Product Review: Lugarti Premium Gecko Diet

INGREDIENTS

Looking at a block of ingredients can be confusing, so let’s break it down:

Protein sources: whey protein isolate, dubia roach meal, dried whole egg

Using more than one source of protein diversifies the number of amino acids present in the diet, increasing the likelihood that it will meet all of the gecko’s nutritional needs. These sources of protein are animal-based, making them more likely to be compatible with an animal that has evolved to get its protein mainly from insects and small vertebrates. Furthermore, using whole food ingredients for protein rather than sticking to a protein isolate has the added benefit of including the diverse array of other nutrients that these foods contain.

Fruit: dried watermelon, dried fig, dried passion fruit/dragon fruit/guava

Fruit is important for more than just flavor (although it’s good to see real fruit being used rather than flavoring agents). These whole fruit ingredients are important sources of dietary fiber, carbohydrates, and vitamins. Fig is particularly noteworthy here, as it is a food that New Caledonian geckos are likely to eat in the wild.

Vegetables: algae meal, kelp meal

It may seem strange to see vegetables of any kind on the ingredients list, since arboreal geckos are not known to eat vegetation, but algae and kelp are particularly nutritious, and are often touted as “superfoods.” They are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and are particularly noteworthy for their iodine content.

Fat sources: dried coconut, ground flaxseed

Fat is not bad — like many other things, fat only becomes bad in excess. Fat is an important nutrient that is involved in many different functions, including providing energy, supporting cell growth, assisting nutrient absorption, and producing hormones. The combination of coconut and flaxseed provides both saturated and unsaturated fats, as well as a variety of fatty acids, with a kick of fiber and minerals on the side.

Sweeteners: honey

As mentioned earlier, flower nectar is part of crested geckos’ natural diet. Honey is essentially concentrated nectar, which makes it a natural choice for a sweetening agent to increase the diet’s palatability and carbohydrate content.

Vitamins/Minerals: Bee pollen, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl 2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Beta-Carotene, Cobalamin (Vitamin B12), Niacin (Vitamin B3), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Retinyl Acetate (Vitamin A), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Menadione Nicotinamide Bisulfite (Vitamin K), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3)

This is a pretty good array of vitamins and minerals to round out the vitamins and minerals already provided by the whole food ingredients which make up the majority of Lugarti Premium Gecko Diet. Calcium, vitamin D3, and vitamin K are important for ensuring healthy bones (among many other things), vitamin A and beta carotene are both present to reduce potential for vitamin A overdose, vitamin E is present for general wellbeing, and all of the major B vitamins are present. Bee pollen in particular is a nutritional powerhouse likely to be present in arboreal geckos’ natural diet.

In other words, the vitamin and mineral blend present in this diet seems to cover the most important bases adequately.

Probiotics: Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus oryzae, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus

Probiotics are important to maintaining a healthy gut biome in reptiles. Science is just beginning to understand the influence that gut bacteria have on their host’s health, but so far a healthy gut biome has been strongly correlated with good health in general. In regard to reptiles specifically, a good gut biome is likely to improve digestion, reduce symptoms of stress, support immune function, and keep parasites in check.

Thickeners: rice bran, cellulose, xanthan gum

Thickening agents are very important to achieving a good texture in CGD. All three of these ingredients are well known to be safe, and as a bonus, rice bran is a good source of a wide variety of nutrients.

Additives: lecithin (emulsifier), potassium sorbate (preservative), maltodextrin (stabilizer)

Additives are a necessary evil if you want a food product to have any kind of shelf life. Considering that it can take 6+ months to go through a single pouch of CGD if you only have one gecko and rotate through more than one flavor or brand for variety, shelf life is very important here. None of the above seem overtly potentially harmful, and the list and quantities of additives seems to have been kept to a minimum.