As a leopard gecko owner, you are probably already aware that leopard geckos are insectivorous reptiles, meaning their diet is only composed of insects. Since grasshoppers are insects, you might consider giving the same to the pet. But,
Can leopard geckos eat grasshoppers?
The simple answer is yes; leopard geckos can eat grasshoppers. However, there are several factors that you should consider before adding these insects to your pet gecko’s diet. First, while grasshoppers are safe for feeding your leopard geckos, you need to consider their nutritional benefits for your leopard gecko. It would be best also to consider their size relative to your gecko, among other factors.
Even though leopard geckos feed on insects, not all are suitable for the lizard, and not all are a good staple diet choice for the pet. Some, such as grasshoppers, are only good as occasional food. Below, we have an in-depth look at the appropriateness of grasshoppers for your leopard gecko.
Pros Of Grasshopper For Leopard Geckos
There’s a chance your leopard gecko will enjoy feeding on grasshoppers, which is a good thing. However, there are several factors that you, as the pet owner, should take into consideration before adding these insects to your pet lizard’s staple diet.
1. Rich In Proteins
The first reason why grasshoppers make a good meal for your leopard gecko is that they have various nutritional benefits, including being rich in proteins. These insects have a higher protein content than most leopard gecko meals, like crickets and mealworms. Thus, they are a great meal choice, especially for young geckos.
Young and juvenile leopard geckos require many proteins for proper development. The reason behind this is that at that stage, their bodies are actively developing; hence they need a lot of proteins to build tissues and muscles.
Even mature leopard geckos need plenty of proteins to maintain effective body functioning. Therefore, grasshoppers are a good choice for meeting this high protein demand.
2. Source Of Moisture
Apart from their protein content, grasshoppers also offer a good amount of moisture for your geckos. Geckos, like most reptiles, hardly drink any water; they rely primarily on moisture from their diets.
It means that serving your pet leopard gecko meals with high moisture levels benefits their development. Grasshoppers offer precisely that, making them an excellent addition to the lizard’s diet.
3. Enhancing Your Gecko’s Hunting Skills
Grasshoppers are among the fastest-moving insects and respond pretty quickly to stimuli or when under threat. It means that when you offer them live to your pets, they will pose quite a challenge. Such helps stimulate the gecko to hunt as they would in the wild. Because of this, you should provide your pet with live insects.
Besides enhancing the gecko’s hunting skills, providing grasshoppers to the lizard also makes it exercise. Since geckos are originally wild reptiles, they may not be well-accustomed to living in an enclosure.
Therefore, the frequent exercise by chasing insects can help prevent obesity, a condition that can be fatal to the lizard.
While providing live grasshoppers to your pet leopard gecko is good, there might be instances where the grasshoppers are too fast.
In such a case, you may need to refrigerate them to make them less active first. In addition, it is essential for juvenile and young geckos that may not have good hunting skills.
4. Ideal Size
The third reason you should consider feeding grasshoppers to your pet leopard is that grasshoppers are usually of the proper feeding size.
Luckily, most of them do not grow so big, meaning there is some risk of your leopard gecko choking from feeding on them.
5. Grasshoppers Are Non-toxic
Lastly, grasshoppers are not poisonous or toxic to a leopard gecko. Unlike locusts, grasshoppers are unlikely to cause harm to your pet gecko during feeding. This is because they do not have any hard materials that may hurt your leopard gecko’s soft inner tissues.
Also, unlike locusts, grasshoppers’ hind legs do not have dangerous spikes, nor do they make a noise like crickets.
Cons Of Grasshoppers For Leopard Geckos
Now that we know the advantages of grasshoppers for leopard geckos, it is good to consider why they are not an ideal staple for a leopard gecko. Below are the significant challenges of providing your pet leopard gecko with grasshoppers.
1. Low Calcium Phosphorous Ratio
The first and very significant drawback of grasshoppers is that they have a low calcium-phosphorous ratio of 1:6. For every 1 gram of phosphorus, there should be a minimum of two grams of calcium in any ideal leopard gecko staple diet which is not the case with grasshoppers.
Calcium is one of the most critical minerals in your gecko’s diet. It helps with proper bone structure development and avoids the dreaded metabolic bone disease that, although rare, can still affect your leopard gecko.
Phosphorous inhibits the absorption of calcium in your gecko’s body. It does this by binding with calcium, forming a stable compound useless to your gecko. So, your gecko should have more calcium than phosphorous in any diet. Even so, you can improve calcium intake by dusting the grasshoppers with calcium powder for a minimum of 5 minutes before giving the insects to your leopard gecko.
2. It Is Hard To Get Live Grasshoppers
Another disadvantage of opting for grasshoppers for your leopard gecko is that live grasshoppers are hard to come by. What’s more, in some places, such as the US, the government has a law against selling live grasshoppers, making it even harder to find them.
Grasshoppers and locusts can be pretty destructive due to their massive appetite. They can destroy large tracts of land within a very short time. It gets worse since they breed pretty fast and move in swarms. Thus, you must ensure they do not escape into your garden.
Even when you find them, grasshoppers can be pretty expensive.
3. Unsuitable For Young And Sick Geckos
As mentioned earlier, grasshoppers are very fast, which offers an excellent opportunity to train your juvenile geckos how to hunt. The problem, however, arises when dealing with young, old, or sick geckos. Such geckos cannot run as fast as their prey, meaning they will not feed well and ultimately end up in poor health.
Apart from speed, big grasshoppers can sometimes intimidate the tiny geckos. In addition, a young gecko may choke when feeding on a bigger grasshopper. The solution to this problem is to chop the live grasshoppers into small pieces that your gecko can easily eat.
4. Can Cause Impaction
Another reason why most people avoid feeding grasshoppers to their geckos is that there is a risk that they may cause impaction, though the risk is lower than in other leopard gecko insects such as crickets and mealworms.
Grasshoppers have a high protein and fiber content, and some parts of their body, like the thorax, are made of a hardened material that can be difficult for your gecko’s digestive system.
Also, since it is impossible to get live grasshoppers, you may have to resort to the dead and dried ones which, in most cases, are dehydrated. Since dead or freeze-dried grasshoppers lack moisture, the high fiber content makes them less digestible thus, more likely to cause impaction.
Impaction occurs when your gecko is unable to digest the food it takes. It results in the food getting stuck or blocking your pet gecko’s digestive system. It is a severe problem for leopard geckos; if you do not realize it in good time, the condition can be very uncomfortable or even fatal.
5. Risk of Parasites and Diseases
As discussed above, getting live grasshoppers in the US is almost impossible. Due to this unavailability, some gecko owners may want to collect grasshoppers from the wild to feed their geckos.
While getting excellent and safe grasshoppers from the wild is possible, they carry parasites and diseases in most cases. They might also have bacteria and fungi from the wild environment.
Feeding your leopard gecko with such grasshoppers would be a bad idea as they will transmit diseases and parasites to your gecko, which may pose a severe problem. Apart from the illnesses, wild grasshoppers may feed on plants sprayed with chemicals and insecticides.
When your leopard gecko feeds on these grasshoppers, it will ingest the chemicals, which will poison its body gradually. Unfortunately, as with most reptiles, leopard geckos are good at masking illnesses, so it might be too late to save them, or the cost of treatment might be too high.
Thus, it is advisable to keep away from wild grasshoppers and, if they are the only ones available, avoid feeding them to your gecko.
Due to the drawbacks, grasshoppers are unsuitable as a staple meal for your leopard gecko. Instead, you may consider feeding them as occasional treats, especially if your gecko enjoys eating them.
Worry not; there are far more nutritious and readily available meal options for you to consider. Such include crickets, roaches, mealworms, and superworms.
Tips To Enhance The Nutritional Value of Grasshoppers For Leopard Geckos
While grasshoppers are rich in proteins, you can enhance the amounts of this nutrient and other minerals and vitamins your pet gets from feeding the insect. Here are tips to achieve this.
· Gut-Loading
Feed the grasshoppers with nutrient-rich veggies within 24 hours before giving the insect to your leopard gecko. Some of the nutrients from the veggies will be passed to your lizard.
· Dusting With Calcium
Sprinkling calcium powder on the grasshoppers before offering them to the pet. As your pet eats the grasshoppers, it will also feed on the calcium powder hence improving the mineral intake by the gecko.
How Often Should I Feed Grasshoppers To My Leopard Gecko?
Due to the significant drawbacks, which almost outweigh the benefits, it is best to treat grasshoppers as an occasional food for your leopard gecko. It means that their feeding frequency should be at most once every week.
It is best that you look for other healthier and safer meal alternatives to use as staple foods for your leopard gecko.
For adult geckos, 6-8 grasshoppers are enough per meal, while 5-8 small grasshoppers are enough for babies. For optimal benefits, you may consider mixing them with other healthier meals like wax worms, dubia roaches, and crickets, which will help supplement the calcium content.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Are The Best Insects To Feed My Leopard Gecko?
One of the factors to look for in a leopard gecko meal is the calcium content and ease of feeding. A proper gecko meal should have a high calcium-phosphorus ratio, be easily digestible, have high amounts of proteins, and moderate moisture and fats.
Some of the most suitable for your leopard gecko include; mealworms, waxworms, crickets, superworms, dubia roaches, and silkworms, among others.
You will also need to consider the age of your leopard gecko before deciding to feed them. Some insects are more suitable for younger geckos, while others are better for more mature leopard geckos.
Can Baby Leopard Geckos Eat Grasshoppers?
Yes, giving your baby leopard geckos grasshoppers is okay, but you should only choose the tiny grasshoppers. Bigger ones can be challenging for the lizard to capture and eat. Even so, grasshoppers should still be an occasional meal for leopard geckos.
Can Leopard Geckos Eat Dead Grasshoppers?
Dead grasshoppers and any other dead insects are not suitable for leopard geckos. Instead, you should look for live or freeze-dried ones if you cannot find the former.