Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone make their own food for Rhacodactylus?

I do, but I'm in the process of getting all the kinks worked out. When the T-rex diet comes out I would reccomend that, it's a really good base for a diet.

Tegan
-----
Tegan

We puree our own fruits, such as mangos, pears, peaches, and bananas. We also add some bee pollen and other goodies to make it more nutritious. However it is by no means a staple. IMO nothing beats an insect diet with fruit only supplemented 2-3 times a week, esp for cresties. Some of the other rhacs are a little more stubborn with their live prey. In those situations you need to add meat baby food to the mix in a 1:2 ratio (meat to fruit). Only prob they tend to get a little overweight from the excess sugar.
-Mike

Puree - as in stick it in a blender ?
If my rhacodactylus went off crickets, Ive heard chicken babyfood is a good source of protein?
Is there any method of keeping rhacs on something other than livefood?

Thanks
Ray Curtis
GeckoWorld

Yes I throw VERY ripe fruit right into the blender and freeze the extra in ice cube trays (without vitamins or minerals added). Meat/fruit mixes are okay to use if properly supplemented. However I would not use the mix unless it is absolutely necessary, eps for young animals. The problem being is you have to give them the fruit every single time you give them the meat (cause you are using it to hide the taste) and IMO they do not need the excess sugar. Animals on the diet tend to grow slower and fatter…lol. If your geckos eat crix, by all means give it to them. They will do better off the higher protein diet and fruit given only a couple of times a week instead of everyday. Just some of my experiences and thoughts.
-Mike

gexfiles

hey there, I agree that your geckos should ALWAYS get live food, it's only natural! But at the same time to make sure the diet is well rounded I have interpolated my diet from mike coscia, and I think it is the best. I make ice cubes as he mentioned. I make them in a variety pack however. This way the geckos don't get bored. In some I put freeze dried insects as the protein source, the rhacs seem to like it. I use frozen bloodworms (a larvae you get for tropical fish), freeze dried flies (Terrafauna co.), or fruit fly larvae. You can also add small mealies or waxies live if the fruit is in a dish where they won't drown in it. I also make some with chicken in a 1 meat to 3 fruit ratio (as it seems to be quite gross), then of course there are some of just fresh fruit (not forzen) overripe banana, mango and papaya work best for me. A couple of times a week I add either multivitamin (of your choice) OR (not and) some crushed cuttle bone (for birds). I also give them crickets and hatched moths as a means of exercise (they must forage!).

Another tip I think works great with mine is to put the daily food into 3-4 containers (I use plastic bottle caps) and spread it around the tank in new areas to encourage the gecko to hunt out their food rather than crawling to the edge of their bowl for the night. And as mike already pointed out they should work off the extra sugar (esp. in the off seasons)

later

jff

Hello,
Thanks for the advice. Mine loves crickets and the occassional waxworm dipped in baby food. Was just asking incase I bought some rhacs that didnt eat them.
Whats all this about the ice cubes? Do they eat it frozen? Or is it just a way of preserving it, and then you defrost it?

I suspect they defrost the icecubes before feeding it. Then again, without any additives (ie multivitamines or cal.) the frozen pureed fruit sounds like a tasty low fat summer treat for humans LOL

I have a question as well about what to feed crested geckos that i don't recall seeing asked before. Can you feed them small (half inch) silkworms? How about the moths or are the moths too big?