In this post, you will be able to learn everything you need to know about your leopard gecko’s diet. We will discuss what to feed leopard geckos, how much water and food they need, suitable insect sizes, food and water bowl selection and so on. We will also talk about hatchling, juvenile and adult leopard gecko feeding schedules.
What foods do leopard geckos eat?
Leopard geckos are carnivores, which means that they need to eat insects and small animals to survive. You can feed your leopard gecko insects and animals such as beetles, flies, grasshoppers, spiders, mealworms, crickets, small locusts, waxworms, silkworms, snails, some types of cockroaches, and that’s what they eat in the wild.
In the wild, they also consume other insects that they can kill of find dead. Leopard geckos will also kill and eat other lizards that are small than them.
The main source of energy for your leopard gecko is protein and fat. Fat is also crucial for female leopard geckos, as it is stored in her eggs. Vitamins and fiber are also important for your leopard gecko’s well being.
Do leopard geckos eat anything besides insects?
Leopard geckos don’t eat anything besides insects. Leopard geckos do not eat vegetables, like lettuce or carrots, or any fruits or flowers. You will need to get live or freeze dried insects (only occasionally) for your leopard gecko.
While some leopard gecko owners might claim that their leopard gecko eats lettuce or bananas, it still doesn’t mean this food is suitable. Fruits and vegetables are not suitable for leopard geckos and will not provide your gecko with enough energy.
Do you need to feed your leopard gecko live food, or is freeze dried food suitable?
You can raise your leopard gecko successfully on both live insect and occasional preserved insect diet. Of course, feeding your leopard gecko live food will make it active, increase its attention and encourage it to hunt. Your leopard gecko will be more engaged and happy if you feed it live foods more often.
Live food should be prioritized, so try to offer live food at least every other day. But if you start training your leopard gecko to eat preserved foods from the early age, it will be fine will only occasional live food.
If you introduce freeze dried insects when your gecko is an adult, it can refuse to it them. You will have to artificially wiggle the food to engage your leopard gecko to eat.
But of course, feeding live foods to your leopard gecko might not be always possible. If you are feeding freeze dried insects, you will probably need to move them with
feeding tongs like this to activate a feeding reaction in your gecko.
The main rule to follow if you are choosing dried insects is to dust them with calcium and other supplements, and most of them will be already gut-loaded. Read a full guide on live insect gut-loading
here.
Which water and food dish to buy for a leopard gecko?
For your leopard gecko, choose a water and food bowls that are shallow. Otherwise, your gecko might have a problem reaching water and food.
Misting and spraying your leopard gecko will also provide it with some source of drinking water.
Leopard gecko’s vivarium will benefit from four bowls – one can be shallow with dried insects such as crickets, and the other one – high-sided for moving live insects such as mealworms and roaches.
This will stop them from escaping and causing any infestation or cross-contamination. The third will be a water dish and the fourth one will be for a pure calcium source (such as grated cuttlebone). Make sure water is always available in leopard gecko’s vivarium.
Some examples of food and water bowls:
How to feed my leopard gecko?
To feed your gecko, offer them the insects coated with calcium supplements in the small plastic feeding dish.
Only offer gut-loaded + powdered crickets and other insects. If the insects have not been gut-loaded and dusted, they will have little or no nutritional value and your leopard gecko will develop deficiencies.
Make sure the dish is tall enough so that mealworms can’t escape. If the insects escape, make sure to catch them and powder them again.
To fatten up adult (only) geckos and to add some variety, offer leopard geckos waxworms, king mealworms, locusts, silkworms and other types of insects one to two times a week.
Feeding schedules for hatchling, baby, juvenile and adult leopard gecko. How often and when to feed a leopard gecko?
The best time of a day to feed your leopard gecko is the in the evening, when they naturally start hunting. Feed hatchling and baby leopard geckos (up to 4 months old) every day – they will eat around 4-8 crickets or 1-3 worms per feeding.
With juvenile leopard geckos, feed them 5-6 days a week with larger crickets and worms. Feeding schedules for adult leopard geckos (18 months and over) will be different – you will need to feed them only 2-3 times a week.
Adults will handle around 6-10 larger crickets per feeding. Leopard geckos can go around one week without food – but make sure to feed them more food before leaving for a trip or holiday.
Make sure to gut-load the insects with every feeding (except for Phoenix worms). Supplementation frequencies will differ, and multivitamins should be used less often. We talk about gut-loading and supplements in this post.
Variety in leopard gecko’s diet is very important – otherwise they get bored with food! Try mixing/alternating to different insects with each or every other feeding.
How much food does a leopard gecko need?
A hatchling leopard gecko won’t eat anything for around 3-4 days and will feed on the yolk sac supply.
To feed your leopard gecko, time 15 minutes on your clock and offer as many insects as it can eat. Use feeding tongs or put insects in a dish and keep adding more as your leopard gecko is eating.
Don’t place too many straight away – especially live crickets can run away and hide, and it will be hard to find them afterwards. Crickets that hide will get hungry and start biting on your leopard gecko.
After 20 minutes, remove all uneaten insects.
Leopard gecko is a picky eater?
If your leopard gecko is a picky eater, try to mix the insects that it doesn’t like too much with some others. Alternatively, try buying other insects and seeing if it likes to eat them. Make sure the insects that you are choosing for everyday feeding are not too fatty. Always alternate the insects that you are offering.
How much water does a leopard gecko need?
You need to make fresh water available at all times in gecko’s vivarium. Choose a
shallow plastic dish a fill it with water. For babies and juveniles, choose a rather flat, shallow dish that is small in size.
As your leopard gecko grows, you can change the dish to a bigger one. But the main thing is for your leopard gecko to see the water, otherwise it won’t be able to drink it.
Change the water at the end of the day (or at least 5 times a week) or whenever it becomes dirty with insects or feces. The best practice is to change the water at the end of the day.
Once a week, clean the water dish thoroughly by washing it with antibacterial soap. Twice a month, you should disinfect the dish by soaking it in a 5% bleach solution for half an hour.
Overfeeding leopard geckos and obesity
If you have started noticing your leopard gecko gaining weight, cut back on the food your are offering. Your leopard gecko is becoming fat if its belly is too round and the tail becomes too wide. A plump belly will be touching the floor.
Leopard gecko is licking food – why?
Leopard geckos lick food to get more information about it. With the tip of their tongue, leopard geckos can understand if the food is moving and taste it before eating.
My leopard is not eating – why?
You should weigh your leopard gecko once or twice a month and write it down in the book. If your leopard gecko has not been consistent with food, but hasn’t lost any weight, it should be fine.
Most female leopard geckos eat less and refuse food when ovulating and during the pregnancy (most often at the end). Your gecko might also eat less if nothing when shedding/molting.
Your leopard gecko is likely to eat less if it has become bored with the food that you are offering. Leopard geckos can be picky and stubborn eaters – start introducing new insects and try to mix it up. If your leopard gecko has lost weight, it can be infected with parasites – see your vet.
What size insects should I feed my leopard gecko?
Feed your leopard gecko insects that are not bigger than the half of gecko’s head width. This will change with age, and you should measure your leopard gecko’s head width each month.
The length of crickets and other insects to feed will be around 1/4 for hatchlings and babies, 3/8 inches for juveniles (4 months and over) and 1/2 to 1 inch to adult leopard geckos (10-12 months old).
And now, let’s talk about the best choices of insects that you can feed to your leopard gecko.
Crickets for leopard geckos
Crickets are the most popular food choice for your leopard gecko.
Don’t choose crickets that are too large, don’t place too many of them in a cage, and never leave them in gecko’s vivarium for more than a day.
The
pros of crickets are that they are cheap, easy to get and care for. You can get crickets in big quantities and place them in a
Cricket Pen like this where they will be while you are gut-loading them.
The cons of crickets are that they can get smelly and make sounds if you keep them for too long. Also, any uneaten crickets can hide under terrarium accessories and bite your gecko when they become hungry.
Remove any uneaten crickets after 20 minutes of feeding. You must gut-load and dust the crickets before feeding them to your leopard gecko.
There are different types of crickets: Acheta, black crickets, Banded crickets. Banded crickets have a higher protein content than other two types (around 20% vs. 15%).
Also, you must note the size of the crickets that you are feeding to your leopard gecko. Hatchlings and baby leopard geckos will not be able to eat large crickets. You must measure your leopard gecko’s head width – never offer a cricket that is too large.
Otherwise, it might cause choking and indigestion. To make it easier, there is a chart that tells you cricket numbers and their sizes. Your baby leopard gecko will most probably need 1/4 inch crickets, like these
banded crickets like this.
You can also buy these gut-loaded and freeze dried crickets and break them into smaller pieces to feed your leopard gecko. Use freeze dried crickets only occasionally.
Cockroaches for your leopard gecko
Roaches also make an excellent food choice for your leopard gecko. Cockroaches have a high protein and a low fat content, making them ideal for frequent feeding. Some of the most popular options for roaches are following: Dubia roaches, Madagascar hissing roaches and discoid or Haitian roaches.
One of the most famous roaches that you can buy live are Dubia roaches. Pros of Dubia roaches are that they are quiet and easy to keep – they will not be able to escape as they can’t climb.
When buying
Dubia roaches, choose small sized ones that are 3/8 and smaller. Dubia roaches can get big and you won’t be able to feed them to your leopard gecko. Don’t forget to gut-load and dust them before offering to your leopard gecko.
Tomato hornworms for your leopard gecko
Hornworms are amazing for your leopard gecko. They are quite large, so
you will need less of them to make a meal. Tomato hornworms are soft and can be easily digested. You need to gut-load them before feeding to you leopard gecko.
Make sure to feed them to your adult leopard gecko only – and do it straight away after receiving them. Small tomato hornworms will be about 0.5 inches long, but they will quickly grow (in 2 weeks or so) and can reach 3-4 inches long. You can keep them in a fridge to slow down the growth.
Mealworms for your leopard gecko
Mealworms are very good for your leopard gecko and you can feed them regularly. Pick
small 1/4 inch mealworms for your
juvenile leopard gecko. With
adult leopard geckos, you can offer larger mealworms, up to 1/2 inch. You can also choose freeze dried mealworms.
With freeze dried mealworms, make sure to move and wiggle them to activate leopard gecko’s feeding mechanism. You can also offer superworms or giant mealworms to your adult leopard gecko, as an occasional treat.
With live mealworms, keep them in a Kritter Keeper and gut-load them 24 hours before feeding to your leopard gecko. If feeding freeze dried mealworms, dust them with calcium supplement at every feeding.
Waxworms (moth larvae) for your leopard gecko
You can offer wax worms to your leopard gecko, but they should be considered a treat. Waxworms are high in fat (around 25%), so overfeeding will cause obesity. Pregnant and egg-laying leopard geckos will benefit from some extra waxworms. Offer to egg-laying females and adults once in a week or so.
Silkworms and Phoenix worms for your leopard gecko 
Silkworms and Phoenix worms are all ideal for leopard gecko to eat. Phoenix worms are also called
Black Soldier Fly Larvae. Dust all worms with calcium and other supplements.
Phoenix worms are quite high in calcium and phosphorus, so you might skip dusting them. Another advantage of Phoenix worms is that they are low in fat (around 6-10%) but have an excellent calcium to phosphorus ratio. You will probably need more Phoenix worms to make a meal, as they are quite small.
Silkworms are caterpillars of silk moth – you can buy live and canned ones for your leopard gecko. But silkworms can be quite expensive compared to crickets, mealworms or Dubia roaches.
Earthworms for your leopard gecko
Earthworms can be also suitable. They are low in fat and contain good levels of calcium. Make sure Earthworms are clean and don’t contain dyes. Gut-load + dust and wash them before offering to your leopard gecko.
Pinkie mice for your leopard gecko
As mentioned above, you can feed your leopard gecko a mouse pup, also called a pinkie once in 2-3 weeks.
These mouse pups are neonates (few days old) and should not have any fur on their bodies. They are fatty and you should only offer it to your gecko only for extra calcium intake and fattening. It can be better to skip feeding any mice to your leopard gecko if it is healthy and enjoying other foods.
You will probably have to trigger the hunting behavior in gecko to make it eat a mouse. If you decide to try feeding a pinkie mouse to your leopard gecko for fattening, it is better to get frozen pinkies, and let it thaw before offering.
What food/insects must you not offer your leopard gecko?
Don’t offer insects that might be potentially poisonous. Also, don’t offer any insect that you have captured yourself. Few of the poisonous insects are lubber grasshoppers, lightning bugs/fireflies and other insects that glow in the dark. Bright insect coloration usually means that it is potentially poisonous.
Thank you for reading this post! You can also read what other foods leopard geckos can and cannot eat in this interesting post. Make sure to read a supplementation guide to learn more about leopard gecko’s diet.
Misting and spraying your leopard gecko will also provide it with some source of drinking water.
Don’t choose crickets that are too large, don’t place too many of them in a cage, and never leave them in gecko’s vivarium for more than a day.
you will need less of them to make a meal. Tomato hornworms are soft and can be easily digested. You need to gut-load them before feeding to you leopard gecko.
These mouse pups are neonates (few days old) and should not have any fur on their bodies. They are fatty and you should only offer it to your gecko only for extra calcium intake and fattening. It can be better to skip feeding any mice to your leopard gecko if it is healthy and enjoying other foods.