Leopard gecko owners often seek the best feeder insects for their pet reptiles. Ranging from mealworms, and crickets, to dubia roaches, it is quite frustrating to find the perfect diet. With the rise in the popularity of dubia roaches as feeder insects, they’re a natural option. However, can leopard geckos eat dubia roaches? Keep reading to discover more!
Leopard geckos eat dubia roaches which supply them with water and nutrients such as proteins that help the gecko stay healthy and active. For the best nutritional supply, gut load the dubia roaches by feeding them whole grain cereals, fruits, and vegetables.
Leopard geckos feed on many different insects, including roaches, wax worms, and many others. Always ensure the insects you feed your pet are clean and non-poisonous for the best results.
Can Leopard Geckos Eat Dubia Roaches?
Yes, leopard geckos feed on dubia roaches. Leopard geckos are insectivorous, implying that they feed on insects. However, they only prefer feeding on live animals rather than dead ones.
Dubia roaches greatly contribute to geckos’ health by nourishing them and supplying the appropriate nutrients. Having said that, you should learn the number of dubia roaches to feed your pet reptile and the frequency.
How to Feed Dubia Roaches to Leopard Geckos
To feed dubia roaches to leopard geckos, gut loading is necessary. This is the most helpful process to ensure that your pet reptile gets the required nutrients. The gut-loading process should be done at least 24 hours before feeding the feeder insects to your pet.
It can be easily done by feeding them mixed vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, broccoli, and kale. However, citrus fruits should be highly avoided as they are bad for leopard geckos. Like crickets, dubia roaches eat plants and some fruits, which adds to their nutrition.
How Many Dubia Roaches to Feed Your Leopard Geckos
Several factors affect the number of dubia roaches to feed your leopard geckos. These may include age, health, and body length.
You can feed the baby leopard geckos with dubia roaches on a daily basis. 5 to 7 small roaches are enough until your pet grows about 4 inches long. This amounts to 35 small-sized roaches weekly. However, this number can vary depending on the nutritional needs of your baby gecko.
Juvenile geckos can be fed with bigger roaches. At this age, geckos can be supplied with feeder insects every day.
Adult leopard geckos can be supplied with large dubia roaches. These roaches have an average length of about 1 inch. Adult geckos can also be fed on roaches 4 times a week.
However, the number of insects will vary depending on their size; two roaches for every body-length inch. For instance, if your adult gecko is 7-inch long, it should be supplied with 14 dubia roaches on a day’s meal. This will amount to 56 roaches a week if fed four times a week.
Nonetheless, depending on your gecko’s appetite and body length, you can provide more.
How Big Should Dubia Roaches Be?
You can purchase various sizes of Dubia roaches depending on the length and age of your leopard geckos. Luckily, you can easily find multiple sizes of Dubia roaches since many reptiles prefer eating them.
Baby leopard geckos should be fed on 0.4-inch dubia roaches, while juvenile leopard geckos should be supplied with 0.25-inch Dubia roaches.
Adult leopard geckos can be fed with medium-sized Dubia roaches that can attain up to 1.5 inches in length. They should be fed to adult geckos while skipping a day.
Advantages of Dubia Roaches to Leopard Geckos
The main benefits dubia roaches have for leopard geckos include:
1. Moisture Supply
As we all know, leopard geckos drink water only on rare occasions. They obtain water from their main diets. Thus, supplying them with food substances rich in moisture is essential. Dubia roaches have a 61% moisture composition, making them preferable to other insect feeders.
2. Nutrient Supply
Feeding leopard geckos with dubia roaches supplies them with a rich protein source that enables them to stay healthy and active. To ensure they supply the appropriate level of proteins, you should feed dubia roaches with fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grains.
Cat and dog feeds should be highly avoided with these feeder insects as they contain many fillers, chemicals, and preservatives. Notably, feeding the dubia roaches with the right nutrient composition ensures they provide your leopard geckos with the right nutrients.
Dubia roaches have a calcium composition of 20mg/100g, which is a lower proportion than the leopard geckos’ requirements. Thus, they are dusted with calcium powder to ensure appropriate calcium intake for the pet reptiles.
3. Less Aggressive
Unlike other feeder insects, dubia roaches are not aggressive and will cause no harm to leopard geckos. These feeder insects don’t jump, so they are easily fed on by your pet. Also, they have a low risk of escaping and infesting your home.
4. No Smell and Noise
Dubia roaches have no scent that may seem unattractive to leopard geckos. Also, they make no noise that can seem distractive. In addition, leopard geckos highly enjoy eating them as part of their valuable diet.
Disadvantages of Dubia Roaches to Leopard Geckos
The downsides to feeding dubia roaches to your leopard geckos include the following:
1. Have a Low Calcium Level
Dubia roaches have a low calcium level of 20mg/100g, which is insufficient for the leopard geckos’ needs. Thus, they require a calcium supplement before feeding them to the reptile. This means an extra cost for purchasing the calcium supplement.
2. Require to Be Purchased
Keeping dubia roaches for your reptile pet’s dietary needs can be quite a hassle. These feeder insects thrive under strict conditions and diet requirements that can be costly in the long run.
In addition, they can quickly grow beyond the requirements of the gecko’s needs. Therefore, you will be forced to purchase these feeder insects regularly.
3. Leopard Geckos Don’t Feed on Dead Insects
Leopard geckos will not feed on dead dubia roaches. This means that if the feeder insects die due to mishandling and poor conditions, they are less helpful to be used as feeders to your reptile pet.
Despite these disadvantages, dubia roaches make a good meal for your leopard geckos and other pet reptiles. Unlike some poisonous spiders and other insects, dubia roaches don’t harm your pets in any way.
Dubia Roaches Nutritional Value
| Components | Amount |
| Protein | 36% |
| Moisture | 61% |
| Calcium | 20mg/100g |
| Fat | 7% |
Do I Need to Gut Load Dubia Roaches for Leopard Geckos?
Yes, dubia roaches need to be gut loaded before feeding them to leopard geckos. The gut-loading process involves providing the insects with nutritional elements such as vegetables, pumpkins, and fruits to ensure they supply the pet with the proper nutrients and moisture. This process should be done at least 24 hours before feeding them to the geckos.
However, you must be careful when selecting a gut-loading diet for insects. For instance, citric fruits and cat and dog foods should be avoided since they are toxic to leopard geckos. Therefore, you should carefully select non-harmful gut loaders for leopard geckos.
Do I Need to Dust Dubia Roaches for Leopard Geckos?
Yes, dubia roaches have little calcium composition that needs to be enhanced for leopard geckos’ needs. Therefore, you must dust these feeder insects with calcium supplements to ensure the appropriate calcium intake. The dusting supplements are readily available in powder and liquid states.
However, you will commonly find powder supplements. To achieve this process, you only need to sprinkle the calcium supplement on the feeder insects before feeding them to the leopard geckos. This ensures your reptile pets get the required nutrients.
Feed Your Leopard Geckos with Dubia Roaches!
Dubia roaches are suitable for your leopard geckos. They supply the proper moisture and nutrient components that help leopard geckos thrive. Also, they are not harmful, have no smell, and produce no distracting noise to leopard geckos.
Not to forget, leopard geckos highly love feeding on dubia roaches. Therefore, you can confidently feed your pet reptile the right size of dubia roaches, depending on its size, age, and health concerns. Feed your leopard geckos with dubia roaches now!