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Cricket feeding for Leopard Geckos

While they may not be for everyone, Leopard Geckos are one of the cutest, most fascinating pets a person can have. As a good and responsible pet owner, you want your leopard gecko to get the best possible nutrition to live a long and happy life.

The problem is, the leopard geckos will eat anything. That’s right, anything at all as long as it moves or wiggles in front of their faces. To make sure your leopard gecko is eating right, you should only feed them live crickets.

Crickets are high in nutrition, but lower in fat. While it may seem impossible to overfeed a leopard gecko, since they store any excess fat in their tail and are, admittedly, total eating machines, it is actually possible to do so. Sticking to crickets, and making sure that even with crickets, you don’t give the gecko too much, can go a long way to preserving the gecko’s health. Even with these efforts, if you find your gecko is gaining too much weight, it’s time to put them on a diet- whether they like it or not. Don’t worry- they’ll forgive you later. Make sure your leopard gecko is nice and warm at feeding time- this can help them digest their food.

It’s best to feed your gecko late in the day or even in the early evening, which is usually considered to be after 5 o'clock and before 9 o'clock at night. since that is usually when they would hunt if they lived in the wild. There is no ideal routine, however, because each gecko is independently picky.

For geckos that are lazy and overeat, owners are generally instructed to feed them a set amount predetermined by you (not by how much the gecko asks for more food) to prevent them from becoming overweight.

For geckos that are more active, you’ll want to feed them as much as they can eat within a 15 minute period. A skinny gecko is no good, either! Some geckos are really stubborn eaters- and if all else fails, you may have to break down and give them the equivalent of potato chips for geckos- worms. They love them, and barely ever turn down a nice, wiggling worm. It doesn’t matter what kind, but large earthworms are usually the best. If they just won’t eat, put a dish of worms in there so they can eat em up and keep their weight up.

Here's a good breakdown for how many feeders you should provide to your leopard gecko if you're unsure.