Tokay Geckos tend to prefer a quite versatile menu. This is why good keepers offer them anything from crickets to pinkie mice. These beautiful creatures are ferocious eaters and watching them attack the prey during feeding is quite fascinating. But you should make sure they’re only eating what’s healthy for them.
In this article, we’ll talk about what are some of the favorite foods of the Tokay Gecko and what foods you should avoid feeding it.
Can Tokay Geckos Eat Mealworms
You should keep in mind that you should absolutely never feed a reptile only one single prey item. A gecko needs nutrients that can only be found in different insects, which is why a varied diet is extremely important. If you don’t like having to deal with so many live insects all the time, maybe owning a gecko is not for you.
Tokay Geckos only eat prey if the insect is alive. They very rarely eat dead insects and most of the time they ignore them if they are dead and look for other live prey. So whatever you’re feeding your gecko, it has to be varied and it has to be alive.
Some of the insects that they can eat are crickets, dubia roaches, silkworms, superwoms, etc. And if you’re looking for treats, you can feed two or three waxworms or mealworms a week. Mealworms are quite fat so you should only use them as treats. Otherwise, your Tokay Gecko will get fatter and fatter and it will be a nightmare trying to make it lose weight.
General Dietary Tips – Types of Foods and Quantities
The exact types of foods and quantities a Tokay Gecko can eat greatly depends on how old it is and what’s its size. If you just got a hatchling that is between 0 and 6 months old, you will have to get ready to babysit it all the time.
You should only feed it extra-small feeder insects that are smaller than the space between their eyes, and a bit of commercial food. This means two or three very small insects and a drop or two of fruit-flavored baby food. You need to feed them like this three times a day and then two times a day when they get closer to 6 months old.
Juveniles aren’t much different as they’re between 6 and 12 months old. The advantage is that you can feed them once a day now and they can finally eat slightly bigger insects. Up to three or four small insects and a bit of fruit-flavored baby food is all a juvenile Tokay Gecko needs once a day.
And when your gecko has finally reached adulthood, you can start being a bit more relaxed with the food as they will eat once every two or three days now. This is when you can start feeding them big insects and pinkie mice. You can also add a little bit of actual fruit into that baby food.
