Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently moved to college and had to bring my rhacs, the only problem is that crickets make to much noise to keep them hidden. So I have been using the gargoyle gecko diet but i dont think they are eating it like they should be. they are eating some of it but the minute I goive them babyfood they pretty much eat all of it, so I was wondering if anybody has ever tried to change the flavor of the diet or what methods did you use to get them to eat it. Will sprinkling the stuff that makes foods smell like crickets work? or is their anything you can add to it to change the flavor?

Thanks
Dan
Kryptic Morphs

I would suggest mixing it with the baby food.
Then add a liitle more each time until they get use to the taste.
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Lazor1
1.2 Leopard Geckos (Angel,Dory,Petri)
0.0.2 Crested Geckos (nameless)

If you could get by with picking up some smaller crickets which don't make so much noise, feed the crix COATED with the cgd (instead of calcium, or in addition to)to your rhacs. I was able to "convert" some geckos back when I started by using this method. They quickly adapted to the smell and recognized it as food immediately when mixed into paste. I never did, and never will, use baby food. (I don't think it's fit for HUMAN babies, let alone geckos; too much sugar and preservatives.) Good luck!
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Terri
4:8:7 crested geckos: Popcorn, Goldfish, Harley, Bear, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Blackie, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Avis & Subtle, Toni(y), Kermit & Zipper, ZigZag & Scallops

I currently have 30 females and 12 males as a breeding group I work with. I started using the the CGD, actually the Gargoyle stuff around march '03. I was using babyfood mixed with rep-cal and herptivite supp. I never had any issues with them eating the diet. I had a couple take slowly to it but they always ate some so I didnt worry about them. Whether they were just out of the egg or older adults, they seemed to just take right to it. Though I at first I would always put some on the end of a butter knife and put it in ther face they always lapped it up.

One thing you have to remember is it is very rich so they will eat alot less of it to get the same nutrition. Also I have notcied that letting it thicken to much even close to that of babyfood is almost to think for them to eat much. it gets dried out and pastie. I mix mine a bit thiner and they eat more of it at a sitting.

Also I have noticed faster growth of my babies when using the GGD. I dont move them to the CGD because the extra protien is good for egg laying females (keeping wieght up) and the males during breeding season eat so much less and lose wieght fast, this keeps thier wieght up.

Try the GGD instead of eeh CGD
Hope this helps

Eric

I agree with using the gargoyle gecko diet, I was actually told to do this by the folks at SandFire from whom I purchased some of my breeders, but in the context of getting the youngsters well on their way. So now everyone under a year of age gets ggd and the ones older get cgd. The did assure me at SandFire that using the ggd would not be detrimental at all, so possibly once I run out of the cgd again, I'll just switch everyone onto ggd. I do supplement with crix.
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Terri
4:8:7 crested geckos: Popcorn, Goldfish, Harley, Bear, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Blackie, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Avis & Subtle, Toni(y), Kermit & Zipper, ZigZag & Scallops

Hey Lzrdldy I talked to Allen from SF a few times and he said he usually sets up the juvies with ggd till 6 months and then moves them to the cgd. I did that at first but I saw a noticable difference in growth rate and even some weight loss in some males. I teh change was a juvie on GGD for 6 months then swictched to the CGD took 11.5 months to get to the same weight as an animal that was on it for 10 months.

That was done taking 4 complete batches of eggs (12, 14, 15, 13 eggs from 4 females). all eggs from 2 females I left on the GGD and all eggs from the other 2 females eggs switching at 6 months to cgd.

The only real difference in the food is 50% more protien from 20% to 30% which is basicly rearanging the ingriedients a bit. Plus my geckos really like the ggd better, they actually bite it as they lick at it. Funny but there is never any left in the dish.

Eric