Bugs are expensive!

[Manders917]

When I got our leopard geckos I was not expecting an expensive pet. Now, it's not like the costs are too terribly extravagant, but the cost of feeding my two babies is nearing the cost of feeding my 85lb dog and he doesn't eat the cheap stuff either. Where and how is the cheapest way to feed leopard geckos short of breeding my own feeders? I was interested in a relatively low maintenance reptile when I took these gals on and that part has been true so far. But nearly $30 a month in food for two tiny lizards seems crazy.

 

[WLG_KD]

I just want to ask quickly why you'd be adverse to breeding your own feeders. It really is a super cost effective way of feeding, and isn't as icky, time consuming, or frustrating as you might think!

I just want to give you an idea, as we have a dubia roach colony we breed here in-house (so we still pay for mealworms and supers) but that alone has helped save us money on our over 40 Leos feeding costs. Super simple - dubia males and females, large rubbermaid bin with a hole cut into the top (screened over!!!!), and egg crates. Kept on a heat pad so it's over 85 degrees...feed them as needed, mist them 1x daily...and we have babies regularly that we can feed off or grow out! Minimal interaction needed once they're set up, we just harvest and clean very very occasionally. No stink, no noise!

Maybe look into buying feeders in bulk? Maybe some places could give you a discount. That's all I can suggest. Good luck to you!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Not sure what you're buying or how you're keeping them but you can pick up 1000 mealworms on ebay for about $12-15. You'll have to keep them in the fridge so they don't turn into beetles and take them out once a week to give them an apple or something for water but they should last at least 2 months if you purchase medium sized worms.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I have quite a few and breed a bit of my own feeders but I spend about $60 a month to feed 150 leopard and AFT geckos. If I didn't breed any of my own feeders I think I would spend about $80. Of course buying in bulk saves a bit of money and it will be more expensive per animal to feed only two but there are way more cost effective ways of feeding them than what you're doing

 

[JennyBeen]

Yeah, I suppose I'd ask what it is you're feeding, and to how many geckos? If you're into Silks or Phoenix worms, I could see the problem. But I'm planning on budging $10 or so a month for feeding 2 geckos on mostly mealworms (well gutloaded and dusted of course). Here it's $5 for a cup of 50 at the pet store, or $10 for 500 via amazon (including shipping). You must have lots of geckos!!!

 

[Manders917]

Nope, just two babies. They are about four months old now. I feed every other day. Mealworms and weekly crickets. They eat 12-18 small mealworms at a time. I try to do crickets once a week. They crushed 12 smalls each last time. Those are .15 each at +++++. And that amount of mealworms a month works out to 300 or so between the two of them. They are $3.99/100. I can't do bigger worms yet because they are still pretty small girls. Am I feeding too much? Maybe +++++ just isn't the right place to buy at. The reason I'm opposed to breeding my own feeders is that I have three kids under age 6. I just really don't want one more "thing" to do. Maybe at some point, but not right now. Thank you for your input so far.

ETA: I guess you can't type p e t c o. Anyway, it's a big box store "where the pets go."

 

[JennyBeen]

$3.99 for 100 = $12 for 300?

 

[Manders917]

$3.99 for 100 = $12 for 300?

Yep, plus the weekly crickets at $.15 each (12 per lizard = 24 x4 weeks = 96 crickets a month x .15 = $14.40) Total is about $26 a month. I assume they will only eat more as they grow.

 

[JennyBeen]

Not necessarily. Most people I know with adult geckos only feed 2x a week, and can feed larger insects and therefore less of them (7-8 med/large mealworms...a total of 15 or so a week).

While some may disagree, I'd also venture to say it is optional to feed crickets, especially if it's cutting into your budget too much. If you'd like to provide a treat, I'd probably go with wax worms, as they are cheap and fatty. Otherwise I'd look into purchasing in bulk online; it's true that chain pet stores might not be the best vendor.

 

[Dinosaur!]

Waxworms should be avoided for the most part though, and used very very sparingly. They have almost no nutritional value, and are really nothing but fat. They are like feeding your gecko little pockets of bacon grease. Delicious but unhealthy! Plus your gecko can become addicted to waxworms, and begin refusing all other foods. Basically, it's better to stick to healthier options such as mealworms, crickets, or dubia roaches with waxworms as very rare treats for your gecko Be sure to keep the diet varied at the least because using just one or two bug types their whole lives isnt very beneficial to their health.

As for the cost of feeders, I currently have 23 leopard geckos and a turtle who all eat mealworms as a staple (minus the turtle, he just gets them occasionally). I feed them all with only 20.00 for almost two months. I order 3000 mealworms from Rainbowmealworms.com whenever my supplies run low. It is 15.00 for the worms, and about five dollars for shipping. Then i just toss the mealworms in a tub full of whole oats, put the tub on a shelf in the fridge, and take them out to feed about once or twice a week with a carrot or an apple. This way they wont turn into beetles, and that one order of mealworms will keep for a long time! Since you only have two geckos though, you can order 1000 count for 6.99 plus shipping, and do the same thing in a smaller tub. They also have tons of other feeders that you can order in small amounts along with your mealworms for the variety Your feeder costs definately dont have to add up to that outrageous amount for so few geckos. Pet store food is too expensive!

 

[lisa127]

I also feed mostly mealworms to my two leo's. I occasionally give them superworms or phoenix worms, but mostly large mealworms. I spend just over $5 a month on mealworms for my two leo's. At my petstore it is only $2.49 for 100 mealworms. I will say it cost more to feed them when they were growing babies, but I never spent more than $10 a month feeding them even then.

 

[ApolloFattiasMarshall]

Mine get mostly mealies these days. I buy 500 for about $10 (at the place where "the pets go") and each of my 5 juvis get 6-8 a day, my adult getting 10ish every other day or so. And those 500 mealies last me for a few weeks. So I spend about $20-$25 a month on 6 leos. And I refuse to breed my own feeders, I saw my roaches grow up and they went straight to my beardies tummy. My leos also get whatever small feeders leftover from what my beardie gets, and his feeding costs are ridiculous. Leos really are low maintenance and the feeders are quite cheap. I think your problem is paying that ghastly amount for crickets!