Food and Feeding

This is one of the most important parts of looking after your gecko

Slightly more active than the black crickets but not so noisy and last better if kept in the tubs.

Generally the brown crickets will be Acheta domestica for all crickets up to standard size and Gryllus assimilis for standard and Extra large size. This is because the Acheta domestica (AKA Brown house crickets) do not chirp until they reach adult size the Gryllus assimilis (AKA Silent field crickets) have an almost inaudible chirp as adults.

Big and meaty, ideal for the larger lizard. Only buy what you will feed in one week unless you intend to transfer them to a larger container as they do not last as well in cricket tubs as the brown crickets.

A favourite meal for many lizards chunky and wholesome. Very good for extra vitamins because of the high vegetable gut content of this insect.

Mealworms a clean relatively inexpensive livefood, rich in protein and easy to store (keep them in the fridge for long shelf life). Popular as livefood

Very nutritious and good for getting reluctant feeders started.They normally come in little tubs of around 50. Expensive but make a much appreciated treat! beware they Can be quite fattening

They have fat smooth bodies like waxworms but are much larger and they are a great source of calcium. Butterworms are the soft bodied larva of the Chilecomadia moorei moth native to the mountains of central Chile. Beware they can be very expensive.

I feed all my hatchling every day for the first 4 weeks then every 2-3 days dependent on how well they are doing. All my adults are fed every 2-3 days dependent on whether they still have food left in the viv i feed all my adults and babies late afternoon early evening. wax worms should only be given as a treat due to there high fat content.

If using crickets only feed as much as your gecko will eat within about 5 mins. If feeding locusts i put about 3-4 large ones in the viv for each adult and let them eat at there leisure (i only feed my breeding adults locusts). Both my adults and babies always have a container of meal worms in there viv

The hatchlings are given about 10 2nd star crickets then reducing the number given but increasing the size until they are big enough for standard size crickets. My adults are given medium to large locusts but they can eat and have eaten adult ones. Hatchling should only be fed mini mealworms and standard ones for adults.

All the food you feed to your gecko will need to have been whats known as gut loaded. this means you need to feed your feeder insects at least 24hrs before feeding them to your gecko you will also need to dust them with a vitamin supplement this ensures that your geckos is getting all the nutrients that it requires in order to survive. i use several large kricket keepers where i house the crickets and then i transfer the crickets i intent to use over the next few days into a smaller kricket keeper where they are fed a nutrisius diet for about 24hrs prior to being fed to the geckos. To dust the crickets i get a plastic tub (use the ones the crickets come in) sprinkle some dust in the tub put the lid on but leave one end slightly open then get a tube from your kricket keeper and put the open end of the tube about an inch or so into the opening of the tub then lightly tap the tube untill you get the amount of crickets out and in the tub that you need close the tub lid and give the tub a shake until all the crickets are coverd in the dust then feed to your geckos. i keep my locusts in a large flat faunarium where they have a constant supply of vegtables and also some dry food supplement they get all the water they need from there food dust them the same as you would the crickets prior to feeding them to your geckos

There are so many companys on the internet and your local pet shop that sell live food that its difficult to know where to get it from. i get most of my live food from these two companys.

How much you pay depends on how much food you want some companys will do you deals if you buy a certain amount but i would say they are all near enough the same price. what you need to look out for is quaility theres no point in getting a tub of crickets for a pound less than anywhere else if they are all half dead the two companys above sell good quality food at a reasonably good price shop around there are some good deal out there but please remember quality counts