Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to this Crestie world, for a week and a half now. I didn't expect that I would enjoy him as much as my other pets. They really grow on you!! Just one quick question - it took my crestie about a week before he would eat at all - will now eat CGD and baby food, but shows no interest in crickets. Is this OK?? I seem to put them in every 3rd day and take them all out the next a.m.. I think he's about 7-8 mos. old. Thanks for any input.

technically it could survive on the CGD alone, because that is what it is designed for. Some people that use it also use live insects as well, however, as far as i know it is not entirely necessary.

all of my cresteds go nuts for insects, continue trying with yours, but so long as it is eating well on the CGD i wouldnt worry much about it.

yes thats fine he can definitly just live on CGD and babyfood.

while it is true that fruit baby food provides alot of energy i would stick to mostly the gecko diet because, as others have said, its more nutritionally balanced. It well help keep your gecko healthier if you offer the baby food sparingly. By the way, i think that is a really cool looking crested. i like tis pattern on the rear legs.

Andrew Ellis

Thank-you for your advice - I really appreciate it, this whole lizard thing is very new to us!! Could the size of the crickets deter him from chasing them?? The guy at the pet store told me he ate full size crickets but from what I have read at this age he should still be eating smaller ones. Oh, and what is considered adult - 1yr? I see that you should feed less often as they get older. Right now I'm offering CGD every day - is this too often?? Is he not hungry enough to hunt for the crickets? I'm afraid to starve the little guy! They eat so little at time.

size could definately be an issue. i've seen small cresteds hide from larger ones, or attempt to eat them only to spit them out when they realize what they've gotten into.

I am admitedly very new to this, so hopefully some of the gurus will jump in here... BUT we were told to get crickets smaller than the distance from your gecko's nose to his eye. It's easy to remember, anyway! Our guy does love the little ones...

Good luck with your little one!
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Toni

1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.2.0 Giant African Millipedes - Cocoa, Vanilla, Millie
1.0.0 Crested Gecko - Hoolie
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

Thanks again for all your input - please bear with all my questions, hopefully I can return the favor some day... Someone suggested that a 15gal may just be too big for a smaller crestie; that it's hard for them to catch their prey... Any thoughts?? I will try to offer smaller crickets this week and see if that makes a difference. I'm assuming they are born with the animal instincts to hunt. How imprortant is it to take out the crickets the next day? I don't like to touch them (I have a cricket/roach thing) - it was supposed to be by son's job and he's only 6 and can't seem to catch them!!

i personally would think it would be easier to care for and to monitor eating habits if it were in a smaller enclosure. however i don't by any means feel it is too big. you will just have to toss in 3-4 more crickets than normal so the chances of your crested seeing/catching them are higher.

One should recall that crested geckos in the wild live in territories much larger than a 15 gallon terrarium. Even baby cresteds manage in this environment (as evidenced by the fact that the species persists). The debate over whether or not these animals can find food in an _enclosed_ space seems nonsensical. As I have stated before, I maintain a single crested in a 56 gallon, heavily planted tank and I do not feed him any more than I feed my other cresteds. I would see a greater danger from adding extra prey items to a small crested's habitat as opposed to danger from starvation due to not finding food. These animals have tens of thousands of years of programmed hunting instincts that are not shut-off simply because they're captive-bred or raised. Just my opinion, and everyone's got one .

Enjoy your cresteds!

Chris

" I would see a greater danger from adding extra prey items to a small crested's habitat"
how would adding 3-4 extra crickets be a danger to a crested gecko? maybe if you were feeding the gecko the largest crickets you could find and the gecko was a week old or something.
either way i would agree that it will eat if it wants to eat and find food regardless, but it will do the gecko no harm to throw in a couple extra crickets just to make you feel more at ease that it is eating all that it can eat, and finding enough to eat when it wants.

There is a danger, albeit slim, that extra prey items may prey upon small or weak reptiles (ie, babies). This has never happened in my collection, but some other posters (not you FC ) have reccomended doubling the number of crickets placed in naturalistic habitats in the past citing the supposed inability of captive herps to find food in dense foliage. Having a ton of uneaten, trapped crickets with no available food source may see a food-stuffed baby crested as something to snack on or at least harass. I've never personally experienced a problem with too many crickets harassing a gecko, but it's an issue that can arise. Most of the time I have baby food in my enclosures or CGD and I've seen crickets snack on those foodstuffs. Again, it's really a matter of finding what works best for you and your critters, so if adding a few extras makes you more comfortable it's probably OK, I just wouldn't go overboard like some have suggested on this board in the past.

Chris

I use a small cage for my young juvenile, simply because that is what is convenient for me. i think that a 15 gallon will work fine. as per crickets, i prefer to leave them in the cage over the few days it takes the geckos to eat them, giving the lizards the choice of time and place. HOWEVER, if you do this you must make sure that a food source is available to the crickets i use a carrot or two, replacing them when they have dried out and the crickets also munch on the uneated CGD.
If you do not supply food for the crickets they will chew on your animals late at night, and this is unhealthy for obvious reasons.

I do see a problem with the animal finding crickets in a large naturalistic enclosure because the crickets will hide in the substrate (this is their natural programing.....) i dont have a natural display, maybe its not an issue. i agree with using smaller crickets, just because its another thing you wont have to worry about, and yes you can use CGD everynight. its just up to you how often you want to use it. I go for every other night.

these are simply my practices. with such hardy animals i think you will find a large range of care tactics that work with great success.

Andrew Ellis

I truly appreciate everyone's input and point of view. I think I will change substrate to terrium carpet. I think there will be less hiding spots for the crickets. As for the crickets - nature will take it's course I'm sure. I'm sure he knows to eat by instinct like my cats, dog and kids!! Thanks again! Cheers