Leopard Gecko Feeding

[Lourensb]

Hi Threre.

I am looking for some help on Feeding.

With regards to Leopard Geckos.

I read on certain care sheets, to not leave food overnight, other Places say, that they eat During the Night.

Some say you should take the food out after feeding, Others say, you need to leave the Mealworms in the dish, overnight.

Some say you must break off the leg of the Cricket, others say to Squash the head of the Cricket.

Some people say you need to cut the Head of the Mealworm off, because the Mealworm Bite the Gecko.

I have read up on this a little, but there is not much corresponding info.

Some say you can feed pinkies, others say avoid it.

Some say Vegies, others say nop vegies ?


Can I please asb the Experienced Keepers here, to please give me the Information, they have learned over time.

What is the Best Practice to Follow with regards to the Above?

I will appreciate your Help.

Regards

Louerns

[mgiddings]

I can answer a few questions

"some say you must break off the leg of the Cricket, others say to Squash the head of the Cricket"

As far as I know this is not true and the geckos need movement to simulate hunting.



"Some people say you need to cut the Head of the Mealworm off, because the Mealworm Bite the Gecko"

This is not true at all, mealworms should be fed live, I have talked to many leopard gecko keepers and have NEVER herad of a problem



" Some say you can feed pinkies, others say avoid it"


Pinkies have a very high fat contents. They can be fed but must be fed sparingly, they are often fed after a female has laid eggs. Generally avoid them.



Some say Vegies, others say nop vegies ?

As far as I know, leopard geckos do not eat veggies.

[warbot]

hello again Lourens,
This is a touchy subject, same is with feeding your snake live or thawed mice, it depends on your preferred method, for example my 2 kings I had, my female only took thawed mice my male took anything, except rat pups ? don't know why.... you see where I'm going with this?

I believe that they must be hunt their food, as that gives them exercise and not obese.
I am not a big fan of leopard geckos cause they are so fragile, I prefer the bigger animals.

To give you an answer, crickets may attack your gecko if they do not get food, and if there are to many they can do some damage if not kill your gecko!

with this keep a tub of gutload in the enclosure for the crickets and 4 crickets per gecko and that should do the trick, mealworms.. I don't feed anything mealworms! I use roaches, earthworms, crickets and silkworms and them in their moth stage, I gut load my crickets with a tinge of calcium powder (of which you can also leave a small tub in the enclosure).

Ultimately it is your call, there is no actual right or wrong method when it comes to most cases with reptiles, there is the advised and not-advised, but not-advised is not wrong so to say in some cases.

I hope this can help you in any way

W~

[madcow]

I agree with mgiddings.

Personally I would remove uneaten crickets 'cause they might go hungry and chew on the gecko's eyelids ,toe's and tails. To prevent it you can leave a dog food pellet or two for the crickets, But I wont get accustomed to the idea of leaving crickets in the enclosure!. Mealworms in a deep dish is fine, you can leave that overnight even a day or two , just rotate the uneaten one,s with fresh one's.

If the crickets are to fast for the gecko's to catch , you can then "COOL/SLOW" them down by placing them in the freezer for n couple of seconds.

Pinky's are mostly given to females before breeding to build up their fat reserves. You can however feed them as an occasional treat. Occasional beeing every 2nd or 3rd month.During that week after feeding the pinky I would recommend slowing down on the other food, to allow time for digesting.

Stick to proper feeding sizes and you should be fine . "Nothing bigger than the width of the head from eye to eye"

[Bushviper]

Dont believe this cr@p about not feeding mealworms. The biggest breeder of leopard geckos is South Africa only fed mealworms right up until he gave up the hobby. Years ago before crickets were commercially available that all we fed Leopard geckos and mine lived to be 32 years old. Feed them the softer white ones when they are small. The adults will even take super worms although if that is all they will eat this becomes expensive.

The reason why you break off the back legs of the crickets is because that is how they make the noise that some people do not like. If you dont like them singing then dont buy them.

Leopard geckos are not fragile but obviously should not be handled the way you would a bearded dragon.

If you want to feed crickets you can and but dont feed the giant black ones. The soft domesticated ones are pretty innocuous and could not kill your gecko unless it was a hatchling the same size as them. Crickets are expensive and are not critical for keeping Leopard geckos happy and healthy.

Mice pinkies are okay up to once a month except females who are producing eggs all the time. They can get a pinky twice a month then if they have eggs inside. Males should not have more than a few times a year.

Always leave fresh calcium in a shallow dish in their cage and they will help themselves. Replace it every week or two. If the bowl is not too deep you can use it to place the mealworms in as well and they will eat every night when they move around.

[warbot]

I just want to add, I didn't insinuate that I think mealworms are bad, I personally don't feed them as they breed in the substrate if they get out, and nothing have eats them anyway, except the beardies

Just a personal preference of mine, mealworms are high in protein and will not damage your gecko.

just thought I'd clear that up.
And I agree with madcow on the dog pellets, I usually leave a tub of gutload mixed with calcium powder in the enclosure.

Its all about preference.

[Pinnacle Geckos]

Bushviper I'm with you on this one.I've bred hundreds of Leopard geckos on mealworms and superworms alone.Let's not forget that these animals come from some of the harshest environments on the planet and are more than capable of destroying intact prey items.Leopard geckos are far from fragile.Leaving crickets more than a few hours in a cage is not ideal.I gave my geckos ten minutes to consume them,if not eaten in that time they were taken out and offered at another time
p.s Bushviper the books will be there soon

[Lourensb]

See this care sheet for example.

Please note:
Do not feed your juvenile Bearded Dragon any Mealworms until he is at least 8 months to a year old. Mealworms have the creepy ability to stay alive with no body. If the young Bearded Dragon does not killed the head by crushing it and ends up swallowing the worm alive then the worm can actually eat its way out the side of the Bearded Dragon’s stomach. A young Bearded Dragon’s stomach is far more delicate than adults. So rather be safe than sorry! Mealworms should only be given as treats to adults as they are high in fat! An excellent alternative is to feed Superworms. They have much less exo-skeleton, far more protein and rarely cause digestion problems. Small pin head sized Superworms can be used for juveniles.

[ReptileCorner]

See this care sheet for example.

I have been told by a mealworm breeder and I read that a hatchling Bearded Dragon should never eat mealworms because the mealworms can damage the inside of their stomachs by biting if the hatchling does not crush the head properly. The book even had a picture of the damage. For this reason I have never fed any hatchling Bearded Dragon mealworms.

@BV - Please let me know if this is true or not. Then I'll update my caresheets with the correct information too....and take it up with our mealworm breeder.

I find that Superworms (Zophobas Morio) are far better than mealworms, and they don't turn into beetles unless you expose them to the correct conditions. Thus giving you a longer shelf life of the feeder. Our hatchlings only get the pinhead size (the size between the Beardies eyes). Any bigger will cause stomach problems.
I have fed all types of lizards Superworms for many years and have never had any problems. They are great.

[mgiddings]

I disagree that superworms are better than meal worms for the following reasons.
1. More expensive
2. Higher fat content

[ReptileCorner]

@ mgiddings - I agree with you to a certain extent. We don't feed superworms as a main feeder. We feed roaches, and only give superworms as a treat, or to gravid females.
Superworms are easy to breed (once you get the hang of it), so they are not expensive. I suppose it's the same as the roach vs cricket debate.

What do you feed? Only mealworms as a main diet?

What do you think about the stories of the heads biting a juvenile internally? Don't you think that a reptiles stomach acids would kill it before this happens?
Urban legand perhaps?

[ReptileCorner]

Check out the below analysis. It only has superworms, crickets and some different roach breeds on though. Perhaps someone can assist us with a Superworm analysis?

[mgiddings]

@reptile corner

I don't own leos, just talked to a lot of people and done a lot of research. I agree with you on the eating out of stomachs that it is false, and many leo breeders have fed superworms and never had a problem.

[Pinnacle Geckos]

Urban legends seem to hang around for ages.The largest leopard gecko breeder in the world has been feeding mealworms for 32 years without any problems.I think what needs to be said is prey size/gecko size needs to correct or you will have problems.If leopard geckos had any problem eating insects as soft or as harmless as a mealworm good old evolution would have phased them out a couple of million years ago

[Bushviper]

Bearded Dragons and Leopard geckos are not the same. Leopard geckos can subsist on mealworms quite easily.

Bearded dragons are another story. If they eat large mealworms it lodges in the bowels and paralyses the animal which is not reversable. Baby Beardies do not chew the worms well enough and the worm can go right through the digestive system without being digested. That is why they need the soft white worms. When they reach adulthood they eat slower and chew their food better. The mealworm does not "eat through their stomachs" so forget about that rubbish.

This thread is about leopard geckos in any case.