When buying a reptile, one of the first questions often asked is what to feed your new family member. One question often asked is ‘Can leopard geckos eat fruit?’. Getting the diet right is important. The right diet will provide your gecko the nutrients they need and they will lead a long and healthy life.
And there are numerous diets that geckos, as a family, have. However, for leopard geckos, they don’t eat fruit.
What do Leopard Geckos Eat?
Leopard geckos are insectivores, which means they’ll eat invertebrates in the wild. Though they’re not known to eat a small mouse pinkie or another small reptile, they tend to leave these alone and prefer to eat spiders, crickets, locusts, beetle grubs, and other similar inverts they can find in the wild.
In captivity, we provide them with a mixed diet, including mealworms, crickets, and locusts. To ensure that these offer the best nutrition for the leopard gecko, you should feed these feeder insects. A simple collection of kitchen scraps, especially fruit, and vegetables, can maximize the health of your leopard gecko.
In addition, you should regularly add calcium dust into the enclosure. This should include additional vitamins and minerals to help improve the health of your leopard gecko.
Do the Insects Need to Be Live?
Yes, leopard geckos are motivated to hunt and chase down any live prey in their enclosure. But they will tend to ignore any insects that have died. This strategy isn’t particularly unique. Many hunters will ignore dead prey. This is why some species like the hognose pretend to be dead to avoid predators.
Therefore, if you would like to keep a leopard gecko, you have to be prepared to also look after their prey.
Are There Any Geckos That Do Eat Fruit?
Some geckos will eat fruit. For instance, crested geckos will regularly eat fruit that has been mashed up. Though crested geckos also tend to require live food for healthy growth. Even crested gecko replacement foods don’t always offer the best stimulation for the small gecko and we’ve seen smaller individuals who have been fed on a meal replacement diet who are significantly smaller than those individuals who’ve had access to mealworms and crickets.
Are There Live Foods Not Suitable for Leopard Geckos
Several live foods should be avoided by leopard geckos. The first of these is waxworms. This is because the leopard gecko can become addicted to the small grub, and they’re not particularly healthy for them, they’re mostly fat, and excessive amounts of this can cause kidney issues.
If you’re looking to give your gecko a chance, switch between crickets, mealworms, and locusts.
Final Word: Can Leopard Geckos Eat Fruit?
Essentially no. Leopard geckos eat insects and this is a diet you should provide to your pet leopard gecko. There are ways to get the vital vitamins and minerals into your pet, but this includes proper feeding of the insects which will pass on the nutrients to the leopard gecko.
