Question:I have a leopard gecko who mostly eats gut loaded mealworms. I was wondering if there were "treats" I could give him other than fatty wax worms? I have heard apricot baby food?! (I just wouldn't want to poison him!!)
Answers:
Crickets
Mealworms and Pinkies
silkworms
pheonix worms
Mediterranean locust
Waxworms - These are a treat. Don't feed waxworms as a staple diet because they are so fattening.
While mealworms are okay, their exoskeleton is hard and geckos aren't able to digest it. The staple of your gecko's diet should be crickets with mealworms once or twice a week as a treat.
Skip the apricot baby food. Leopard geckos are insectivores and don't normally eat fruits and vegetables. Occasionally some may nibble at some fruit, but it's not the norm.
Gut-loading crickets is fairly easy. Put them in a small cage with a slice of orange and they'll get plenty of vitamin C and the moisture they need. Take them straight from their cage and put them in with your gecko. If you use a gut-load food then you should be fine on the calcium. Otherwise, when you feed your gecko, dust the crickets with calcium powder (2-3x weekly).
OK, the guy above me is somewhat wrong. Leos CAN digest meal worm exoskeletons! That is just a myth and is not true! As for treats don't give it baby food because that will be bad for your gecko. Try gut leaded crickets or other worms... as the first guy said.
I feed mine baby food as a treat all of the time. I buy different fruit flavors. All geckos love nectar. You can even use fresh fruit as long as you smash it up. There is also nothing wrong with feeding it a pinkie every now and then. I give my adult leos a pinkie once a week. Wax worms won't cause harm either as long as it it just for a treat.
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