to make sure that you use crickets that are small enough for your gecko to hunt.

You can offer your gecko anywhere from 4 to 8 crickets at one time. It is not good to leave crickets running around the gecko's enclosure for a long period of time as this too can cause your gecko to become unnecessarily over stressed. It is normal for geckos to eat the skin that they shed, so they may not always need the same amount of food for each feeding.

Mealworms, super-worms or anything else that can be contained in a dish can be left within the cage for your pet to eat as required.

If you like, as a treat you can give your adult gecko an occasional tiny pinkie mouse. One that is only a few days old will be small enough for an adult gecko to deal with. In fact, pinkie mice are a wonderful choice to give breeding females.

Wax-worms are also a good occassional treat for your gecko. Wax-worms are very fattening and generally unhealthy for geckos.

The prey that you offer your pet should be no larger than half the width of your gecko's head, this will ensure that your gecko doesn't choke on it.

The skin that they shed, and then eat, does help to provide them with protein and other healthy nutrients.

One of the better ways of keeping your leopard gecko healthy in regards to feeding it, is to gut-load your geckos prey 24 hours prior to feeding it to them. Gut-loading is feeding the crickets or other insects a very nutritious, high quality food prior to feeding them to your gecko.

You can buy food for the insects things like chick or hog mash. You can also purchase a powdered supplement from a pet store for the function of gut-loading the prey. Along with gut-loading, you can offer your gecko calcium and vitamin supplements by sprinkling the prey with powdered supplements prior to feeding them to your gecko.

Calcium and vitamins supplements are very important to the overall health of your leopard gecko. When dusting the prey, you do want to be careful not to get dust in your geckos eyes.

Your gecko should also have fresh water available at all times. The water should be changed often. Stagnant water is a breeding ground for bacteria which can lead to illness in your gecko.

By: Debbie S. Miller

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Debbie Miller is a pet lover and provides expert advice on Leopard Geckos. To learn more about what to feed a Leopard Gecko ? Visit my website at www.leopardgeckoscenter.com and get your Free 10 part Leopard Gecko Mini-Course with helpful tips on how to buy, feed and care for your Leopard Gecko.