Q&A for How to Feed Leopard Geckos

While you can hand feed your gecko, it's possible that they may bite you. The safest option is to place your gecko's food in a bowl and place it in the tank.

Yes. Leaving them out of the fridge also allows the meal worms to grow large and act more alive, boosting the predator instinct in your gecko.

Take them back out, and try feeding it different foods.

Never try to feed your gecko yogurt. Stay with crickets and worms.

Leopard geckos DO NOT eat fruits and veggies! Only bearded dragons can eat those things. Please do not feed your gecko fruits and veggies, only bugs like mealworms, crickets, roaches, etc.

No, you should not feed your geckos dead food.

You should not. This could cause the leopard gecko to have too much calcium in their system. Dusting the insects with the right supplement on the correct schedule for their age is the most appropriate way to solve this issue.

They don't drink a lot of water while shedding, but they also tend to drink at night or when they are not being observed, so they may be drinking and you just don't see it.

It is your choice. If they are in the cold, they will fall asleep and will be immobile; take them out 20 minutes before feeding your gecko.

The best insect to start with would be crickets since they carry more nutrients and are healthier for your gecko. Just make sure you are gut-loading them, and keeping them healthy. At feeding time, dust your crickets with the right powder so that the gecko gets the vitamins and minerals it needs. Remember: Healthy food, healthy gecko.

If your gecko is new, it's possible that they're still adjusting. They might also dislike the food you're giving them. I would suggest trying to feed your gecko a few wax worms every week to stimulate its appetite.

Yes. This is by far the best way to add additional calcium to a gecko's diet.

It should have a varied diet of insects that includes crickets, mealworms, locusts, waxworms, and silkworms.

Feed them daily if they're babies, every 3 - 4 days if they're adults. They can eat as many insects as they will eat in fifteen minutes. Give them a varied diet. Some insects you can use are crickets and mealworms.

Yes, this is normal. Leopard geckos are nocturnal, so he or she is probably most active at night when you're sleeping.

The answer to all of your questions is yes. The crickets will breed, and when the mealworms turn into beetles, they will breed.

It really varies from gecko to gecko, but giant bloodlines can be as long a 11 inches.

Yes, and no. The worms tend to be more fatty than nutritional, so I would recommend crickets and Dubai roaches, as well.

Yes. Feeding him a variety is good.

No, you don't. You can also feed them mealworms, waxworms, silkworms, and dubia roaches. (You have to be careful with waxworms though because they are high in fat.)

I dust with multivitamin for 2 feedings per week. Make sure to always dust with calcium.

Yes, those have to be two separate things. Calcium with vitamin D3 could lead to an overdose, so make sure to get it without D3. You also need vitamin D3, but don't mix them together to make it easier, as that could be potentially fatal for your gecko.

I would recommend just using an undertank heater under the warm hide of your gecko's terrarium.

Yes, there certainly is. You can use long tongs to pick up the crickets or any insect/bug your gecko is eating.

Live food allows them to exercise their hunting instincts. Fresh food is also going to have more nutrients than food that has been dead for awhile.

Mist the cold side of the enclosure or give your gecko a shallow bath.

To gutload a cricket, you can give them vegetable scraps like potato, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, or any other nutritional food. Just make sure you take the food out if it gets moldy.

Some veggies can be poisonous to your leopard gecko. No veggie has any nutritional value to any leopard gecko, stick to store-bought feeder bugs.

Spot clean whenever you see poop, and fully clean the carpet weekly. However, reptile carpet isn’t recommended, as it harbors bacteria no matter how much it’s cleaned, as well as catching teeth and claws and providing no digging enrichment. Dry eco earth and bioactive substrates (or something similar) are good options. Leopard geckos should not be housed together regardless of gender. A 20 gallon long tank is the minimum for one and bigger is better.

Yes, you can, but it is not recommended as they will not gain as many nutrients from the crickets. It is best to use live crickets. If they are newborn (0-6 months), they should be fed every day and the crickets should be coated in calcium dust without D3 5 times a week and dusted with D3 powder 2 days a week. Above a newborn (6-12 months) they should be fed every other day and still with more calcium than D3. After 1 year they should be fed every 3-4 days.