Predator Eating Large Live Crickets: Leopard Gecko On The Hunt - MVI_2149.MOV

The hunt is on for Crickets and a Leopard Gecko is the predator. Video shows one kind of feeder insect that you can offer to your hungry Leopard Gecko pet. Live crickets can be purchased at your local pet store. The large chain pet stores sell 1) crickets 2) meal worms, and 3) waxworms for lizards and geckos. (They also sell Super Worms, but as I understand these have a very hard exoskeleton that may cause impaction in geckos or smaller reptiles.) All three are food offerings that your pet Leopard Gecko may look forward to at feeding time. When we first brought home our two "baby" geckos we were feeding them very tiny (small) crickets and tiny (small) meal worms. In just six short weeks the geckos have grown and they are now able to eat the large size crickets and the giant size meal worms with much enthusiasm. Please note that the two geckos we have were not fond of the waxworms, with our thought that the waxworms are too soft and mushy. The geckos did not finish a small size of medium size waxworms (35) in a three week time period and the waxworms died in the refrigerated tub container.

You should buy a small number (or just one tub) of each type of live insect to release in your Gecko habitat (or place in a feeder bowl) at a time. Observe what your Gecko eats and how many of that particular type before moving on to try another insect. Trying each insect type individually will allow you to see which insect your Gecko likes to eat. It can be noted that our geckos have eaten mostly crickets, the most value for the money if you purchase the large size, and crickets appear to be a good choice if you want healthy hunting geckos. The activity of actually hunting for food must be a benefit instead of just having your gecko stick it's head into a bowl of worms to eat. Also since they cannot catch all the crickets at one time (we purchase 10-15 per week) the crickets tend to last a few days as they will hide and try not to be eaten.

So now at six weeks from the original purchase date (we think they were at least a month or two old when purchased from the pet store) we have found that our gecko's speedy growth and ever increasing size and length to be attributed to crickets. We spend less money by purchasing crickets weekly and a tub of mealworms every three weeks. With the quick growth and increase in size in a short amount of time, we have been purchasing the largest size feeder insects available. There is a value in purchasing the larger size feeder insects even though there is a slightly little higher upfront cost. You will save money in the long run by not needing to buy food daily (the small size feeder insects appeared to leave our geckos hungry even if they were able to eat all we had in one day). Our geckos looked hungry and thin on the small insect size diet.

In the end it depends on your observations, as you will have to monitor your pet to see what size insect they can handle (eat with out problems) and what insect type they like the best (do they go after the insect or react to the movement only).

The video shows a Leopard Gecko hunting a live cricket. Several crickets can be seen hiding near the gecko home/cave. Please note the speed the gecko strike has in the final seconds of the hunt, the crickets moves forward slightly away from the fixture and the gecko makes it's move. Video shows a close view of the head, mouth, and jaws of the gecko feeding, it makes me think this is what a dinosaur must have looked like eating it's prey. Gecko is 5 - 6 inches in length and the crickets are about 1/2 inch in length.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• reptile
• Leopard Gecko
• lizard
• feeding live crickets
• crickets
• live
• eat
• chew
• catch
• chomp
• pet
• terrarium
• feeder insect
• insect
• gecko
• hunt
• wildlife
• eating
• funny
• pets
• dragon
• dinosaur
• August
• 2011

[bigfri5]

My gecko is almost exactly the same to yours, maybe a little less spotting.

[readda]

@bigfri5 Cool. See the newer video's as this gecko's coloration and spots have changed as it has got older and wiser.

[ReptileHerpes]

@readda is he a mack snow?

[readda]

@ReptileHerpes Hello, did not know what type it was, but after viewing google images of Mack Snow leopard geckos I would say it is. Yes a mack snow.

[thereptipages]

how often do u dust?

[readda]

@thereptipages I dust crickets with calcium once a week.

[readda]

@GARAHEAD At the time of this video I thought they had really grown a lot (compared to when we first brought them home), but it appears they were still "baby gecko" size and had not put on a lot of weight or tail fat. I will update with new video showing their present size and rapid growth in just three months. They look and appear to be getting to more adult appearance.

[GARAHEAD]

is your gecko a jovie and is it eating a large cricket?

[Petlover215]

cool but next time show all the gecko's body i love to watch the gecko's tail twitch!!!!!:]