Feeding Videos
Questions and topics answered on this page:
What can leopard geckos eat?
Trying locusts for the first time.
Trying morio worms for the first time.
Trying giant mealworms for the first time.
Trying calci worms for the first time.
Leopard geckos vs house flies.
Leopard geckos vs wax moths.
Trying a pinkie for the first time.
Why did I feed my leopard geckos pinkies?
Trying InsectiGold.
Trying vacuum-sealed insects.
Trying a centipede for the first time.
Trying canned insects.
What can leopard geckos eat?
Most reptiles are opportunistic omnivores who will eat whatever they can fit in their mouths. But a leopard gecko’s main diet should consist of insects. In this video I try a range of insects with my leopard geckos.
Trying locusts for the first time.
Prior to making this video, I had never offered my leopard geckos locusts before, but locusts are a healthy feeder insects that can be provided to your gecko as part of a varied diet.
Trying morio worms for the first time.
As I became more aware of reptile nutrition, I started to introduce new insects to my leopard gecko’s diet. Morio worms should only be fed as a treat. I will usually offer my geckos 2-3 morio worms every 2-3 weeks.
Trying giant mealworms for the first time.
Believe it or not, morio worms and giant mealworms are actually different animals. I try to avoid giant mealworms as they are just mealworms treated with a juvenile hormone, S-Methoprene. They also tend to be sterile, so you cannot start a breeding colony with them. In this case, I had accidentally order giant mealworms, so I thought I’d try them with my geckos this one time.
Trying calci worms for the first time.
Calci worms, also sometimes known as phoenix worms are a great source of calcium, and a very healthy worm to use as part of a varied diet. The only downside I’ve found with them is that they tend to be quite small, and once they are big enough for my leopard geckos to acknowledge, they quickly pupate and become black solider flies.
Leopard geckos vs house flies.
I wouldn’t usually feed flies as part of my gecko’s main diet, however, since I had a surplus of captive-bred house flies because I owned jumping spiders at the time. I thought I’d see how my leopard geckos would react to them.
Leopard geckos vs wax moths.
Keepers often wonder whether all life stages of their feeder insects can be fed to their leopard geckos, and for the most part, the answer is, yes! You’ll find leopard geckos usually won’t bother with the adult stage of a morio worm - the beetles can work quite well as clean-up crew. But when it comes to the wax worm, leopard geckos will happily each the worm, the pupa and the moth.
Trying a pinkie for the first time.
This video ended up being a little controversial, and the reasoning behind why I fed my leopard geckos pinkies is explained in the next video. However, it is good to keep in mind that leopard geckos, like most reptiles, will eat almost anything that fits in their mouth, and will certainly encounter small rodents, small lizards and even eggs in the wild that they will eat. This video does contain frozen/thawed pinkie mice.
Why did I feed my leopard geckos pinkies?
In this video, I talk about the backlash surrounding my pinkie feeding video, why I offered them to my leopard geckos, as well as talking to John Courteney-Smith about the leopard gecko’s wild diet.
Trying InsectiGold.
InsectiGold isn’t something I would offer my geckos regularly, however, I think if you’re unable to get hold of feeder insects for a short period of time, or you’re nursing a sick lizard, it can come in handy, as unlike the leopard gecko gel food that I talk about on the ‘Feeding Tips’ page, InsectiGold is packed full of nutrition.
Trying vacuum-sealed insects.
I saw these in my local reptile shop and wondered how my leopard geckos would react to them. Though this isn’t something I have done since making this video, I can see why people may feed these to their geckos as it allows them to eat some insects that may be hard to find. However, when it comes to dubias, it may be best to stick to the live ones.
Trying a centipede for the first time.
Similar to the previous video, I found a vacuum-sealed centipede at my local reptile shop. I believe this may be the only safe way of offering your reptile a centipede in captivity. Leopard geckos will almost certainly eat arthropods like this in the wild, but centipedes can be a little dangerous, and not often fed as live feeders.
Trying canned insects.
You may have seen can o’ worms, can o’ crickets and herp diner in your local pet store, and you may have wondered what they are like, will your geckos even eat them? I am hear to confirm the food does indeed stink, and is certainly not something I would recommend over live feeder insects. But I will let you watch the video so you can see my geckos’ reaction to the food.