Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had two juvy cresteds for about 2 1/2 weeks from purchase. Each is about 3 inch long. I've been alternating crix one night & baby food the next. My baby food mix is derived from a recipe from a crested gecko care book. Three 4 oz. jars of fruit (peach, banana, & pear), w/ one 2.5 oz. jar of meat (turkey) & a 1/2 tablespoon of calcium/vitamin mix. My cresteds seem like they wont touch the baby food mix. They love the crix though.

The baby food is a jar lid is placed on the bottom of the terrarium (45 gal.). A pothos is @ one end & a ficus @ the other. Drift wood in between. Substrate is peat moss.

At night they get on the ground & pass by it, just don't touch it... that I see anyway. Maybe they eat so little of it, it's hard to tell. I just don't see any kind of disturbance in the little bit in put in the cap.

Yesterday I placed some on my finger and touched ones face he licked it off his face, went over to my finger & kept licking, so I guess he likes it. Just don't see any signs of them eating.

Any tips or suggestions on getting them to eat it more? Do they usually prefer crix to baby food? Do they usually eat just a little tiny bit at a time? Any help/suggestions/comments if appreciated. Thanks.
~Ben

Two things are likely at play here ,Maybe three.

1. Cresteds eat VERY little Babyfood and Or Crested Gecko Diet compared to crickets to get the same value out of it.

2.Cresties are very shy.. they get so excited about crickets they overcome it..but for most other things they tend to wait until its quiet and no ones around.You might not be seeing them eat .

3. Reptiles dont have to eat every single day.By giving them the treats they want every other day ,they are able to hold off hitting the babyfood .In essense they are training you .

Heres the bottom line.Cresties will not starve themself.Dont offer the crickets for a few days they WILL eat. Its difficult on the owner but thats how you keep them from training you.(And if you think thats hard just wait till you see how they mate)

ahha

hey thanks for posting that i've had the same problem

mine had eaten more baby food then i gave him mealies
now he hasn't touched his baby food at all
and he'll pounce and forget about his shyness at insects

I'm just wondering how much fruit do they need. Is it a dietary must to have a certain percentage?

thanks in advance

I dont want to pretend I have more experence than I do,my experence with cresteds is only about 6 months.I have read as much and talked to as many experenced breeders as I could.Heres some info that may be of value.

1.Diety requirements for fruit?
answer: I have read that in the wild as much as 80% is fruit.
However in captivity several generations have been raised entirely on crested gecko diet.Obviously you could forego any food but crested gecko diet and they will thrive.

A number of breeders actually use gargoyle diet when they are young because of higher protein.Which helps them grow faster.

In my experence as they get older they arent quite as enthusiastic over crickets as when they are youngsters(probally the protien for growth theory).Which would resolve your issues

ok thanks so much
mine is about a year old, i've just had to give him 2 nights of fruit and lo and behold there's a little dent in the fruit today. Bugger just likes his insects more

Thanks for the tips dark. Very informative. Appreciated.
~Ben