Would a leo really eat these?

[LeoGirl1999]

Would a leopard gecko eat any of the below? I mean, I know that feeding live mealies isn't hard to do, and trust me, I CAN afford to feed live, but if I were to save on food, then I could possibly get a bigger habbitat.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754870&lmdn=Pet+Type
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753949&lmdn=Pet+Type
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753950&lmdn=Pet+Type
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10951335&lmdn=Pet+Type

I was just wondering. I'll probably feed live anyway. :grin:

 

[.leopardgeckos.]

About 99% of leopard geckos would not touch those. The freeze-dried mealworms have little if no nutrition since they can't be gut-loaded.

I recommend feeding only live insects.

 

[OnlineGeckos]

You want to feed live, stay away from those products. To save money, rather than purchasing mealworms from Petco/Petsmart, skip the middleman and buy bulk from a mealworm breeder/company. You can save a lot of money buying in bulk, like 500-1000 at a time, and start your own colony. That way you won't have to buy food again. It'll only take a few months for your colony to get started, then from there on, you should be able to maintain it no problem.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

I would NEVER recommend feeding any food source to leos other than live. To save money look into buying bulk or from a local breeder.

 

[LeoGirl1999]

Mkay! Thanks everyone!

 

[katie_]

I love how the last one show cases a leo with a regenerated tail...

 

[LeoGirl1999]

I love how the last one show cases a leo with a regenerated tail...

I thought the same thing!

 

[getgeckos]

For $6.99 you can buy 500 mealworms at Petco/petsmart. That is not much more that the can o crickets or freeze dried crickets. If you live close to any reptile shows you can usually buy 1000 crickets for $8-9. That is plenty if you only have one or two geckos. I have 12 geckos, plus hatchlings and I order online. I get 5000 for about $30 including shipping. You CAN feed live insects on a reasonable budget.

 

[XoVictoryXi]

none of those are good for leo's. I had freeze dried mealworms before, and my leos did eat those for a snack. but NEVER would i substitute live for canned crap.

 

[ceduke]

I buy those freeze-dried mealworms and mix 'em in with my hamster food. Maybe I'll get her freeze-dried crickets instead next time. Not for the gecko though.

 

[mudskipper]

The Petco near my house fills their leopard geckos' bowl with the last one (Zoo Med's Leopard Gecko Food). I don't know if they actually eat that stuff though. But they also use sand, have one of those triple decker open hides for 10 leos, and got no moist hide.

 

[Mastercarth]

You CAN feed those to your leo, but im sure that your leo would appreciate live much more.
And live is more nutritious I keep food like that for my reptiles just in case I run out of live food and I cant go to the store. But trust me you really need to feed them live food. But like I said you can keep some of that stuff around just in case you can't go to the store to get live food.

 

[bubblez825]

Having your own mealworm colony really is beneficial cost wise, and VERY easy to get started and maintain. heck, I've had my own colony for years! Like stated above, it only takes a few months to get started and it doesn't take up much space either. I don't know what other people do, but I keep my worms in a 16qt tub with holes drilled along the top edges of the lid for air flow, with oatmeal for bedding(mixed with some other finely ground grains a friend gave me... but they have done REALLY well on plain oatmeal as well)and large carrots as their moisture. I have never had any problems with this set up, and hardly ever have dead mealworms or pupae I also keep the beetles in their own 16qt tub, with holes drilled ALL OVER the top(more airflow; they're more active and emit more heat and moisture. I killed a huge colony of beetles with not enough airflow), and i keep pupae in a little deli container. Its really easy to have your own colony, and hey, its healthier too. You know exactly what your geckos are eating, and what the feeders have been eating, and what nutrients your geckos are getting

 

[geckomaniac123]

I have been keeping leopard geckos for more than 20 years and I have never had any luck getting any of my geckos to eat any of those items. Leopard geckos are insectivores so its best to only feed them a variety of live bugs commercially bred for reptiles...never feed wild caught bugs as they can harbor parasites and may have been exposed to pesticides or other substances that could be toxic to your leopard geckos. Try live mealworms,.crickets, dubia or other roaches, pheonix worms etc.

 

[AZdale]

Will they eat them? Depends on the gecko. I have fed the freeze dried crickets to my beardies since I can't stand crickets and I am still working on my colonies. My dragons will also eat the bearded dragon pellet food stuff on occasion, but they are almost adult size and mostly eating veggies. I offer freeze dried crickets temporally as a grow a dubia and mealworm colony, and just to get rid of the beard dragon food I bought (can't remember why I bought it).

 

[greenzebra]

i keep the last one and some can o crickets on hand in case i run out of worms, sometimes i think there's some worms in the can but after sifting around i realize i'm all out. leopold doesn't really eat the leopard gecko food, but he loves the can of crickets, he gets more excited for the can o crickets than he does for the live worms.

 

[Crewdog00]

Wow!

I have all of these products, and I have found that my Leopard Gecko will only eat live insects. The Flies are useless, and the food in a jar sucks.

LIVE Food only, guess it's gotta be moving and stimulate my gecko to get his attention.