Tokay Geckos are some of the most in-demand reptiles in the world because of how beautiful they look. They’re native to Southwest Asia and will eat pretty much anything that crosses their path during a hunting season.
These beautiful, but dangerous creatures typically eat insects, small mice, small birds, and will even eat other small lizards. This makes them easy to feed in captivity. In this article, we’ll talk about what exactly should you feed your Tokay Gecko.
What can you feed a Tokay Gecko pet
Your Tokay Gecko’s diet consists of various insect prey, including cockroaches, crickets, superworms, waxworms, mealworms, grasshoppers, etc. More than that, your adult Tokay can even eat pinky mice and other similar prey.
Tokay Geckos can get sick if they eat way too much vitamin supplement dust that contains calcium. If you continuously gut-load their food with vitamin-rich substances, you might want to avoid dusting their every meal. You can cut back the dusting to a few times a month or change the gut-loading diet.
When the food is ready you can get the Gecko out into a clear container that has a lid with small holes in it. This will prevent the insects from escaping and you won’t have to struggle to look for leftover insects that might rot.
While Tokay Geckos are not pretentious eaters, there are still some insects that are toxic and you should keep them away from your pet. Some insects might only cause a slight discomfort while others will cause death within an hour.
You should always have activated charcoal around that you can give your Gecko if it ends up eating something it shouldn’t have. After that, run to the vet as fast as possible and follow their instructions.
Fireflies (lightning bugs) can cause death within one hour
Spiders
Centipede
Ladybugs
Monarch butterflies and caterpillars
Ants (some ants will bite back and will cause severe allergic reactions)
Food for Baby vs Adult Tokay Geckos. Any difference?
The diet of your Tokay Gecko changes as it grows. If you’re using the same food for all of your Tokays you will end up with some of them underfed, overfed, or starving to death because they can’t eat their prey yet. You’ll need to prepare the appropriate food depending on how old your Geckos are.
Tokays between 0 and 6 months need to be fed extra small insects that are easy to chew for them. After you’ve gut-loaded their food, make sure you use calcium without D3 supplements three times a week, calcium with D3 supplements twice a week, and a multivitamin supplement once a week. You can also add a little bit of commercial food, but it’s not a must.
If your Tokay is between 6 and 12 months, he can eat a little better. This includes gut-loaded small to medium-sized live feeder insects. The supplements you need to dust their food with is calcium without D3 twice a week, calcium with D3 twice a week, and multivitamin once a week. And now they can eat a little more commercial food.
When it comes to your adult Tokay Gecko, you should be ready to feed him gut-loaded larger feeder insects along with small prey animals, such as pinkie mice. Their need for supplements also decreases as they need calcium without D3 once a week, calcium with D3 once a week, and multivitamins once a week. You can also feed them larger quantities of commercial food.
How often do you need to feed Tokay Geckos
Hatchling to baby Tokays need to be fed as often as two to three times a day. They can’t eat much so they need to eat more often. You can feed them all in the same container.
Juvenile Geckos need to be fed a lot less and up to once a day. They start eating more so you are finally able to set a specific time a day for their meal. And now it would be best to start separating them during feeding if some of them are too greedy and keep starting fights because of the food.
Adult Tokay Geckos need to be fed a lot more food but a lot less frequently. You won’t have to feed them more often than once every two to three days.
Types of Insects Recommended for Tokay Geckos Diet
Tokays need a mix of various insects to stay healthy. So let’s talk about some of the best insects you can feed your Gecko and what are their advantages.
Dubia Roaches:
Dubia Roaches are very easy to keep alive and are very affordable. You also won’t have any bad smells to dea with, they’re easy to gut-load, and there’s no chance of them escaping. All they need to thrive is an enclosure, hiding place, and food.
Hornworms:
Hornworms are another great option but you need to be careful with how often you feed them to your Gecko. They contain a lot of water and can cause runny stools and grow too fast to be kept just for babies. The nutrients and vitamins provided by them are very important to your pet. They’re also easy to digest.
Nutrigrubs (Black Soldier Fly larvae):
Nutrigrubs are known for their large amount of calcium, which makes them ideal for regular feeding. But since they’re so small, bigger Geckos are hard to convince to eat enough of them. However, they’re excellent for smaller babies.
Silkworms:
Silkworms are high in nutrients but the best thing about them is that they have a mild analgesic that’s called serrapeptase. This can be very useful for sick reptiles and they’re easy to gut-load if you have a package of silkworm food. Sadly, they’re also hard to find and can be expensive.
Roaches
Besides Dubia roaches, you can feed your Gecko various other types of roaches, including Discoid, Turkestan, and Orange Head roaches. They’re very similar to Dubia in almost any aspect, except they’re harder to find.
Crickets
Crickets are some of the best insects for your Gecko when it comes to their nutrients. They’re also very easy to obtain and can be easily gut-loaded. However, they also tend to die quickly, smell really bad, and they’re masters of escaping so you need to be quick when feeding them.
Superworms:
Superworms are high in fat and offer most of the nutrients your Tokay needs. They’re also easy to feed to all ages and are easy to digest. You also won’t have any trouble keeping them or gut-loading them.
What human foods do Geckos eat?
Don’t ever be tempted to feed your Gecko any of the foods you eat as they’re strictly insectivores and can’t eat anything but insects. Your Gecko will get sick very fast if he eats something else than the insects he needs.
There might be some Geckos that nibble on fruits and vegetables from time to time, but it’s best to invest in commercial food to offer those nutrients in a healthier way.
