Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I hand-feed my baby/juvenille crestie every day, and she happily takes them off my hand. In case I run out of crickets I always have a bottle of CGD for backup, but I rarely ever use it since I happen to really enjoy watching baby crickets being eaten from my fingers.
However, I was wondering:
Would it be ok to dust the crickets with CGD? just as I dust them every day with calcium?
They can live off crickets alone and CGD alone, so why would there be anything wrong in mixing them both?

Logic tells me that:
gutloaded cricket CGD = rrrrrreally healthy bug.

but ive found overtime that with reptiles its not always about logic, so i'd appreciate any help i can get in here from people who have had experience with cresties.

thanks!
aaron

Can you dust crickets with CGD to make them healthier? Absolutely... this is one way that alot of people get their geckos used to the taste of the CGD. Once the gecko equates that taste with "food" it is easier to get stubborn feeders to eat the mix.

I would however question the assumption that crested geckos can exist on only crickets. It has been found that the natural diet of the crested gecko in the wild is over 50% non-insect... mostly ripe fruit with a little pollen and nectar. I would try to get a little fruit or CGD into the diet for your animal to better mimic natural conditions. I would try to avoid adding baby food the way so many do. Baby food is kind of like candy for geckos. They like it, but it isn't very nutritionally complete. Real fruit or CGD is the way to go in my opinion.

Gary

your reply was very helpful, thank you.
you mention feeding them fruit, what kind of fruits would do them good and how could the be prepared? small pieces?

thanks
aaron

Avoid citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit because of the acidity. Bananas make a good base and you can add some cut up strawberries (some cut the seeds off the outside, but I don't think it's necessary), mango, peach, pear, etc... Generally the riper the better... often the stuff you wouldn't want to eat because it's starting to get mushy is what they would eat in nature. Mash it up with a fork or put it in a blender for a few seconds.

Geckos, like people, have taste preferences. Some prefer one fruit over another. You can also mix some of the CGD into this mix for a little extra protein, calcium, and vitamins.

Gary