Feeding your Crested Gecko

There are many different ways for you to feed your crested gecko.

In the UK, the most common method of feeding is through the use of livefood. The preferred critter is crickets.
In the US, cresties are most commonly fed by Crested Gecko Diet.

I know there's been a lot of controversy in the reptile world about what method of feeding to use. Some people claim that certain methods of feeding can be harmful to your crested gecko, even leading to death. Personally, I think these judgments are rather drastic and most certainly untrue.

However, there are many things that you should consider when thinking about what to feed your crested geckos, and I'm going to discuss them today.

At the end of the day, it should all come down to what is best for you and your gecko. The main focus should always be his or her health, but it is also important that you feel comfortable with the method of feeding you have chosen for your gecko.

Live Food

There are various creatures and creepy crawlies that you are able to feed to your gecko.

Any decent reptile store should be able to sell these to you and advise you on which is best.

The main things that you can feed are:

• Crickets
• Small locusts
• Meal worms
• Wax worms

Crickets are the healthiest option and you can feed your gecko merely on crickets alone. You would most likely discover that a crested gecko in the wild would have a diet largely consisting of crickets.

You should make sure the crickets you feed to your gecko are no larger than the space between your gecko's eyes. Any larger than this and he or she could have difficulty eating them, and might even be bullied by the crickets. I had this issue with Rocco.

You should try to feed about 4-6 crickets at a time. After you've fed your gecko a few times, you'll probably find out what is the best amount of crickets at one time. You might find that when you feed 6, there are still a few crickets left in the vivarium a few days later. In this case, you may want to reduce the amount to 4.

Crickets are a good source of nutrients for your crestie, but it is also important that you dust your crickets with calcium at every feed, and a multivitamin supplement once a week. You can find these in the majority of reptile stores, and they should last you a very long time if used correctly.

If you want your crickets to last for longer, you could always purchase a cricket keeper. These are little plastic boxes containing black tubes that the crickets crawl inside. It comes with cricket food and jelly, which helps them to grow and stay alive for longer. Your crickets are also then guaranteed to be filled with the nutrients your crestie requires.

Hunting crickets inside their enclosure should allow your crested gecko to get exercise. Crickets may be a lot more appealing to a gecko due to their movement, as opposed to worms that do not move quite enough.

Small locusts would be the next best thing to feed your gecko.

All of the above should apply exactly the same for the locusts. There isn't really much difference but the idea that crickets would be the more natural thing to feed your gecko with slightly more nutritional value.

They are less jumpy and less squeamish, and that is why many people may choose locusts over crickets in the long run.

Locusts tend to be more expensive than other options.

Meal worms and wax worms are the least healthy option for your gecko.

A lot of geckos may not be particularly attracted to meal worms or wax worms due to their lack of movement. However, a lot of owners find the wormy creatures easier to feed to their geckos because of this.

Once eaten, crested geckos tend to love meal worms and wax worms. It is advised that these should only be used as a treat. The worms are thought to be difficult for your crested gecko to digest.

The same as with the crickets and the locusts, you should try to make sure your worms are dusted and gut-loaded to ensure your gecko is getting all the nutrients it needs.

It is okay to feed your crested gecko on live food alone. But, if you want to make sure that your gecko has a varied and balanced diet, it is probably healthier to feed on live food alongside another method of feeding, e.g. fruit or Crested Gecko Diet.

Some geckos may not be interested in live food, as I've experienced with Rocco. However, some may refuse to eat nothing but.

It's all about what is best for your gecko.

(Sorry, I know I haven't written anything about roaches. I understand that these are an alternative method of feeding that I do not know a lot about. I do not have experience in feeding roaches.)

Crested Gecko Diet

Crested Gecko Diet is my main current method of feeding.

I use Crested Gecko Diet by komodo. It is fruit flavoured and it is already fully supplemented.

It comes in different sized containers in the form of powder. To feed to your gecko, you should mix approximately one spoonful of the diet with 3 spoonfuls of water. It should form a paste-like substance.

You may want to play around with different consistencies to try to figure out which one your gecko likes the most. In my experience, Rocco and Savannah like their Crested Gecko Diet in a similar form to baby food.

The good thing about Crested Gecko Diet is that it is easy. There is no tending to bugs or dealing with the squeamish part. You don't have to fuss about adding calcium or multivitamins. You know that your gecko is getting all of the nutrients it needs.

You can feed manually, or you can place in a bowl in the vivarium. If you do so, Crested Gecko Diet should be removed the day after. I have found that when left for more than a day, it tends to grow a thick layer of mold pretty quickly.

I feed my geckos Crested Gecko Diet alongside fruit right now.

They seem to love it, particularly Savannah.

However, I'm still trying to figure out what works best for me and what they like most.

Fruit

Something that really annoys me about crested gecko owners is the fact that around 50% of them seem to think that feeding a crested gecko on fruit here and then will somehow lead to death.

In the wild, a large amount of a crested gecko's diet consists of fruit. Fruit contains natural sugars, fibres and vitamins, and all professional reptile sellers I have spoken to have recommended fruit as a part of Rocco and Savannah's diet.

Of course, like with any branded gecko food, you have to be careful what sort of thing you buy. I myself like to buy Hipp's Organic jarred baby food. It's quite often on offer in many stores. 

Buying organic fruit is a must. If you buy baby food or fruit puree for your gecko without an organic mark, you could be feeding many harmful things to your gecko. The fruit could come with pesticides and herbicides that may not particularly harm humans, but could make a much larger impact on the health of your tiny reptile.

Another thing that owners debate about is allowing the feeding of baby food containing rice.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of rice in your gecko's baby food. Rice is pretty much starch and fibre, and might even be good for your gecko. It could make it slightly more difficult for your crestie to digest, but a healthy gecko should be able to pass it easily. It's nothing like feeding rice to a pigeon. I'm positive that they will not explode.

Frankly, you should ignore the myths and common misconceptions about feeding fruit and baby food. I think it is an important part of your gecko's diet, and it has been recommended by every reptile specialist I have come across.

So long as it is not your staple food and is fed about once a week, it is a treat that your crested gecko will love and surely will thank you for afterwards.

If you are still truly concerned about the contents of branded baby food and the safety of your gecko, you can make your own fruit purees. This simply entails blending together organic fruit into a paste-like mixture.

Once blended, feed immediately to your gecko. You may want to refrigerate first.

You should not leave fruit in the vivarium. It can go off very quickly.

My Geckos

Rocco is a fuss pot.

He refused to hunt crickets or locusts. He would only even attempt to eat them if they were held directly in front of him and practically forced down his throat; he has only eaten them once.

He doesn't like the Crested Gecko Diet all that much, but he eats enough to keep him healthy. We know it contains everything he needs, and when he is hungry he will eat it happily.

He LOVES baby food, although we try to make sure we don't let this overpower his diet.

We are trying him on mealworms tomorrow and we will make an attempt to eat these or not.

So far, Savannah has eaten anything we've put her way.

She was fed on crickets in the store, but we immediately transferred her to Crested Gecko Diet. It was much easier to do this, as it is Rocco's staple food.

We don't think she could have been getting enough to eat. She was housed in a small vivarium with 4 other geckos, all larger than her. They were left to hunt for crickets. She was very small for her age, being the same age as Rocco and 2/3 his size.

She has gone crazy for Crested Gecko Diet at both feedings. We also tried her on a little bit of Mango Surprise baby food after she had eaten, and she liked this a lot too.

We are going to feed her mealworms tomorrow, too. :-)

I hope this has helped with any feeding concerns or queries you might have.

If you want to ask anything else or you disagree with anything I've said so far, you can contact me in the comments below. Or you can contact me personally on any of the following addresses:

pianoprincess33@gmail.com

elly_crook@icloud.com

roccothegecko@gmail.com

Sadly, there are no pictures today.

I will keep you updated tomorrow however on the meal worm event, and I plan to get lots of pictures, and possibly videos, of this!

Thank you!
Elly. x