Here at Gecko Fancy, we’ve had over a decade to test out a variety of foods on the market. I’m personally someone that likes to test a variety of things, I don’t just stick to the “tried and true”, because just as our understanding of care has changed over the years, I think the best foods can change too. Of course, we’ll always have the top players, in this case, Pangea and Repashy. From taking care of hundreds of geckos, I can confirm that each gecko has unique preferences and just looking at a crude analysis isn’t always the answer to which food is the best for you and your geckos. Let’s take a look at a comparison!
Outside of price and general availability, we find that the best way to compare foods is by ingredients. Let’s compare the ingredient analysis of the Pangea and Repashy reptile diets:
While they are each similar overall, here’s a breakdown of the key differences between the two:
Protein Content
- The Pangea diet has a slightly higher minimum crude protein content at 22% compared to Repashy’s 20%. This can be beneficial for growing or breeding geckos to maintain weight.
Fat Content
- The Pangea diet has a higher minimum crude fat content at 5% compared to Repashy’s 4.5%. Fat is an essential macronutrient, but the difference between the two food brands is negligible here.
Fiber Content
- The Pangea diet has a higher maximum crude fiber content at 8% compared to Repashy’s 5%. Lower fiber content is generally preferred for many reptiles, but in insectivores and herbivores, it can be incredibly beneficial to aid in digestion. From personal experience, we find our geckos do better with more fiber than less fiber in their diet.
Moisture Content
- Both the Pangea and Repashy diets have similar maximum moisture content at 6% and 8%, respectively. Lower moisture content is generally preferred in reptile diets as it helps to reduce the risk of spoilage. This can be negated through only purchasing as much as you’ll use in the advertised time period of usage.
Ash Content
- Both the Pangea and Repashy diets have the same maximum ash content at 8%. Ash content is usually a measure of the mineral content in the diet.
Calcium (only specified in Repashy)
- The Repashy diet includes a minimum calcium content of 1.2%, which is very important for overall health and incredibly important for breeding females. We do know that the Pangea diet has calcium because of their ingredient list, but their analysis does not mention a specified calcium content.
Factors like the gecko’s species, age, and health, should be considered when selecting the most suitable diet. Additionally, you may need to supplement the diet with additional calcium or other nutrients as needed to ensure your reptile’s overall health. In addition to the commercialized diet, we feed calcium-dusted crickets once per week to all of our geckos larger than 2 grams. We personally supplement all of our females with liquid calcium and find that the combination works perfectly.
For us, we’ve found that the majority of our geckos prefer the Pangea diet overall. There are more flavor options and the addition of the insects in the diet provide a boost in feeding motivation in our experience. Every gecko is different, so what works for one gecko or one breeder, may not be the answer for you. We recommend experimenting with a variety of foods, but Pangea is the perfect place to start!