Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to the world of leopard geckoes, and in researching care sheets for them, there seemed to be some discrepancy as to the best food source.

We've got two female leos, one is a little over six months old, the other about a year old.

I saw some care sheets that said that crickets and mealworms were equally nutritious, and a couple that said that the mealworms should only be fed as a treat, no more than once a month.

Also, a quick question about bedding: Right now we're using Eco Earth Compressed Coconut Fiber Expandable Substrate, but I've heard everything from sand to astroturf to papertowels as being the best. Is what I'm using okay?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
-Ifni

mealies and crickets are equal.

paper towels are my personal favorite, but i dont know what what your using is. so if its just wood chips like i think, its fine.

I've fed mine crickets and hoppers since I've had them. I like to rotate between the two so they dont get bored. Once every now and then I feed them mealworms.. although they never seem to get eaten. I also feed them maybe once every few weeks with 5 or so Waxworms as treats.

For a substrate I've been using coral sand since I've had them. I've not had a problem with impactation or with them swallowing or eating it.

My Viv setup.

My female.

Jil.

I'm not an expert but feed mine crickets and meal worms,although mine prefer crickets more. It's also alright to feed them wax worms once in a while. Not very often or I've heard they'll get addicted to them and not eat other things.
I also use the crushed coconut bedding and I've never had any problems with it.
I wish you good luck.

David

Sorry, but crushed coconut is one of the worst substrates that you can use. I had an adult leo die from impaction on this stuff. It isn't safe at all. It is even worse than calci-sand. Try washed play-sand instead, it looks better and, is less expensive, and there is less of a risk of impaction.
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Josh
My Email

Yea, I had mine in sand when I first got them, I just stay away from sand and all that subsrate like it, it's better to be safe than sorry. I just use the reptile turf, and they are fine with it, havn't had a problem yet.

I use paper towels but if he has his sights set on sand, then washed play sand is much safer than crushed coconut.
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Josh
My Email

Yes, I agree with you totally. The crushed coconut is not good at all. I know a lot of people that have had problems.

I have 2 and one of them likes crickets a little more and one likes mealworms a little more, just see what they like.
I use papertowels because it is easy and safe.I put an extra folded piece over there bathroom area so it is easy to pull up and change when it gets dirty.Just tape down the corners so the crickets don't get under it.

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Carolyn

no offense but it is stupid to put any type of adhesive especially tape inside a reptiles inclosure. My sister taped down a piece of cardboard to cover a crack in her red rat snakes tank and the snake got under the bedding under the cardboard and stuck onto the tape, at 2 a.m. i might add we were on the phone with the local emergency vet place. A lot of hard work and about a gallon of olive oil later( used to unstick scales went attached to adhesive) he came free but it was a close call. DON"T USE TAPE INSIDE A TAnK.

I have one that is about 6 months old and another that is about a year old too.

Here is my year old albino...she prefers meal worms, and I feed her from my hand a lot too...she will take them with no problem, she is very tame and has no problem with me doing that.

Here is my normal, she is about 6 months, and she LOVES crickets and won't eat meal worms. So each leo is different. She again, will eat from my hand and is extremely tame.

in my opinion mealies are much better. Crickets are kinda dirty and more likely to carry parasites than mealworms. mealies are easy to keep and breed and dont chirp at night (VERY anoying)
as for the substrate...if you want something that looks nice use washed playsand. much less risk of impaction and cheap. theres still a risk, but alot less that wat ur using now. slate tiles are also nice, so consider those aswell. If you want somethng that will garantee no impaction, use paper towels (kinda unpleasing to the eye but hey, no risk)