2 things i want to ask about:

1st of all...if im ill then can i still handle my leos or can i pass the flu onto them??

2nd...i've heard that you can feed leos greens. Is this true?? if so then what kind of greens can i feed them??

You're unlikely to be able to give a leopard gecko human influenza. Most human diseases need a mammalian host (and often a primate host) to survive.

I've never heard of or seen a leopard gecko eating greens. Their crickets and mealworms eat greens, but the geckos themselves do not - they're pretty much obligate insectivores. You might have some luck getting them to eat mashed up banana or other soft sweet fruit, but remember that they really are insect eaters.

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- Ssthisto





Lizards: 2.1 E. macularius, 1.2 H. caudicinctus, 1.0 R. ciliatus, 0.2.1 A. fragilis, 1.1 T. merianae, 1.0 V. niloticus ittibittius
Colubrids: 3.5.12 P. guttattus, 1.0 P. guttatus X E. climacophora, 1.1 P. o. rossalini, 1.0 P. o. lindheimeri, 0.1 E. anomala, 0.1 C. radiatus
1.2 Lamprophis spp, 1.0 L. g. nigritus, 0.1 L. g. californiae, 1.0 H. n. nasicus, 1.0 P. m. melanoleucus
Boids: 1.1 E. c. maurus, 0.1 E. conicus, 4.1.5 P. regius, 1.1 A. maculosa
We HAD a three-bedroom house... Current lodger: 1.0 E. c. maurus

think ssthisto pretty much answered that one,i often leave greens in the viv overnight incase of any uneaten crix but my leo doesnt touch any of it,someone has said fruit or meat based baby food on here recently but again as ssthisto says its a bug diet all the way for leos

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Me,Goat and Sid Lola.........


the 3 Rumsketeers

Funny because @ the pet shop I seen them feeding there leos green, and they were eating the hell out of those greens.

I wonder two things:

1. Were they actually leopard geckos and not just mislabeled desert iguanas or something?
2. Were they feeding them anything ELSE? A starving animal will eat what's there.

That said, maybe they've just got a VERY weird group of leopard geckos.

My personal concern with feeding them greens is that their digestive systems are set up to deal with insects and small vertebrates - they've got relatively short guts, not much room to absorb nutrition. If you pack a short gut with relatively indigestible plant matter (greens are mostly fibre and water) ... they don't have room to absorb any nutrition that's in it. Most herbivores have very long guts and specialised ways of processing vegetable matter that make it more easily broken down by the body.

My other concern would also be with impaction - because they don't chew, because they don't have those specialised adaptations for vegetable diets, their intestines might not be able to cope with the bulk and the amount of fibre present in those greens. Having seen first-hand the effects of impaction (via sand) on a leopard gecko, I wouldn't want to personally risk it with my own trying to feed an insectivore green leaves.

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- Ssthisto





Lizards: 2.1 E. macularius, 1.2 H. caudicinctus, 1.0 R. ciliatus, 0.2.1 A. fragilis, 1.1 T. merianae, 1.0 V. niloticus ittibittius
Colubrids: 3.5.12 P. guttattus, 1.0 P. guttatus X E. climacophora, 1.1 P. o. rossalini, 1.0 P. o. lindheimeri, 0.1 E. anomala, 0.1 C. radiatus
1.2 Lamprophis spp, 1.0 L. g. nigritus, 0.1 L. g. californiae, 1.0 H. n. nasicus, 1.0 P. m. melanoleucus
Boids: 1.1 E. c. maurus, 0.1 E. conicus, 4.1.5 P. regius, 1.1 A. maculosa
We HAD a three-bedroom house... Current lodger: 1.0 E. c. maurus

yep my local pet shop was feeding apples to their leopard geckos.they kept asking me what was up becasue i was in a fit of gigles at the time.they dont do it anymore now i pointed it out though.makes you wonder how the hell these people get a pet shop licence doesnt it.ah well at least we know whats good for our pets.

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aactually i read that recent studies show that leopard geckos do infact eat small amounts of fruit in the wild, thats why i offer mine a small bit of organic pure fruit babyfood, purly as a treat, some people give it to them several times a week, also it's supposed to be good for getting fussy eaters to start feeding.

saying that, feeding actually chuncks of fruit is a no no, espec apple, as they cannot digest it very well so if want to give fresh fruit, then get the blender out first lol.

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Im the same...I'm very reluctant on giving leos too many greens as they're insectivores - and their stomachs are made to eat insects!! Fruit based baby food was a winner with my babies, but crickets are a leos staple diet - so I'd rather feed them what they're supposed to be fed with..

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