What Do Geckos Eat: A Complete Dietary Guide

Geckos are fascinating reptiles known for their unique characteristics and relatively low-maintenance care requirements, making them popular pets worldwide. Understanding what geckos eat is crucial for their health and longevity, whether they’re wild geckos living in your home or captive pets. This comprehensive guide explores the dietary preferences and requirements of different gecko species, helping you provide optimal nutrition for these charming reptiles.

1. Insectivores: The Most Common Gecko Diet

Most gecko species are primarily insectivores, meaning they thrive on a diet of small insects and arachnids. This feeding preference is observed in many popular gecko varieties including:

– Leopard geckos
– African fat-tailed geckos
– Tokay geckos
– House geckos
– Flying geckos
– Cave geckos
– Frog-eyed geckos

These insectivorous geckos have evolved to hunt and consume small moving prey. Their digestive systems are specifically adapted to process the high protein content found in insects, making this diet essential for their health.

Common insects that make up the bulk of an insectivorous gecko’s diet include:
– Crickets (a staple food for most pet geckos)
– Mealworms
– Dubia roaches
– Waxworms (as occasional treats)
– Moths
– Flies
– Small grasshoppers

House geckos, which often live in human dwellings in tropical regions, are opportunistic feeders that will consume any small insects they can catch, including flies, moths, small roaches, and crickets.

2. Fruit-Eating Geckos: The Exceptions

While most geckos are insectivores, some species have evolved to include fruit in their diet or even rely primarily on fruit-based nutrition. The most notable fruit-eating geckos include:

Crested Geckos

Crested geckos (Correlophus ciliatus) are unique among popular pet geckos because they can thrive on a diet that doesn’t require live insects. In captivity, they can be fed commercially prepared powdered diets that are mixed with water to create a fruit-based meal. These prepared diets typically contain:
– Fruit powders
– Vitamins and minerals
– Protein sources

While crested geckos can survive without live insects, many experts recommend occasionally offering insects as enrichment and to provide additional nutrients. This mimics their natural diet in the wild, where they consume both fruit and insects.

Day Geckos

Several species of day geckos, particularly the Madagascar day gecko (Phelsuma madagascariensis), consume nectar and fruit along with insects. These geckos have specialized tongues that help them lap up sweet substances in the wild.

3. Feeding Pet Geckos: Live Food Requirements

One common question among new gecko owners is whether geckos must eat live food. The answer depends entirely on the species:

– Insectivorous geckos (leopard geckos, African fat-tailed geckos, etc.) require live insects as the primary component of their diet. These geckos are stimulated to eat by the movement of their prey, and their hunting instincts are an important part of their natural behavior.

– Crested geckos are the notable exception, as mentioned above. They can thrive on prepared fruit-based diets without live insects, though many will still benefit from occasional insect feeding.

A Reddit user in the r/geckos community confirms: “Crested geckos don’t have to eat live bugs at all although a few insects now and then to supplement their diet is good and provides some enrichment.”

4. Gut-Loading: The Secret to Nutritious Insect Prey

When feeding insectivorous geckos, the nutritional value of the insects themselves is crucial. A practice called “gut-loading” is essential for maximizing the nutritional benefit of feeder insects.

Gut-loading involves feeding nutritious foods to insects 24-48 hours before offering them to your gecko. This fills the insects’ digestive tracts with nutrients that will then be passed on to your gecko.

According to a post in r/leopardgeckos: “They can’t eat vegetables as they are insectivores. However, you CAN and SHOULD feed your feeder insects a variety of fruits and vegetables in order to gut-load them.”

Effective gut-loading foods include:
– Dark leafy greens (kale, collard greens)
– Orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes)
– High-calcium vegetables (broccoli)
– Commercial gut-loading formulas

5. Dietary Supplements for Captive Geckos

In addition to providing appropriate food items, captive geckos typically require dietary supplements to ensure they receive all necessary nutrients. The two most important supplements are:

Calcium Powder

Calcium is essential for proper bone development and preventing metabolic bone disease, a common health issue in captive reptiles. Most gecko keepers dust feeder insects with calcium powder (with or without vitamin D3, depending on UVB lighting setup) several times per week.

Multivitamin Supplement

A reptile-specific multivitamin helps provide trace minerals and vitamins that might be lacking in captive diets. These are typically used less frequently than calcium, often once or twice per week.

6. Water Requirements for Geckos

While not technically food, water is a critical component of gecko nutrition. Different species have different hydration needs:

– Desert species like leopard geckos require a shallow water dish that should be changed regularly.
– Tropical species like crested geckos get much of their hydration from daily misting of their enclosure, which they lick from surfaces, though a small water dish may also be provided.

[IMAGE SUGGESTION: A leopard gecko drinking from a small, shallow water dish in a desert-themed terrarium]

7. Feeding Schedule Considerations

Proper feeding schedules vary by species, age, and individual needs:

– Baby geckos typically require daily feeding to support rapid growth
– Adult insectivorous geckos usually eat every 2-3 days
– Fruit-eating geckos like crested geckos typically have food available every other day
– Breeding females require increased feeding frequency and calcium supplementation

Monitoring your gecko’s weight and body condition is the best way to determine if your feeding schedule is appropriate.

Conclusion

Understanding what geckos eat is fundamental to providing proper care for these fascinating reptiles. While most geckos are insectivores requiring a diet of live prey, some species like crested geckos can thrive on specially formulated fruit-based diets. Proper supplementation, gut-loading of feeder insects, and appropriate feeding schedules are all crucial components of gecko nutrition.

Whether you’re caring for a common house gecko that’s taken up residence in your home or a specialized pet species, providing the right diet will help ensure your gecko remains healthy and active. Always research the specific dietary requirements of your gecko species, as nutritional needs can vary significantly between different types of geckos.