Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As you may no my lizard dropped its tail the other day. My gecko is doing fine and eating about three crickets a day. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried zoo med's leopard gecko food? I want to have food in the tank at all times and my mom doesn't want meal worms in the house (I'm still working on that). I know that keeping live crickets in the cage would be too stressful so I thought that I would try the leopard gecko food out. It looks like little flies tht have been dyed with some sort of red stuff.
Also my pet store told me that I needed a UV light for my lizards tank for optimum health, but I have since heard that nocturnal lizards don't absorb the beneficial rays because they hide all day. Do I really need the UV light, and if so what benefit does it have for my lizard?

thanx,
mal

p.s. Oh ya, and I haven't named my gecko yet so if anyone can think of a good name i'd like to hear it. I think my lizard is a female but I'm not sure if it is to young to tell. I'll try to post a pic ASAP.

You can try the food but they probably won't eat it, if you try it keep giving them crickets too. Also almost all pet stores especially large chains will tell you that you need uv lighting for three reasons: First, with the minimal training they were given they pretty much give the same care to all the animals, Next, they want you to buy the special UV lighting stuff and if you have ever bought it at the pet store for another animal you know that it is extremely expensive and the store wants money, Finally, people at the pet store sre usually pretty stupid (no offense to anyone working at a pet store notice I said usually).

I am still feeding about three crickets a day and my lizard hasn't touched the food yet, but I wanted to have some sort of food in the terrarium at all times. I actually have to take the leopard gecko food out when I put the crickets in or else they eat the food.
mal