Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ook, so i decided i want to get a day-gecko, or a pari depending on price, but i also decided i wanted to plant the living crap out of the terrarium, i mean, i just want a really nice looking place for my day-geckos, and a problem arose, feeding them. i figured just drop in their daily required amount of food and let them hunt, but i'd heard if crickets breed in a terrarium, the lizard could get coccidia, so i was worried that in a heavily planted terrarium, the crickets might be able to avoid being eaten and breed in the tank before the gecko wqould get a hance to eat them.... any solutions/thoughts on this

Well you could feed them individual crickets until they are done eating... and that would keep them from having crickets running around. Another thing would be to feed them in a separate tank, or take out the crickets left in the cage when they are done eating(yes its a hassle). I had a friend with a chameleon and he would dump in a bunch of crikets in there and the chameleon would get ALL of them so it depends on the feeding aggression of the lizard. Another thing is if you can get the lizards eating out of a dish(just rip off the crickets jumping legs so they cant crawl out) there wouldn't be a problem as long as the crickets couldnt get out. I also know that day geckos dont only eat crickets (I hear they eat fruit and flowers as well) so thats that...i hope you figure it out!

Hope this helps...
Paul(lywog)

thanks

Hello,

From what I've read, crickets are not a likely source of coccidia. What is more possible is that the lizards may be carriers of coccidia and are not symptomatic. A fecal testing done by a qualified herp vet should tell you if your lizard needs to be treated for coccidia. That being said, preventing coccidia is as simple as keeping feces cleaned up and providing clean fresh water. If you're still concerned about free-ranging crickets, you can always pull the back two legs (jumping legs) of a cricket and place it in a slick-finished steep-sided bowl so they can't climb out. Your lizards will come to the bowl for dinner.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois

thanks, i think i'll try that feeding method...

Forgot to mention that you shouldn't actually "pull" the legs. Instead a twisting motion is better or you can actually pinch the leg and it usually pops right off. Pulling a leg often just eviscerates the cricket. Of course for pulling legs, we'll probably be reincarnated as feeder crickets - repeatedly.
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Matt Campbell
Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois

Assistant Curator
Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, Illinois

yeam i just squeeze 'em and the detach pretty easily