Jason And Stephen's Leopard Gecko's

How To Keep And Care For Leos....

A Guide To Feeding Your Leopard Geckos

 What should I feed my Leo?

There are a number of foods that can be fed to leo's. Crickets, Locusts, Mealworms, Waxworms and even a bit of fruit or a pinkie mouse!

However, not all of these food can be fed on a regular basis. I find the best staple diet for your leo are crickets or locusts. Mealworms can be used too but I've noticed they're harder to digest. Waxworms aren't to be fed too often because of their high fat content and little nutritional value. It has been noted that in the wild leo's will eat tiny amounts of fruit, so some keepers choose to feed them some but I never have. Breeders will use pinkie mice to fatten up a breeding female and give her a bit more calcium she need for the eggs.

How Often Should I feed and how much?

Juvenile's should be fed once or twice a day. They will typically eat about 10-15 crickets daily.

My Adult gets about 7 crickets every three days and has a tub of mealworms in his viv if he gets hungry and wants more food.

 The size of the cricket/locust should be the same as the width between the two eyes (shown below). This is to make sure the leo doesn't choke.

Picture Courtesy of Kimmy at http://www.king-gecko.co.uk/

Looking after the livefood?

Keep your crickets/locusts in a ventliated glass or plastic tank. You can leave the bottom bare or use bran or crushed wheetabix to line the bottom of the tank. Feed your crickets/locusts fruit and veg and/or bug grub and tropical fish flakes. I use a bit of wet kitchen roll on a dish for the crickets/locusts water and the tank is kept slightly above room temperture. Provide egg crates for shelter.

I keep mealworms in the tub they came in feeding the same food as I would to cricketes and locusts but do not provide water as I feel they get enough water out of their fruit and veg.

It is important that you feed the livefood well so that they're 'gutloaded' and your leo can have more nutrition. Without feeding the livefood they are just 'empty shells' and provide little nutrition.

Supplementing The Livefood?

 Supplementing food is very important for you leo's health. Theres two supplements that should be used...

PURE CALCIUM POWDER

VITMAIN POWDER

The Calcium powder should be dusted on every feed but then swapped for vitamin powder once a week.