Leopard Gecko Feeding – Feeder Insects Nutritional Value Facts

leopard gecko feeding feeder insects nutrition dubia roaches

Leopard geckos are insectivores, they must be fed on live insects.  In this guide we will explore leopard gecko feeding options and nutritional value of common feeder insects.

Leopard Gecko Feeding – What feeder insects to use?

Leopard geckos can be fed on a wide variety of insects, popular choices including, but not limited to, crickets, mealworms, superworms, dubia roaches, hornworms, waxworms, phoenix worms, silkworms, butterworms, and more.  Some feeder insects are more readily available so they are more affordable and easier to find.  We will review some popular feeder insects used for leopard gecko feeding.

Crickets

Nutritional Information:  Moisture 69.07%, Fat 6.01%, Protein 21.32%, Fiber 3.2%, Ash 2.17%, Ca ppm 345, P ppm 4238, CA/P ratio 0.081% (source)

Pro:  Easy to find, cheap, low fat, high protein, easy to care for, gut-loads well, erratic movement stimulates feeding

Con:  Noisy, unpleasant smell, short lifespan, jumpy, hide in crevices hard to fish out of the tank, can bite your gecko, can carry parasites

Mealworms

Nutritional Information:  Moisture 62.44%, Fat 12.72%, Protein 20.27%, Fiber 1.73%, Ash 1.57%, Ca ppm 133, P ppm 3345, CA/P ratio 0.040% (source)

Pro:  Easy to find, cheap, high protein, easy to care for, decent lifespan (can be prolonged by refrigeration), no mess or smell, easy to breed your own feeder colony

Con:  Higher fat content, bad calcium to phosphorous ratio, doesn’t gut-load as well (small digestive tract), slow movement may not stimulate your leopard gecko feeding as much

Notes:  Giant mealworms are mealworms treated with juvenile hormone analog, S-Methoprene.  S-Methoprene is an insect growth regulator, it prevents the mealworm from pupating.  We have an article if you wish to learn more about how giant mealworms are created.  Read the article so you can decide for yourself whether you want to use giant mealworms as feeders.

Superworms

Nutritional Information:  Moisture 59.37%, Fat 17.89%, Protein 17.41%, Fiber 6.80%, Ash 1.20%, Ca ppm 124, P ppm 2320, CA/P ratio 0.053% (source)

Pro:  Easy to find, cheap, decent protein, easy to care for, long lifespan (no refrigeration needed), no mess or smell, easy to breed your own feeder colony

Con:  High fat content, lower protein, may not be suitable for younger/smaller geckos, bad calcium to phosphorous ratio, doesn’t gut-load as well, can bite

Dubia Roaches

Continue reading “Leopard Gecko Feeding – Feeder Insects Nutritional Value Facts”

Leopard Gecko Hatchling Before After 2019

leopard gecko hatchling before after 2019 update onlinegeckos.com

Here’s our leopard gecko hatchling before after pictures for 2019 hatches! Our readers have expressed great interest in seeing how leopard gecko hatchlings change as they grow up. Below you will find fresh out of the egg gecko hatchlings, with pictures of what they look like after 3-4 months. To purchase our beautiful leopard geckos, please visit our leopard geckos for sale page. New geckos and breeders are still being posted.

Leopard gecko hatchling before after – first eggs

The first clutch of leopard gecko eggs were laid on April 18th, 2019. The parents for this clutch were our keystone male, Asclepius, a Giant Hot Moose. And our beautiful female breeder, a TUG Tremper Sunglow.

leopard gecko hatchling before after – first eggs
Continue reading “Leopard Gecko Hatchling Before After 2019”

Leopard Gecko Breeding Season 2018

onlinegeckos.com leopard gecko breeding season 2018

The 2018 leopard gecko breeding season is upon us.  Every year adult female leopard geckos will start to ovulate around January through June/July.  If you have an adult leopard gecko, you should start to notice some behavior and feeding changes soon.

Both male and female leopard geckos could refuse food off and on throughout the breeding season, as we outlined in “My Leopard Gecko Won’t Eat” article.  Some leopard geckos will fast through the whole season.  You should not be alarmed.  This is all part of the normal leopard gecko breeding season cycles. Continue reading “Leopard Gecko Breeding Season 2018”

Leopard Gecko Supplies Holiday Deals Exo Terra All Glass Terrarium

leopard gecko supplies holiday deals exo terra all glass terrarium tank

We’ve been watching for leopard gecko supplies holiday deals to see if we can find some good sales in 2017.  You can find some nice end of the year sales on reptile supplies during the Winter holiday season.  We are happy to share with you what we’ve found.  Now is a good time to stock up on gecko care and equipment supplies while saving some money.

Leopard Gecko Supplies Holiday Deals – Amazon Prime Membership

Amazon is where we often camp for good deals.  We like Amazon because with Prime Membership, you get unlimited fast free shipping.  This is extremely useful when you are doing last minute shopping.  You can start your 30-Day free trial here.  Even if you don’t want to pay for Prime, you can still enjoy all the benefits completely free for 30 days.  So say you want to take advantage of fast free shipping, start your trial, then cancel it before 30 days is over.  Think about the amount of shipping cost you’ll save with unlimited Free Two-Day shipping. Continue reading “Leopard Gecko Supplies Holiday Deals Exo Terra All Glass Terrarium”

FedEx and OnlineGeckos.com 2017 Holiday Shipping Schedule

onlinegeckos.com 2017 holiday shipping schedule fedex

2017 holiday shopping season is here!  Holiday shipping delays have become more common in the recent years.  Extra caution must be taken to ensure the safe arrival of live animals.   With leopard geckos and african fat-tails, they require Priority Overnight shipping.  See below for FedEx’s 2017 holiday shipping schedule for Express shipping:

Thursday Nov 23rd:  FedEx Express is closed

Monday Dec 25th:  FedEx Express is closed

Monday Jan 1st:  FedEx Express is closed

On these days, FedEx will not ship or deliver at all. Continue reading “FedEx and OnlineGeckos.com 2017 Holiday Shipping Schedule”

Hatchling Update and Leopard Geckos For Sale

In this hatchling update, we have many new hatchling pictures to share with you.  We are also planning on posting some 2016 releases and 2017 leopard gecko hatchlings toward the end of September and early October.  Please check our Available Leopard Geckos for Sale page for new geckos in the upcoming months.  We’ve already posted a beautiful Bell Blazing Blizzard female for sale.

onlinegeckos leopard gecko for sale bell blazing blizzard female

Hatchling Update September 18th 2017

Our hatchling racks are at near full capacity.  The way we handle new leopard gecko hatchlings is we leave them be and allow them to eat and grow for at least 2-3 months.  These early months are crucial to their development and health.  Gecko hatchlings that don’t eat well early on could develop metabolic bone disease (MBD), or other physical developmental issues such as being smaller and underdeveloped.  This is why even though we know people are eager to purchase these cute baby geckos, we do our best to not bother them too much during the first few months.

But as promised, we know folks like to see more gecko pictures.  We have plenty of hatchling pictures to share with you during this hatchling update.  First we’d like to show you a couple of before & after pictures.  Here’s a radar female born on 7-3-2017:

onlinegeckos.com leopard gecko radar hatchlings 2017

And here she is 2 months after, with a much more developed tail, and a more intense orange body color: Continue reading “Hatchling Update and Leopard Geckos For Sale”