Gecko Diet Guide

Complete gecko diets (CGD) are powders you mix with water into a smoothie-like paste. Here is how the major brands stack up among keepers:

• Pangea is the current keeper favorite. Fig & Insects and Watermelon are the most-loved flavors, praised for palatability and smooth mixing. It costs a bit more than some brands.
• Repashy is the respected original — Allen Repashy pioneered the category — but a meaningful number of individual geckos refuse it. Common advice: rotate between Classic and Mango Superblend.
• Zoo Med is a decent budget or rotation option, but keepers note it is sweeter. Some geckos develop a "sweet tooth" and refuse other foods afterward, so use it in rotation, not as the sole staple.
• Niche brands such as Leapin' Leachie, Black Panther Zoological and Lugarti are respected rotation options.

Keeper consensus: rotate 2–3 brands or flavors rather than feeding one forever. Mix powder fresh and replace uneaten food within 2–3 days.

• Staple feeders: dubia roaches and/or crickets. Dubias are praised for protein and ease of breeding; crickets for nutrient balance and hunting enrichment.
• Variety matters: rotate in mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, silkworms and hornworms as treats.
• Mealworms as the sole diet are widely discouraged — they are fatty and raise obesity risk — but they are fine as part of a rotation.
• Gut-load all feeders for 24 hours before feeding.

Supplements: dust with plain calcium most feedings (such as Repashy or Zoo Med Repti Calcium) and keep a calcium dish in the tank. Use calcium + D3 about 1–2× per week and a multivitamin about weekly.

D3 caution: vitamin D3 is fat-soluble and accumulates in the body, so don't overdo it — especially if you don't provide UVB.

Gargoyle geckos follow the same diet guidance as crested geckos. All the major CGD formulas above suit them, and the same rotate-your-brands advice applies.

Keepers fall into two honest camps:

• CGD-only: many keepers feed a quality CGD as the complete staple and their geckos thrive.
• CGD plus insects: others insist on adding live insects for enrichment and natural hunting behavior.

Our take: offer insects even if CGD is the base — it costs little and gives your gecko something to hunt.

OK in moderation: mango, fig, berries, watermelon, and mashed banana as an occasional treat.

• Avoid citrus, starfruit, avocado and rhubarb.
• Avoid banana-heavy diets — the phosphorus blocks calcium absorption.
• Do not use baby food as a staple. Keeper consensus links it to metabolic bone disease and a sugar addiction that makes geckos refuse proper food.
• No wild-caught insects — they can carry pesticides and parasites.
• No pinky mice for leopard geckos, except post-breeding females under guidance.