Yes — but fruit is the part of a gargoyle gecko’s diet people get right and the protein is the part they get wrong. Gargoyle geckos are unusually carnivorous for a New Caledonian gecko. In the wild they hunt invertebrates, other lizards — including young crested geckos — and small rodents, alongside fruit, nectar, pollen and sap. A powder-only diet that keeps a crested gecko in perfect health will slowly under-feed a gargoyle.
Quick answer
- Fruit: yes, as part of a prepared diet. Whole fresh fruit is a treat, not a food group.
- Insects: required, two to three times a week — not optional the way they are for crested geckos.
- Pinky mice: yes, but rarely — no more than twice a month.
- Mealworms, superworms, waxworms: fine occasionally, poor as staples.
- Dust insects with calcium; gut-load them for two to three days first.
The one thing that separates them from crested geckos
Gargoyles and crested geckos get sold as near-identical animals with near-identical care. On humidity, temperature and enclosure they very nearly are. On diet they are not.
Field observations from southern New Caledonia describe Rhacodactylus auriculatus taking a notably higher proportion of animal prey than its neighbours — invertebrates, other lizards, and young rodents. Some crested gecko breeders even use gargoyles to dispose of malformed hatchlings, which tells you plainly what the animal is willing to eat.
The practical consequence: a gargoyle raised on prepared diet alone often looks fine for months and then does not. Slower growth, poor muscle tone over the hips and tail base, and a bad-tempered animal pacing the glass at night. That last one gets read as personality when it is frequently hunger.
Item by item
| Food | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prepared diet (Repashy, Pangea) | Staple | Choose a high-protein or insect-inclusive formula rather than a plain fruit blend |
| Crickets, dubia roaches | Staple | 2–3 times weekly. Gargoyles take large prey happily |
| Black soldier fly larvae | Excellent | Favourable calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, so less reliant on dusting |
| Hornworms, silkworms | Good occasional | Hydrating, soft-bodied, well accepted |
| Mealworms, superworms | Occasional | Hard-shelled and fatty; fine as variety, poor as a staple |
| Waxworms | Treat only | Very fatty. Useful for a underweight animal, otherwise sparing |
| Pinky mice | Twice monthly maximum | Genuinely appropriate for this species, but nutrient-dense enough to drive obesity |
| Banana, watermelon, mango | Small treat | Watery and sugary with poor calcium ratios. A smear, not a meal |
| Nightcrawlers | Occasional | Accepted by some animals, refused by others. Harmless either way |
| Insects caught outdoors | No | Pesticide exposure and parasites. Never worth it |
Why fresh fruit is a smaller deal than it looks
Banana and watermelon come up constantly, and neither is dangerous. They are just weak food. Banana carries far more phosphorus than calcium, which works against the calcium balance you are trying to maintain; watermelon is mostly water and sugar. A gecko filling up on either is a gecko not eating its prepared diet.
Offer them the way you would offer a biscuit to a dog — occasionally, in a smear, because the animal enjoys it. A well-formulated commercial diet already contains fruit in a balanced form, which is the entire reason those products exist.
A practical week
Prepared diet available in a fresh dish every second or third day, replaced before it sours. Insects on two or three of those days, dusted with calcium. A pinky mouse once or twice a month if you keep them, and nothing else in particular.
Hatchlings and juveniles eat more often than adults — prepared diet daily, insects every other day. Adults can skip a feeding without drama; wild gargoyles are frequently found with empty stomachs, and the species is built for an intermittent food supply.
Feeding frequency in more detail is in how often to feed a gargoyle gecko, and full husbandry is in gargoyle gecko care.
The cohabitation footnote
Everything above is also the reason gargoyles are poor cage-mates. An animal that hunts young lizards in the wild is not a safe room-mate for a smaller gecko, and it is the specific reason a gargoyle and a crested gecko should never share an enclosure — that argument, and the tail problem behind it, is in can crested and gargoyle geckos live together.
Our current range is under geckos for sale, and what the animals actually cost is in how much do geckos cost.
Common questions
Can gargoyle geckos eat fruit?
Yes. Fruit belongs in the diet, but it is best delivered through a balanced prepared diet rather than fresh fruit. Whole banana, watermelon or mango are occasional treats — sugary, watery and poor in calcium relative to phosphorus.
Can gargoyle geckos eat pinky mice?
Yes, and unlike crested geckos this genuinely suits them — wild gargoyles take small rodents. Limit it to once or twice a month, because pinkies are dense enough to cause obesity.
Can gargoyle geckos eat mealworms, superworms or waxworms?
All three are safe occasionally. Mealworms and superworms are hard-shelled and fatty, waxworms are fattier still, so none should be a staple. Crickets, dubia roaches and black soldier fly larvae are better routine feeders.
Do gargoyle geckos need live insects?
Yes. This is the main difference from crested geckos, which do well on powdered diet alone. Gargoyles are markedly more carnivorous and should get insects two to three times a week.
Can gargoyle geckos eat crested gecko food?
They can, and many keepers use it. Prefer a high-protein or insect-inclusive formula, and do not treat it as the whole diet — insects still need to be part of the week.