A silly feeding questin from a newbie...

[bonus41]

i've been volenteering at a store for 4 years and now work thier i have a whole bunch off what my Boss says the "Zoo" 3 g Pig 2 hampsters 2 mice 1 bird 2 hermit crabs and 2 dogs andddddd my first reptile gecko he eats fine but i have a questin... my Boss says (she is usally right with "furry creatures but i don't know so much about geckos" she told me to buy "Gecko bites" thier little squares that smell like bananas but he only touches the chrickets (i feed 1-4 a day they eating carrouts today" she says i have to get him to eat the gecko bites (she says all gecko "pros" use them i never heard about them before) and that i should feed him fruits and veggies but he onlt touches chrickets with calcuim w/o d3 and vitamins evrey sunday. should i be worried i thought they were only insectevors? i'm also looking in to buying some other feeders do any of you recemend butterworms i think thier called
thank you so much for your help
caitlyn

 

[RAlbrecht]

Is it a leopard gecko or a different type?

 

[bonus41]

it is a leopard gecko sorry

 

[Dog Shrink]

Um yeah leos are bug eaters and I would be really hesitant to feed "gecko bites" that are veggie/fruit based". That sounds more like a treat for a crested or the like. Most people feed meal worms or super worms. I prefer super sorms. You don't need to feed as many, there is less "shell" and more nutritious. Crickets could also be used intermittantly with supers and mealies to mix it up. Things like butter worms wax worms silk worms are more of a snack food and should be used very sparingly as your leo could be come "addicted" and refuse other food if you give too many of those.

Here is a nutritional chart that shows teh different nutritional values of each feeder insect. You want higher protein, lower fat.

 

[bonus41]

ahh, thank you very much...
my boss said she might be able to get some meal worms in i was thinking of breeding or maybe i'll oder some online

 

[RAlbrecht]

Ok well Leo's are insectivores so they won't eat those bites...

Live moving prey is what they like, it stimulates them to hunt...

Starting with the basics, Crickets or Meal worms is the best bet. You can also feed your geckos Roaches, Super worms, Silk worms, Horn worms and a couple other bugs.

Dusting your bug of choice is a very good way of passing on nutrients to your geckos, but you can also gut load the bugs before feeding them to your gecko. Gut loading consists of feeding the bug beneficial foods, such as veggies like carrots, apples, potatoes. You can also buy a commercial gut load. With the exception of the Silk worms and Horn worms all the bugs listed above can be gut loaded.

If your gecko doesn't seem to be eating the crickets, make sure your temps are correct in the enclosure it might be too cold for them. The warm side should be 90+ so they can digest the food correctly. Hopefully this helps, anything else you need just post it here and I can do my best to answer you

 

[tlbowling]

I hope you start feeding him more often than just Sundays

Oh nevermind, I just re-read your post...thats your vitamin day....sorry