Everything You Need To Know About Leopard Gecko Feed

When it comes to pets, any animal that requires live feed is quite obviously more complex than your usual dog-food-in-bowl routine. Thankfully, taking care of this creature is so rewarding, many consider them worth the effort.

Originally desert dwellers, these lizards are insectivores. It is important to note that what is good for us is not good for them (and vice versa, obviously). This means you should not feed them fruits and vegetables, in the same way insects should not be part of our diet. These creatures mainly consume crickets and mealworms.

Crickets are excellent leopard gecko feed. Since they move around quite a bit, they serve another purpose: during mealtimes, they simulate the hunting scenario the lizards would experience in the wild. This is healthy, as your leopard gecko needs exercise and stimulation. Crickets are also easily available and are arguably the most nutritious of the leopard gecko feed options. Crickets also have a thinner protective covering than mealworms. This makes them easier on your gecko's digestive system.

Of course, these creatures do come with some issues. Part of the package deal includes a hell of a lot of noise. Remember that feeding your gecko crickets isn't all that simple. You will need to set up housing and feed for these critters. Remember not to put more crickets in your vivarium than your gecko can eat. The uneaten crickets will pester your lizards.

Mealworms on the other hand, are relatively trouble free. You only need to put them in a shallow pan and feed them to geckos. They also do have a very high fat content which can be both detrimental AND beneficial to your pet. Mealworms, however tend to bury themselves into the substrate. Feeding time can quickly turn into a tiring game of hide and seek. Since they don't move around as much, they are not as stimulating. To resolve this, during gutloading (the process of feeding your feed), you may put some cricket dust (which you can buy in pet stores) into their pan. The cricket dust annoys them and makes them move around, getting them covered in the nutritious cricket food, and makes them stimulating to your gecko.

Although many breeders see mealworms more as a treat for their pets rather than a staple food, many other handlers have fed their geckos mealworms for years without ill effects.

At the end of the day, as with all things, it all boils down to figuring out what works for you and your pet. I hope this article helped sort things out for you.