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Feeding Leopard Geckos

H

Haig

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We are about to buy our son a Leopard Gecko for his birthday. But as we live in Cyprus, I am not sure we can get a constant supply of crickets, mealworms etc as live food. Can we feed it dead insects, and if so, are they available as prepared foods by suppliers, as with fish food?

Many thanks in advance

Haig
 
I have yet to have a leopard gecko eat a dead insect or even eat prepared food. They're pretty much a strictly live prey animal. If you're worried about a steady supply of crickets, you should consider ordering small quantities (200 or so) of crickets at a time from an online, reputable supplier (check the Board of Inquiry first).

In your case, ordering mealworms may be the way to go. You can order a large number and keep them in your fridge in an open container for several months (provided you take them out once a week to feed and rehydrate them). This is extremely convenient and saves a bundle of money, not to mention saves your room from smelling like a cricket farm. This is, of course, if you don't mind having hibernating insects in your fridge. ;) If you leave the mealworms at room temperature they'll pupate into beetles, which are harmless but pretty much distasteful to leopard geckos.

For online feeder suppliers, go HERE.

For mealworm and cricket care, go HERE.

Hope this helps! :) Enjoy your new family addition!
 
I'd also say mealworms would be a good choice but if you don't want to have worms in your fridge you could use Superworms, as long as you give them carrots and a gutload superworms will live along time and they only pupate if they are alone. you can not put superworms in the fridge as it will kill them.
I have been using Wormman for the past few years.
 
Wormman has horrible reviews, not to mention that I have had a horrible experience with them that made me stop purchasing anything from them.

Also, only a few leopard geckos in my collection like superworms. They're, simply put, huge. Many of my geckos merely go "AAAAAH, GIANT BUG! FEAR!!" and run away. The mealies are much more readily eaten. Besides, supers are no good for baby or sub-adult leopard geckos and actually stink if you don't change the substrate enough.

If you don't believe me about the whole Wormman is bad news thing, check these threads out:

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36700&highlight=wormman
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53690&highlight=wormman
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31513&highlight=wormman

This is the only thread that has something positive to say about them, and considering it's only 2 pages long I don't think it has much to stand on:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36133&page=2&pp=5&highlight=wormman
 
Thanks again Guys. As you may gather, my son and I are very new to this, though we have a house full of more conventional pets and I have kept all kinds of fish for over 30 years. Keeping reptiles is very new to Cyprus and there is only one petshop on the island that stocks them. They seem to have live food, but my concern is that they may sometimes be out of stock. Also, I am not sure that the Cyprus authorities would allow me to import live food from online suppliers. If it is easy to breed live insects/worms, that is something we could do. Can we feed other bugs/worms eg earth worms, grasshoppers, spiders, ants...etc?

Also, we are thinking of getting a Leopard Gecko as we have read that this makes a good first pet. Are there any similar Geckos which accept a more varied diet and dry prepared foods?

Regards

Haig
 
If you're having trouble getting live food, you may seriously consider getting a crested gecko instead. They're also an excellent beginner's pet. The main benefit to crested geckos is that they eat babyfood. I've heard (although never tried this myself, may want to check out the Gecko forum instead of here) that if you mix T-Rex crested gecko diet in with the baby food that that's all the crested geckos need nutritionally.

You can always supplement their diet with wild caught insects, but I'd worry about parasites. Earthworms are a no-go for most reptiles. Grasshoppers are okay, spiders I'd worry about, and ants are too small. If you can't get a steady supply of captive raised insects, you should be okay with the crested geckos more so than the leopards.

Crested geckos are also relatively cheap, especially the males. They get to be roughly the same size as a leopard gecko but require lower temperatures (70s). They are also arboreal, so they'll need a tall cage with plants and branches.

Crested Gecko.com also has a caresheet on crested geckos, so you may want to check that out. Also, go ahead and post in the gecko forum here on fauna with your questions.

A really excellent book called Rhacodactylus was released a year or so ago and it goes over the captive care of the genus (cresteds are included). It's $40 on Amazon and may be a good investment. There are cheaper care books out there though, but I find that the best guides are available online for free.
 
I would have to disagree on the not taking dead prey. There are exceptions. My daughter's leopard gecko eats anything, dead or alive. Without agitating a feeding response too. Dead spiders, pinkies, crickets, you name it. It does enjoy live prey, but seems to prefer dead (he's a lazy little guy). I bet he would take processed feed too, but I am not going to try that.

Keep in mind though, I am pretty sure this LG is an exception to the rule. Good luck, and have fun with your child's first reptiles!!

Gabe
 
Thanks to you all for your input. We need to do some more homework! :)
 
I also have a few in my collection that have been known to take freeze dried mealworms. This I have accomplished by conditioning them to eat anything on the end of my feeding tongs. Started this conditioning with the first meal out of the egg lol. Also, and I'm surprised no one else mentioned this, mealworms are exceptionally easy to breed and a small colony should be able to keep your gecko well fed during times the store is out of stock. I use a plastic tub, and as long as you keep them fed, they will breed very well with no outside help.
 
Leopard Gecko not eating mealworms

Hi Everybody

I finally found a pet shop in Cyprus which imports live mealworms and crickets. So we went ahead and got our son a leopard gecko (female). We have had her for a few days now and she seems to have settled down. The supplier is waiting for a new batch of crickets, so we are feeding her wild caught grasshoppers, which she eats. So far though, she is not interested in mealworms. I am worried that she will not get a varied diet. Is this a common problem? How can I get her to accept mealworms?

Thanks guys.

Best regards

Haig
 
Well, wild caught anything can be problematic due to the fact that you can't verify the bugs are clean. That is, free of parasites and pesticides. Grasshoppers are awfully big here in the states for a young gecko. Is yours an adult? You may also pull the large hopper legs off to make them easier to swallow. I have heard some say that grasshoppers are not good for leos, but I am not sure of the reason for that. Spiders are a definate no. If you withhold other food items for a few days, and then offer only mealies, she should take them as long as they are wriggling aound and she is hungry. I do know some leos (pigs) will refuse any item they deem too small, and thus not worth the effort. Maybe your mealies are not of appropriate size?
 
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