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 #1851507


Daveim
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 Wild-caught food items

I am wondering what wild-caught insects I can feed my leopard gecko. My yard is pesticide-free, and I do know the risks of transmitting diseases. I live in Central Texas. Some of the most common insects I can find are pillbugs, earwigs, earthworms, snails, grubs, and beetles.
09/04/08  07:38pm

 #1851515


Gecko_lover
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1851507


 Wild-caught food items

are u sure they have just been in ur yard? not to sound like a smart alic there.



09/04/08  07:42pm

 #1851536


Daveim
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   Message To: Gecko_lover   In reference to Message Id: 1851515


 Wild-caught food items

Oh, and I forgot to add, my gecko is quite small. a little over four inches. And, because he is so small, I would only gather insects that had just been born, and did not have enough time to wander out of my yard. Not only that, but my yard has walls around it preventing most insects from crossing it. And, third, one of my neighbors does not currently live in the house next to mine, but she does own it.
09/04/08  07:53pm

 #1851542


Gecko_lover
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1851536


 Wild-caught food items

oh...ok...then i think it should b fine. im only 13 so dont just take my word about this. i would see if any one else helps u. so yeah....
09/04/08  07:57pm

 #1851545


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1851536


 Wild-caught food items

Insects from the wild tend to carry parasites and disease. Far more of a chance of giving them to your leo that way than spending some quarters on small crickets. That and you don’t at all know the nutritional or chitin values of what you’re pulling. I would say ’alright, that’s cool’ if this was an anole or something you ripped from your backyard, but this is a captive bred leopard gecko we’re talking about, right?

Small crickets are 8c per cricket, and mealworms are 30 for 3 dollars in one of those small containers at your local pet supply store. If the leo is a hatchling, you could also try pinhead crickets, which come in a small tube. The rule of thumb is ’no longer than the width between the eyes.
09/04/08  07:59pm

 #1851548


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 1851545


 Wild-caught food items

To strengthen my argument, you do know that young leos are more susceptible to getting ill, right? They haven’t built up their immunities yet and that’s another reason you have to know exactly what you’re putting in them, along with the proper calcium and vitamin supplements of course.

GL, please do not give advice if you didn’t even know the word ’leopard gecko’ ten minutes ago.
09/04/08  08:02pm

 #1851553


Daveim
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 1851548


 Wild-caught food items

Well, if you breed the caught insects, their offspring wont have parasites and diseases if you seperate them form their parents, right?
09/04/08  08:06pm

 #1851558


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1851553


 Wild-caught food items

I don’t know how parasites in insects work, but disease can be quite easily transferred between them.

I’m going to sound rude, but why on earth can’t you simply spend the pocket change to get already captive bred farmed insects? I got into a similar, but not as bad, argument with a guy recently about webworms - which are lawn killers that not only plague people but also carry heaps of diseases, parasites, and bacterium.
09/04/08  08:10pm

 #1851562


Shutterstud06
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 1851558


 Wild-caught food items

to play devils advocate here... what if he’s only trying to spice up the diet so to speak. I mean we all suggest wax worms every now and then but they comp in batches of 50 and unless you have like 10 geckos (min) then most of those are wasted before you feed your gecko it’s treat.



09/04/08  08:15pm

 #1851567


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: Shutterstud06   In reference to Message Id: 1851562


 Wild-caught food items

I’m cool with the fact that he wants to try new things, and what you say does make sense. However if he wants to start a ’safe bug’ breeding project, he’d have to do research on what types of bugs are okay, what types are poisonous, what types have less or more chitin, and such. That and by the time he gets a ’safe’ group of insects going, his leo would already be an adult.
09/04/08  08:18pm

 #1851572


Daveim
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 1851567


 Wild-caught food items

I can spend the pocket change, but I do not want to have to do so every week and with the price of gas that would total to be several dollars per trip.
09/04/08  08:25pm

 #1851579


KrazyKelli
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1851572


 Wild-caught food items

You could always try breeding a colony of crickets or mealworms. Or ordering online - where you can get hundreds at a time. Many people on RZ breed their own farm-bred bugs, though some complain on the smell of crickets. Honestly, it’s a good choice if you’re interested in breeding bugs at all.
09/04/08  08:35pm

 #1852213


Daveim
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   Message To: KrazyKelli   In reference to Message Id: 1851579


 Wild-caught food items

I will not breed crickets, because of the smell and because they can chew through everything and get all over my house. Mealworms are not an option for two reasons: 1) I was informed tha they will cause impaction in a juvenile lizard, and 2) there are no stores seling mealworms within 100 miles (as far as I am aware).
09/05/08  05:19pm

 #1852236


MissSkyTheGecko
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1852213


 Wild-caught food items

If you don’t want to buy the food, don’t want to raise the food, then you shouldn’t have gotten the gecko. Plain and simple.
If you choose to go catch food for it, I hope you’re willing to drive to and pay for the vet.
And, mealworms do not cause impaction unless practically shove them down your geckos throat ten at a time or something.
They’re easy to breed, easy to feed, and you can order them online.
If you want a really good food source, look in to breeding silkworms. You can order eggs, worms, food all online and they offer a lot of nutrition and range in a wide variety of sizes. Just a thought.



09/05/08  05:53pm

 #1852732


Daveim
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   Message To: MissSkyTheGecko   In reference to Message Id: 1852236


 Wild-caught food items

Thank you, your insight was quite helpful (actully, I appreciate the mealworm info but do not appreciate the discrimination). Actually, I did have everything planned out when I got my leo but just after I got him I was notified that mealworms may cause impaction in juvenile geckos. To be honest with you, I do not see how they could cause impaction, but I do not want to risk it. To that, you may wonder why I am considering feeding him wild food, but then you should read the entire discussion completely.

the other problem with mealworms is that no stores within reasonable distance carry them. However, there is one very close by that sells superworms. These are too large for a lizard the size of mine, but can I breed them and feed the baby worms to my lizard?



09/06/08  11:42am

 #1852905


AditiLuna
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   Message To: Daveim   In reference to Message Id: 1852732


 Wild-caught food items

go to MulberryFarms.com

They have every kind of food so you can give variety, and they sell eggs and other things if you want to raise the insects yourself.

Crickets have the same risk of impaction as meal worms if not a greater risk, but as long as your temps are high enough (90-95 on the hot side - 10 degrees less on the cool side) they both present a VERY small risk. I go on many forums and I see a lot of geckos impacted with sand, moss, excavator clay, and dirt - but I have never run across a gecko impacted by any food item. It is much less of a risk to your geckos health then anything you catch in your yard.

If you want NO risk of any bad digestion - silkworms and goliath worms are much more nutritious then mealies and crickets and are totally squishy and soft. Phoenix worms seem kind of ’Chewy’ but there is nothing hard on them either.



09/06/08  03:31pm


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