Dr. Gecko: Ultimate Feeder Insect Diet

Background Information

It is extremely important that all feeder insects be fed a highly nutritious diet prior to being fed to your leopard gecko. The process of "feeding the food" is called gut-loading. Most insects that are shipped and stored at pet stores are lacking in nutritional value - often times the nutritional quality of diets fed to crickets are inadequate to provide proper nutrition to the gecko.

In order to gut-load your feeder insects, simply place them in a container for 12-24 hours prior to feeding them to your gecko, and offer them this highly nutritious insect diet.

"You Are What You Eat!"

Dry Mix

-	1 large box dry milk (8 quart size)
-	1 box rice baby cereal
-	8 oz. raw unsalted sunflower seeds
-	1 cup wheat germ
-	1 cup of chaff from loose alfalfa or 3/4 cup alfalfa powder
-	1 1/2 cup fresh bee pollen
-	1/4 cup powdered spirulina or Klamath Lake algae
-	1/2 cup crushed fine quality monkey chow (not Purina)
-	1/4 cup dried sea kelp
-	1/4 cup dried egg yolk (If dried egg yolk is unavailable for the dry mix, add to the wet mix: 1 fresh egg yolk, cooked)
-	1/2 cup mixed unsalted nuts
-	1/4 cup coconut
-	1/16 cup brewer's yeast
-	1/8 cup dried dandelion flowers (optional)

Wet Mix

-	Prickly pear cactus (opuntia)
-	A mix of sweet potatoes, yams, organically grown carrots, orange/yellow squashes and carrot tops
-	Mixed dandelion, turnip, mustard, collard greens, kale, and watercress greens
-	Citrus fruit, melon, grape leaves

Directions

The above should be pulverized using a food processor, blender, or coffee grinder. The texture should resemble a "chunky" powder. Measurements are approximate and may not reflect actual measurements used.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge.

This works for mealworms as well as crickets. Just put the mealworms in a feeding container with the wet and dry food the night before you are going to feed them so they gut-load themselves.

Those fresh foods add a source of moisture for the feeder insects as well.

Using this diet, all your feeder insects are constantly gut-loaded!

Sources Of Ingredients

Local grocery / bulk food store:

Box of dry milk.
Baby rice cereal.
Unsalted sunflower seeds.
Wheat germ.
Mixed unsalted nuts.
Shredded coconut.
Brewer's yeast.
Fresh fruits and vegetables.

Natural / health food store:

Loose or powdered alfalfa.
Bee pollen (also available directly from local bee keepers).
Powdered spirulina or Klamath Lake algae.
Dried sea kelp.
Dried egg yolk (or you can make your own with a food dehydrator).
Dried dandelions (or you can make your own with a food dehydrator).

Alternatives:

Spirulina can also be obtained from local fish/aquarium stores in bulk flakes.
Monkey chow or kitty food can be obtained from pet stores of bulk food stores.

The Creators

This diet was originally created by (Susan James, Don Wells, and Ken Lopez, DVM).