None. Leopard Geckos can’t eat any human foods. They are insectivores and require a diet made up exclusively of insects (and a little water to drink).
What Do Leopard Geckos Eat?
This can be covered in much greater depth but it pretty much boils down to this:
Leopard Geckos eat insects.
Feed them a diet rich in (live) crickets, waxworms, and locusts and they will be happy and healthy for years to come.
Can Leopard Geckos Eat Fruit?
Fruits are wild, natural, and unprocessed so won’t do any harm as a sweet treat every now and then, right?
Unfortunately not. Leopard Geckos can’t eat fruit because their bodies lack the ability to digest it. More specifically, Leopard Geckos don’t have a cecum like other herbivores which means they cannot break down the cellulose found in fruits and vegetables so even if they did try to eat some (which they probably wouldn’t because it doesn’t look or move like an insect), they wouldn’t get any nutrients from the food and would potentially become very uncomfortable – think how you would feel if you tried to eat something you couldn’t digest, like a car tire!
Can Leopard Geckos Eat Eggs?
Okay so fruit is out of the question but how about eggs? Eggs are basically just undeveloped animals so that shouldn’t be too different from eating a living insect.
It’s another ‘No’ here. Geckos won’t eat scrambled eggs (or however you like your eggs) and probably won’t even recognize them as food.
Geckos do sometimes eat their own eggs, but this is usually only if the egg is infertile or it’s an extreme situation where the mother needs to eat it to survive.
So I Can Never Share A Meal With My Beloved Gecko?
Well, strictly speaking, any food that a human eats is ‘human food’ so if you really want to share a meal with your Leopard Gecko like those lucky dog owners you see all over Instagram then you just need to find something you can both eat…
Eating crickets has been going on for thousands of years because there’s a plentiful supply and they are full of nutrients and goodness.
There’s a growing movement to make Entomophagy (the practice of eating insects) more commonplace in the Western world because insects are so nutrient-dense and much more sustainable than other protein sources like chicken or beef.
So if you want to strengthen the bond between you and your Leo, and really want to answer What Human Food Can Leopard Geckos Eat, one way to do it could be to share a snack every now and then (though we don’t advise you to eat them while they’re still alive – maybe try a cricket taco recipe instead!)
