Food for Leopard Geckos
According to LeopardGecko.com, the leopard gecko has been captive-bred in the United States for more than 30 years. Leopard geckos are pets with simple care requirements, making them ideal for beginning reptile keepers. Learning more about what a leopard gecko eats and what its nutrition requirements include is an essential part of deciding whether this is the right lizard for you.
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Features
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Leopard geckos are entirely carnivorous. They do not eat plants or vegetables, but instead will eat a wide variety of insects and small animals. In the wild, they are opportunistic predators who will eat insects, spiders, small rodents and hatchling lizards. As pets, they can be content with a diet of mealworms, crickets and wax worms.
Considerations
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It is important to remember that the mealworms and crickets from the pet store may be malnourished and dehydrated, which removes much of their nutritive value. To combat this, insects should be gut-loaded before being offered to the lizard. To gut-load an insect, leave it in an enclosure with fresh food for a few days before giving it to the leopard gecko. This will ensure that it offers your leopard gecko a full range of nutrients.
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Hunting
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Leopard geckos are hunters in the wild, and as pets, they will retain this instinct. Crickets are particularly good for this purpose due to the fact that they are livelier than mealworms and will activate the leopard gecko's hunting instinct. Adding some fresh carrot to a dish of mealworms will make the mealworms more active and more interesting to the leopard gecko.
Misconceptions
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Some people resist feeding their leopard geckos mealworms because of the mistaken belief that mealworms will eat their way out of the leopard gecko's stomach. Due to this belief, they may feed leopard geckos only beheaded mealworms. Live mealworms are more attractive to leopard geckos.
Size
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The food that the leopard gecko eats should be sized accordingly. Hatchling geckos need crickets that are about 3/8 inch long, which would be crickets that are between two and three weeks old. Juvenile leopard geckos can have crickets that are about 1/2 inch long and by the time that the leopard gecko is 6 inches long, it can have small adult crickets. Leopard geckos should not be fed more than they can eat within 10 to 15 minutes.
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References
- Photo Credit leopard gecko image by Ivan Polushkin from Fotolia.com
