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How much should an 11 week old crested gecko be eating? I feed him crickets, baby food, and CGD, but he will only eat about 1 or 2 crickets at a time, every other day (i put crickets in his bowl every day, but he only seems to want to eat every other), and i havent seen him touch the baby food or CGD by himself. I am starting to worry that he isnt eating as much as he should be. Any info would be appreciated!
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~Melissa~
1.2 Leopard geckos
1.0 Bearded dragon
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0 Ferret
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis

A crested gecko that age should ave a huge appetite. Could you tell use a little about your cage set up? How big, temps, furniture...etc.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

Well, it gets about 75 in there last i checked. I just added a small 15 watt blue night light, and i havent checked those temps yet, but it really doesnt make it much warmer. He's in a ten gallon tank with lots of fake plants draped around, ecoearth substrate and some wads of spaghum moss in the corners, and small branches propped up. Actually, i have a pic of it at the bottom of the page here: http://www.geocities.com/melreyes03/crested.html. I spray it down a couple times a day. There actually was one day where he sat and ate 5 little crickets one by one. any other time he will just eat one or two.
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~Melissa~
1.2 Leopard geckos
1.0 Bearded dragon
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0 Ferret
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis

That is an awsome little crested you got there. I think your set up looks incredible, but I think it is alittle much for that size crested. When raising cresteds, my opinion is that less is more. I simpler set up will allow it to hunt better and find non-prey foods better. That being said, I'm sure it will get used to it's surroundings with time. Keep in mind that reptiles are creatures of habit, and it is not good to change there cages around alot. Place the babyfood and cgd at the bottom of a branch that it uses often. Do not fill the lid you use with the food. Create a circle with a visible edge so that you can monitor better if it ate any.
good luck
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I dont trust CGD with babies/hatchlings anymore. I lost one because it wouldnt eat anything but crickets. Being the idiot that i am, i let it 'starve' so it would eat the CGD, and one day i found it dead in the morning.

IMO, i would let it have more of an insect diet than fruit.

Or maybe just it depends on the individual...who knows,
JMO,

M.N
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I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your hatchling. I do agree with you on the CGD however and thank you for sharing that information. It’s not just you .
-Mike

I don't think that I would ever starve a hatchling to get it to eat something diffrent. It just wouldn't make any sense to let a hatchling "anything" go without some kind of food for more than a day. You should have known this. People do that with some adult lizards, and the practice is common with snakes, but never a hatchling lizard. I'm not trying to blast you, but it's not cgd fault. I use it, sparingly, "variety is the spice of life", as far as reptile food goes. Never thought it was a good idea for people to use baby food, or cgd as a staple food item. So I do agree with you on the safety aspect of CGD.

I forgot to post a couple things. YOu could have hand fed them the cgd. and again, I'm not trying to sound mean, I have had some problems with every reptile I've ever bred. Cresteds are no exception. I'm sorry to hear about your gecko, and I can sympathize. and finally, if we never messed up, we would never learn anything.

Thanks =) Actually I dont use the bottlecaps anymore, i bought a real shallow small ceramic dish i feed him out of now. what i have been doing is first putting the crickets in there and let him eat as many as he wants (which, like i said, isnt many), then i put some baby food mixed with the crested gecko diet in there. a very small amount.

do you think he would eat better if I kept him in something smaller for a little while, until he gets a little bigger? i dont want to stress him out that much by changing him to something smaller, though. but if it would be best for him, i will Would I be able to say, buy a small plastic critter keeper, and just put that inside the ten gallon? Of course I would put stuff in it for climbing and hiding as well. maybe letting the crickets run loose and putting the baby food in the bowl? or should i get a seperate bowl, one for the crickets and one for the babyfood? Thanks again!
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~Melissa~
1.2 Leopard geckos
1.0 Bearded dragon
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0 Ferret
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis

I would use a critter keeper for now. You don't need to get to elaborate on the decorations, just a branch and maybe a few fake leaves. I would feed crix(although I don't feed crix at all) on the days you are not feeding the babyfood mix.
goog luck
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I’m with bill on this one; the cage is to large and over decorated. Use the small critter keepers like I posted below. A gecko at that age should be consuming 5-10 crix a night easy. The little guy is just prob having a hard time finding them. I personally would stick to crix with fruit supplemented once a week or so, up to you though. Best of Luck.
-Mike

I didnt let the crickets loose in the cage, I kept them all in a bowl they couldnt climb out of. but i have him in a smaller tank now, until he gets bigger
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~Melissa~
1.2 Leopard geckos
1.0 Bearded dragon
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.0.1 crested gecko
1.0 Ferret
0.1 Chinchilla
1.0 Chinese Praying Mantis