Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought one from the pet store and have been reading about
loading the crickets. Is it really NECESSARY for the life of it?
Since the pet store told me only to feed the baby gecko four crickets every two days, it didn't tell me about feeding the crickets. But sources on the internet tell me to feed the gecko every day (doesn't say how many) and to gutload the crickets. Is this true?

Also, if I feed the crickets and keep them in an appropriate place, how long will they last? How many should I keep on hand? How often should I go to buy more?

The last thing: Since the pet store didn't tell me about it, I didn't get calcium or anything to feed the crickets with. I won't be able to get them for maybe a few days, at the most a week. Will my gecko die or get sick in this amount of time or will he be okay with being fed un-gutloaded crickets for at most a week?

>>I just bought one from the pet store and have been reading about
>>loading the crickets. Is it really NECESSARY for the life of it?

Yes, it is necessary to gut load the crickets in order for the gecko do get proper nutrition. I personally like a product called 'cricket yummies' for this purpose. A couple of dollars worth will last you months.

>>Since the pet store told me only to feed the baby gecko four crickets every two days, it didn't tell me about feeding the crickets. But sources on the internet tell me to feed the gecko every day (doesn't say how many) and to gutload the crickets. Is this true?
>>

Feed the gecko daily, yes. Babies need the additional food for growth, and are usually ravenous eaters. When the gecko reaches adult size (8-10 inches long from nose to tip of tail), you can go to every other day feedings.

>>Also, if I feed the crickets and keep them in an appropriate place, how long will they last? How many should I keep on hand? How often should I go to buy more?
>>

They usually last about a week to a week and a half for me before I have to go buy some more. Given that a baby will probably eat at least 5 crickets a day, if you want them to last a week, you'll need at least 35 even if none of them die on you (and some of them will), so probably figure on buying 50 a week or so.

>>The last thing: Since the pet store didn't tell me about it, I didn't get calcium or >>anything to feed the crickets with. I won't be able to get them for maybe a few ?>>days, at the most a week. Will my gecko die or get sick in this amount of time or >>will he be okay with being fed un-gutloaded crickets for at most a week?

Yes, he will be ok with non-gutloaded crickets for at most a week. It would really be best to make every possible effort to get them gutloaded and dusted with calcium as soon as possible though. I'm not an expert on home-made gutloads, but I know that quite a few people on the board here use various vegetables, etc - perhaps some of them could chime in with suggestions to use until you can get to the store...
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

>> Yes, it is necessary to gut load the crickets in order for the gecko do get proper nutrition. I personally like a product called 'cricket yummies' for this purpose. A couple of dollars worth will last you months.

The only thing I've seen on the internet was a homemade mix. But I didn't know it was possible to buy something in the store to gutload them. It would be a lot more efficient and such for me to buy something that is already mixed, so do you think any petstore would have 'cricket yummies' or something similar, or would I have to go out of my way to get it?

>> They usually last about a week to a week and a half for me before I have to go buy some more. Given that a baby will probably eat at least 5 crickets a day, if you want them to last a week, you'll need at least 35 even if none of them die on you (and some of them will), so probably figure on buying 50 a week or so.

Okay, I will buy 50 a week then. Should I only put 5 in the tank at one time, and let them run around and let the gecko catch it, or is there some other way to hold them in so my gecko can get to them? Today I just put them in the tank and let my gecko run around to catch them. Also, how often should I clean out the dead crickets?

>> Yes, he will be ok with non-gutloaded crickets for at most a week. It would really be best to make every possible effort to get them gutloaded and dusted with calcium as soon as possible though. I'm not an expert on home-made gutloads, but I know that quite a few people on the board here use various vegetables, etc - perhaps some of them could chime in with suggestions to use until you can get to the store...

I will make my best possible effort to do so (but it's practically a blizzard here which makes it hard to get out, I'll try my hardest though).

Another thing that I didn't address in my first post: What about the temperature? I know it should be around 85F , and it is, but should I leave the light on all day or only 12 hours a day (half a day)? Also, should it be shining directly into the middle of the aquarium or should it be on one side?

Another question regarding cleaning: I have read from various sources to clean everyday but also more sources say to clean every week. And then yet another source said to put paper towel in the corner it defecates in and just clean that out once a day and clean out the whole aquarium once a week. What is the best alternative?

A question regarding water dish: I'm afraid it's too big for my gecko. It's about 1 inch deep. should I go with something more thin?

>>The only thing I've seen on the internet was a homemade mix. But I didn't know it was possible to buy something in the store to gutload them. It would be a lot more efficient and such for me to buy something that is already mixed, so do you think any petstore would have 'cricket yummies' or something similar, or would I have to go out of my way to get it?
>>

Most of the pet stores I've been to (petsmart, petco, etc) have it or the orange cubes from flukers, which also work well. I never buy animals from them, but they're fine for cage furniture/supplies/etc.

>>Okay, I will buy 50 a week then. Should I only put 5 in the tank at one time, and let them run around and let the gecko catch it, or is there some other way to hold them in so my gecko can get to them? Today I just put them in the tank and let my gecko run around to catch them. Also, how often should I clean out the dead crickets?
>>

Generally if you throw 5 in the tank at once, that'll be fine - baby geckos tend to be fairly aggressive hunters, so they'll usually chase them all down pretty quickly. If there are any that haven't been eaten within about an hour, you should try to remove them so that they don't bother the gecko. You shouldn't end up with many dead crickets in with the gecko, as the gecko should catch and eat the vast majority of them far far before they'd die. If you mean in your cricket keeper, i just do that every time I buy new ones. Before the new ones go in, I clean out the cricket cage.

>>I will make my best possible effort to do so (but it's practically a blizzard here which makes it hard to get out, I'll try my hardest though).
>>

Well, if it's a blizzard there, at least you've got a decent excuse .

>>
>>Another thing that I didn't address in my first post: What about the temperature? I know it should be around 85F , and it is, but should I leave the light on all day or only 12 hours a day (half a day)? Also, should it be shining directly into the middle of the aquarium or should it be on one side?
>>

The light should be on one side of the enclosure, and in that warm end, the temperature of the floor should be approximately 90 degrees F. A couple degrees warmer or cooler is fine, but try to get it to be at least 87 or 88 degrees and not more than 92 or 93. The cool side should be 10-15 degrees cooler. Since they're cold blooded, they use their surroundings to regulate their temperature, and so if they need to cool down, they can go to the cool end, and if they need to warm up, they can go to the warm end. I generally have the light on 12 hours a day for mine. They still need a thermal gradient at night though, so I have an under-tank heater for the night time. I just keep them on an automatic timer so that the light comes on about 6:30 am and goes off about 6:30 pm and whenever the light is on, the UTH is off and vice versa.

>>Another question regarding cleaning: I have read from various sources to clean everyday but also more sources say to clean every week. And then yet another source said to put paper towel in the corner it defecates in and just clean that out once a day and clean out the whole aquarium once a week. What is the best alternative?
>>

Most people on this board (including me) will recommend paper towels throughout the entire enclosure. You do not need to clean it out daily. The gecko will pick one spot to defecate in, and I generally just wait until mine has made 3 or 4 deposits and replace that section of the paper towel. I try to replace the entire terrarium's paper towels every other or every third time that I do the bathroom corner.

>>A question regarding water dish: I'm afraid it's too big for my gecko. It's about 1 inch deep. should I go with something more thin?

Something shallower would probably be better, especially given that your gecko is a juvenile - people sometimes worry about them getting stuck in the water bowl/drowning/etc. I've never seen one of mine do that, but I've always had relatively shallow water bowls for them, so mine haven't really had the opportunity.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Oh, one more thing: it's very good that you've found this place and you're asking the right questions. I'm more than happy to help, but it would also be good for you to pick up a copy of the leopard gecko manual. It's a fairly cheap book (usually you can find it for $10 or less) and is a wealth of info on leopard geckos, covering everything from their basic housing needs up through breeding and health issues/illnesses, and is actually very easy to read and understand. If you have any more immediate questions, please feel free to ask them, but definitely pick up that book too; it's a very good resource to have on hand, and has the answers to just about every question you've asked so far. Good luck with your gecko and welcome to the fun of having one!
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

Okay, now I have a serious problem.

My dad just dumped almost ALL the crickets (I had around 30) into the aquarium, saying "We can buy more tomorrow".

.. .

I am confused and angered at his stupidity, but what can I do in this situation? I've taken out everything and just left the crickets, but I have no CLUE how to round them up or get them out. I don't want them annoying my gecko and stressing it out. Should I put everything back in and let my gecko be annoyed, kill them all, or round them up somehow?

Let the gecko eat for a little while, but after you really need to get the crickets out. You can try to herd them back into your container, or try the old paper towel roll or TP roll trick: take the empty roll and put it over a cricket. They will climb up the tube and you can carefully lift the tube and move it over your cricket keeper and tap the tube on the sides. The tapping will mean the crickets will lose their footing and drop down. This will take some time, but it is good practice to make normal feeding time go faster. (You can use the tube to catch the right number of crickets from your container, drop them into the duster, shake and serve!)

You really need to get all the crickets out before morning, even if it means having to squish some of them. Crickets and other prey items left in the enclosure with the gecko will stress the gecko and upset them. In worse cases the insects can actually attack and try to eat the tip of the tail of the gecko when it tries to sleep.

I guess in the future try to explain to your father that it can be harmful to your gecko to have all the insects running around. Even better, take responsibility for taking care of the gecko and not give anyone any reason to try to "take care" of the little one.

Good luck, looks like you've got a lot of good advice to use and I'll really stress getting the Manual, very good resource, something we still use to look up information.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I leave about 4 in as leos are nocturnal animals, i have had no problems leaving 1 or two in i don't leave massive amount, i also don't feed massive amount. They each get about 5 crix aday sometimes get mealies and a wax worm for a treat. Calcuim dish is required in the tank and that is PURE calcuim not with D3. Also what are your substrates, and lighting and heating? Sand is not a good subtrate at all. Papertowels is the best. Red bulb can be left on all times and a uth is a good heat source for leos need belly heat. Yes gutloading crickets is best. I would probably set up a 10 gal tank and keep about 50 crix and reload about 1 a week you should be good with that! I get 2000 sent for 26.99! Good deal i think! Good luck! Congrats on the new guy!

If you want to be brave you can just take them out with your hands. I just got my gecko about 3 weeks ago and the crickets kinda freaked me out at first but I didn't want my little sister to always take out the crix for me...so I sucked it up and now I just take them out with my hands. My crix always go in the little black tube in their cricket keeper...you could try rounding them up with something like that if you have the commercial cricket keeper, or maybe a paper towel roll.

Congrats!! Yea i just grab them as well, maybe a little weird at first but trust me the fear goes away!