Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can my babies live off of mainly mealworms and superworms? I also was planning on adding a few butterworms and silkworms in there as well. Maybe even some of those new pheonix worms that some of the reptile sites have for sale. Do I have to feed crix?
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

It is my opinion that the best overall food for leos are crickets. You can look up the nutritional information and compare for yourself at most online feeder stores. We tend to offer things like wax worms for the rare treat.

The other reason I feel very strongly about crickets is the psychological aspect. These are predators in their natural environment asking them to eat a bowl of worms or a worm on a tong isn't as satisfying as hunting their own food. Certainly, I would miss watching the tail shake just before they strike. All of our geckos are cricket fed and the only leo I have known personally that was greatly overweight, was the one not allowed to hunt.

That's my 2 cents, I know there are people that will argue for meal-worms, usually saying the crickets are a hassle or they smell. When I hear that I get upset, when someone gets a pet, they get all the responsibility too, even if it is unpleasant or inconvenient. (And crickets are easy to keep alive and the stink is very manageable if you care for them properly.) There are very good reasons why most lizards are raised on crickets primarily and worms secondarily.

Hope this helps, sorry if I seem like I'm on a soapbox, it seems like I have been advocating crickets to a lot of deaf ears lately and I am frustrated, but not with you. Good luck.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Nutritionally everything I've read says that Silkworms are just about the best feeder insect out there. I also believe that roaches are nutritionally just as good if not better than crickets too. Crickets are a good feeder insect, but your Leo isn't going to "suffer" without them. The best diet for any reptile is a varied diet.

I am not using crickets right now, I feed silkworms, superworms, mealworms and discoid roaches. I do buy small crickets when I have babies. My leos that get large superworms and roaches seem to enjoy hunting them down just as much as any cricket LOL Superworms and discoids do not just "lay" there, so they get to do their hunting exercise

Most of the large breeders out there don't mess with crickets, basically because they are just a pain to deal with when you are feeding lots of leos. And it is true, they are the smelliest and noisiest of all the feeder insect.
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www.StoplightCityLeopardGeckos.com

I'd have to agree with shelley. When you need to feed alot of Leos crickets are a pain. I still get some to feed my Cresteds once a week, so some of my favorite Leos get the leftovers.

If I had less than 10-12 Leos I would probably still feed crickets. They are not hard to deal with when you need less than 200 a week.

At the moment I have mealworms and baby superworms because my leos are only about 3.5 months old. They are however becoming very orange they are high yellow x tangerine. Anyway back on track. I have fed them butterworms and that has been successful as well. I hear silkworms are good and pheonix worms are good. What are the chances that I could get them to eat some of those as well? I have heard how picky some leos can be.
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

As far as getting them to eat Silkworms and Phoenix worms I suggest just buying a small amount first to see if they'll eat them. Out of my 13 leos, none would eat Phoenix worms, though I know people who have had great luck with them. And out the 13 I have 3 that won't touch a Silkworm. A couple of them wouldn't eat them at first but after offering them a couple times a week for a couple of weeks they finally decided they liked them
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www.StoplightCityLeopardGeckos.com

the same thing

"Nutritionally everything I've read says that Silkworms are just about the best feeder insect out there. I also believe that roaches are nutritionally just as good if not better than crickets too"

Another plus with roaches is they breed very redily, and you always have a VERY cheap, healthy food supply fo reverything from hatchlings to giant adults in the same container...
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- Mike Fourquet

CLOACA HERPS

I'm sorry that you feel you are talking upon deaf ears. I would personally not mind feeding the crickets except for I just moved my only breeding trio into a large handmade cage that is unfortuanetly made of wood and the ventilation in the sides allow the crickets to crawl up the wood and get out. I made this enclosure for a snake that I never purchased and it was much bigger than their 30 gallon breeder that they were in. It is approx. the size of a 65 gallon breeder and I think they love it. I just don't want a housefull of crickets. If I had been smarter with my design I would have thought about the crickets but I wasn't. Anyway. I just wanted you to know it wasn't because I hate crickets because I have been feeding them until 2 nights ago.
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

Do you have a top opening for light? That might be another can of worms, but I've noticed stark differences between geckos with a UV light cycle and without.

The only other comment I have is wondering about chicken wire. Leos have a reputation for being escape artists, so treat them like a snake with the same tendancies.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

So why don't you put them back in to the 30 gal? 65 is kind of large for only 3 geckos...just my opinion. I agree with feeding crickets and I also agree with feeding a variety. I feed all of mine, well the ones that will take them, pinkies. They have a high protien count for gravid females.

I guess I just kinda of thought the bigger the better as a rule of thumb from owning other reptiles. I've seen people with 1 or 2 geckos in like a 40 gallon breeder tank, so I thought it wouldn't be too big for them. Plustheir cage is like a decoration piece in my living room and I like incorporating them and they don't seem to mind. They will actually come out to look at my friends and my friends think they are awesome.
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

That's understandable. From my experience most of my geckos need enough space but still need to feel secure. I'm not trying to tell you what to do because I despise people that do that on this board. So do what you want and have fun.
Good luck!
Sam

Your geckos can survive on a number of insects. You don't need to feed them crickets, you just need to meet their nutritional needs somehow else. I know people who just feed their geckos meal worms with a vitamin/calcium supplement with great success. I personally wouldn't do this, but breeders do it since it is very easy maintenance, and the meal worms store for long periods of time in the fridge, and they can be bought in bulk for cheap. I think it is important to vary the geckos diet. My geckos are extremely healthy and are prolific breeders and I feed them an extremely varied diet. You could just feed them meal/silk/phoenix worms without any problems. I would dust their foods a few times a week. Silk worms and phoenix worms contain very very high levels of calcium vitamins, so they could definitely replace crickets. I think it is good to feed them cricket though, since they are healthy, and the geckos get to do some naturalistic hunting. I feed my guys crickets, blaptica dubia roaches, lobster roaches, silkworms, phoenix worms, mealworms, superworms, waxworms, butterworms, hornworms, pinkie mice, and whatever type of insect that is a good feeder. Sure, this does take more effort on my part, but it does show in the geckos and their offspring. I would recommend variety in the diet for any person, as well as any reptile. This is the only way to ensure that they receive all the necessary nutrient, as well as dusting and gutloading(gutload with a variety of natural/organic foods) the feeders before feeding them. If you do this you will have geckos that truely thrive in your captive environment, and they are definitely strong eaters in return. Hope this helps. Start your geckos on this type of diet early on in their lives as it will benefit them extremely.
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1.4.8 leopard gecko
2.3.0 nephrurus levis levis
1.1.0 nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
1.0.0 nephrurus amyae
1.1.0 pastel ball python
1.0.0 axantic kenyan sand boa
1.0.0 gargoyle gecko

I've heard that if you put vaseline around the edge of an opening that roaches won't try and climb out. They get to the vaseline and turn around. Does anybody know if this works for crickets? The ventilation holes are high enough that the geckos can't get to them, and they are made of tiny chicken wire. I mean the holes in the chicken wire are very small. If I could put vaseline around the holes then maybe it would solve my problem and I wouldn't have to worry about not feeding crickets.
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Vicky Lord
1.0 boyfriends (Jeremy)
1.1 cats (Oscar, Angel)
1.1 dogs (Toto, Jesse)
1.0 San Felipe Rosy Boa (Herman)
1.0 Catavina Rosy Boa (George)
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Edge, Jazzy (short for Jasmine), and Dot (so named for the cute dot that is right above her tail))

Vaseline works, I'd smear a thin layer over the top 3 inches of the container, or more if it is larger.
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1.4.8 leopard gecko
2.3.0 nephrurus levis levis
1.1.0 nephrurus wheeleri cinctus
1.0.0 nephrurus amyae
1.1.0 pastel ball python
1.0.0 axantic kenyan sand boa
1.0.0 gargoyle gecko

Ron Tremper only uses mealworms, and he owns a HUGE collection of leopard geckos, plus he discovered a few genes and made a few morphs. He owns Moose, the worlds largest leo, who was raised exclusivly on mealworms. RT is the world expert when it comes to leos. I raised one of my giants on mealworms only and she grew to 55grams in only four months...
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Leopard Geckos 1.7.6
1.0 Blazing blizzard
0.1 Tremper albino
0.1 Tremper 66% het bliz
0.3 Normal 66% het blazing bliz
0.1 Giant het Tremper
0.1 Carrothead Tangerine Giant Tremper ?% het RAPTOR
0.0.3 Blizzard
0.0.3 Normal
Bull Frog 1.0