Leopard Gecko Diet Guide: Best Feeder Insects and a Feeding Schedule by Age
Leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) are obligate insectivores. That word does a lot of work: it means live insects are not part of their diet, they are the entire diet. Unlike bearded dragons or crested geckos, a leopard gecko eats no vegetables, no fruit, and no powdered prepared food. So the quality and variety of feeders you put in the bowl is, quite literally, your gecko's whole nutrition. Get the diet right and you've handled the single most impactful thing in leopard gecko care. Get it wrong — usually by defaulting to mealworms forever — and you set up years of obesity and metabolic bone disease.
This is the diet plan I keep my own animals on: which feeders to use and why, how much and how often by age, and how to supplement so the calcium math actually works.
The best feeder insects, and what each one is for
There's no single perfect feeder. The win is a rotation where each insect does a job. Here's how the staples stack up.
| Feeder | Role | Why it works | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discoid roaches | Primary staple | ~20% protein, ~7% fat, gut-loads beautifully, soft-bodied, no bite risk | 3–4× per week |
| Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) | Calcium source | Naturally high in calcium — about the only feeder you don't have to dust | 1–2× per week |
| Silkworms | Low-fat variety | Very low fat, soft body, high moisture — great for overweight geckos | 1–2× per week |
| Hornworms | Hydration treat | ~85% moisture and a strong feeding trigger, but low protein | 1× per week, small ones |
| Mealworms | Backup only | Convenient fridge storage, but high fat and the worst Ca:P ratio | 1× per week max, if at all |
The backbone is discoid roaches. They give you cricket-beating protein with lower fat, a soft low-chitin body that's easy to digest, and they gut-load well — which means what they eat becomes what your gecko eats. Small roach nymphs are exactly the right size for a leopard gecko, they don't bite, and they don't climb smooth walls so they can't escape a feeding dish.
BSFL earn their slot because they're the one feeder that solves calcium without a dusting step — genuinely useful insurance against bone disease. Silkworms are your lean-protein variety and the feeder I lean on for chunky geckos. Hornworms are mostly water: fantastic as a hydration treat and a feeding-response trigger, but you can't run a diet on roughly 9% protein, so keep them occasional.
The mealworm trap
Mealworms are the default leopard gecko feeder for one reason: convenience. They're cheap, sold everywhere, and store for weeks in the fridge. Nutritionally, though, they're one of the worst things you can build a diet on:
- Around 13% fat — nearly double a discoid roach.
- A roughly 1:30 calcium-to-phosphorus ratio — the worst of any common feeder. Phosphorus that lopsided actively pulls calcium out of the animal with every meal.
- Tough chitin — an impaction risk, especially in juveniles.
Geckos raised on mealworms alone reliably develop fat pads in the armpits and tail base, metabolic bone disease, and shortened lives. It's one of the most common and most damaging mistakes in the hobby. The fix isn't dramatic: swap to roaches as the staple and you keep the convenience while roughly halving the fat and fixing the worst of the calcium problem.
Feeding schedule by age
Leopard geckos need very different amounts as they grow. The big trap is feeding an adult like a hatchling.
| Age | Frequency | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hatchling (0–3 months) | Daily | 5–7 small insects | Small roach nymphs and small BSFL. Skip mealworms — chitin risk. |
| Juvenile (3–8 months) | Every other day | 5–8 medium insects | Roach nymphs plus BSFL; introduce small silkworms. |
| Adult (8+ months) | Every 2–3 days | 4–8 insects | Full rotation: roaches, BSFL, silkworms, occasional hornworm. |
| Overweight adult | Every 3–4 days | 3–5 lean insects | Silkworms and BSFL only. No mealworms, waxworms, or superworms. |
Hatchlings grow fast and eat hard — daily is correct for them. Adults do not need daily food, and feeding them like babies is how the obesity epidemic happens. Every two to three days is plenty for a healthy adult.
Calcium and supplementation
Because the diet is 100% insects and nearly every feeder is phosphorus-heavy, supplementation isn't optional. Here's the routine:
- Calcium dish, always available. Keep a small dish of plain calcium powder (no D3) in the enclosure at all times. Leopard geckos self-regulate, licking from it as they need it.
- Dust at most feedings. A light coating of plain calcium on the feeders each time.
- Calcium with D3 every ~2 weeks. Leopard geckos are crepuscular and often don't get enough UVB to synthesize D3 on their own, so this fills the gap.
- Multivitamin every ~2 weeks, alternating weeks with the D3.
- Lean on BSFL. One or two BSFL feedings a week deliver natural calcium without dusting, which simplifies the whole schedule.
Metabolic bone disease — soft jaw, bowed legs, tremors — is the disease this routine prevents, and it's far easier to avoid than to reverse. The Merck Veterinary Manual's reptile nutrition section is a good non-commercial reference on calcium, D3, and MBD if you want the clinical detail.
Gut-loading: the step that quietly doubles a feeder's value
The nutrition your gecko gets isn't really about the insect — it's about what the insect ate before it became dinner. A starved feeder is an empty shell; a well-fed one is a nutrient package. So for 24–48 hours before you feed off, give your feeders quality food: leafy greens, carrot, squash, sweet potato, and a commercial gut-load or grain-based chow for protein. Roaches gut-load especially well, which is a big part of why they beat mealworms — they carry more of that fresh nutrition up the chain to your gecko. Gut-load, then dust, then feed: that order gets you the most out of every insect.
Feeders to use sparingly, or not at all
Variety is good, but not every feeder belongs in the rotation:
- Waxworms — roughly 25% fat. They're candy: useful in tiny amounts to stimulate appetite or put weight on a sick or underweight gecko, never as routine food.
- Superworms — high fat and a hard head capsule; an occasional treat for adults at most, not a staple.
- Mealworms — covered above: fatty, the worst Ca:P ratio of common feeders, tough chitin. Backup only.
- Wild-caught insects — skip them. Pesticide exposure and parasites make backyard bugs a real risk.
If a feeder's main selling point is that your gecko loves it, treat that as a warning, not an endorsement — the feeders reptiles binge on are usually the fatty ones.
Hydration
Leopard geckos come from arid country, but they still need water. Keep a shallow dish of clean water available at all times, and lean on moisture-rich feeders — a small hornworm or a few silkworms deliver real hydration alongside food. A proper humid hide also helps the animal stay hydrated and shed cleanly. Signs of dehydration include sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, and sticky or stringy shed.
How to actually feed them
Leopard geckos are ground hunters — they chase prey on flat surfaces, so your method matters.
- Feeding dish. A smooth-sided bowl keeps BSFL and other feeders from escaping and teaches the gecko where food appears. Put it in the same spot.
- Tong feeding. Offer individual insects with soft-tipped tongs. It's good for bonding, it lets you confirm each insect is dusted, and it's the rescue method for picky eaters.
- Limited free-range. Drop two or three roach nymphs in for hunting enrichment, then remove anything uneaten after 15–20 minutes so it doesn't hide and stress the gecko.
Feed at dusk or in the evening — leopard geckos are crepuscular and their feeding drive is strongest then, not at midday.
A sample adult week
A simple rotation that covers protein, calcium, and lean variety across three feeding days:
- Monday: 5–6 small discoid roach nymphs, dusted with plain calcium.
- Wednesday: off.
- Thursday: 5–8 BSFL (no dusting needed) plus 2–3 small silkworms.
- Saturday: 5–6 discoid roach nymphs; dust with calcium-plus-D3 on the biweekly schedule.
That's it — protein from roaches, calcium from BSFL, lean variety from silkworms, every two to three days, sized no bigger than the gecko's eye span. Do that, keep a calcium dish in the tank, and weigh monthly to catch creeping obesity early, and you've handled leopard gecko nutrition properly for the animal's whole life.
Picky gecko refusing the switch? See how to get picky eaters onto better feeders. Want to breed your own staple? Read the discoid roach keeping playbook, or browse the full exotic animal care library.