Gecko Food
How To Select The Best Gecko Food
Geckos are carnivores, and in the wild, gecko food consists of just about any creature a gecko can catch and eat. This includes insects, small rodents, arthropods and even other geckos. The problem for gecko owners is that a gecko in captivity needs the same sort of variety to give it the nutrients it needs to live a healthy, happy life.
If you aren’t keen on feeding live prey to another live animal, or in this case, reptile, then having a pet gecko or breeding geckos is probably not for you. The truth is that the main staple in the life of a caged gecko consists of live crickets. And, you not only have to feed the gecko the crickets, you have to feed the crickets before giving them to the gecko.
If you think that getting gecko food is as easy as buying some frozen or refrigerated crickets or mealworms, your gecko is not going to stay healthy for long. In fact, he will probably start losing his color and becoming lethargic in a few months if not fed just the right sort of gecko food.
The first part of making good gecko food is getting nice, plump, lively crickets. These can be bought at pet stores or at reptile supply stores. Then, you need to keep your crickets in a container and make sure that they are well fed. Don’t wait and feed the crickets right before the gecko feeding time--they need to be fed daily so that their bodies have time to process the food before the gecko eats them. If not, the gecko won’t get enough nutrients.
You can feed crickets dry dog food and just about any kind of vegetable or fruit. Crickets are often fed kale, oatmeal, carrots, squash, potatoes, grapefruit, zucchini, grapefruit, apples, oranges, bananas, and many other items. Many people think they can take any old cricket and just dust him with calcium or other vitamin/mineral powders and he is ready to be eaten. But this is not true.
Dusting does need to be a part of feeding your gecko, but that is in addition to giving it a well-fed cricket. Food should be dusted with calcium and vitamin powders once a week. Baby geckos need to be fed every day and adult geckos every other day. If your geckos are breeding, they need to eat more often.
As for waxworms, these can be part of your gecko’s diet but only if they are given as treats. They contain too much fat to be fed to geckos at every feeding. Storage in the refrigerator basically puts waxworms to sleep and makes them lethargic, so they must be warmed up at room temperature at least two days before your gecko eats them.