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I bought a crested from petco about a month ago and also bought two "so called essential supplaments" from petco (Rep-Cal Calcium w/ Vit.D3 & Rep-Cal Herptivite W/ Beta Caratene Multivitamin). I have been feeding him about 4-5 crickets all dusted w/ both powders everyday! I also dust the Mealworms & waxworms as well... Is that to much calcium & vitamins?! Someone who has been doing this and has a healthy gecko please let me know what your strategy is..

Thank you =)

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For crested geckos, you don't need that much supplements. Also, if you are feeding the Crested gecko diet powders you don't need any supplements at all and shouldn't use any as it will do more harm than good. The crested gecko diets, especially the Super foods one from T-Rex are complete diets, containing all the nutrients crested geckos need. It isn't even necessary to feed additional insects either, though a few crickets or worms once in awhile for treats are fine.

You didn't mention if you are feeding anything other than insects. Crested geckos are not big insect eaters, they are more half insect/half fruit eating animals. Also, they don't need supplemental D3 at all as they are nocturnal.

The only time I ever give supplements to my crested or gargoyle geckos is plain calcium powder in a small low dish for my egg laying females to prevent calcium crashes from shelling eggs.
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PHLdyPayne

I feed differently then how I hear a lot of people doing it. I feed about 15-20 gut loaded crickets once a week occasionally twice a week. I give the CGD about once every two to three weeks. I rarely give calcium to my male and never use other minerals.

He is very healthy and in good weight. I have had him for over four years feeding this way and have never had a problem. My vet is also happy with how he looks.

Tom

I have spoken with many crested breeders who agree:

I feed my cresteds (especially the juvies and breeding females) the repashi CGD every 3 days, supplemented with gutloaded crickets 2x a week. i dust the crickets with a calcium dust WITH D3. I don't find that D3 should be excluded from nocturnal reptile diets because it aids in the absorbtion of the calcium.

The only reptiles i wouldnt give D3 to are snakes, who generally recieve that (along with calcium) from the rodents they ingest. Obviously, insect and fish eating snakes differ.

That's just my opinion. Pangea reptile and the makers of repashi would most likely agree...
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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 Yellow phase ATB- Devilin Hisseyes
0.4 leos- Boji, Sanjae, Fae, Azra
3.2.2 crested geckos- Jubeh and Inari, Avalon, Vajra, Pheonix, Mochi, and one other hatchling unnamed
1.1.3 gargoyle geckos- Acacia,Osiris, and Enoki the hatchlings
0.1 flying gecko- Malarchy
1.0 leucistic texas ratsnake-Ojo
0.1 albino kenyan sand boa- Akasha
1.0 xanthic kenyan sand boa- Ashoka
1.1 whites tree frogs- Sifaka and Eikon
0.1 Transpecos ratsnake- Cleo
0.1 Senegal chameleon- Ambaji
1.0 Ruthven's X Thaeri king- Kemushi
0.2 pacific parrolets- Mishka and Kya
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
1.0 crown tail betta- Lazarus
1.0 Husband (hes my favorite, but i dont let the 'kids' know that. )

Once or twice a week feedings with crickets and once or twice feeding with CGD a month...seems rather light for crested geckos to thrive on... What are you feeding on all the other days?

I feed CGD 2-3 times a week, or every two or three days, rarely insects and I certainly get big healthy geckos on this regiment and good healthy eggs from my gargoyle geckos.

Babies I feed every every other day on CGD.
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PHLdyPayne

That is all that I feed I make sure that they get enough crickets that there is one or two left on the last day before I get new crickets, so he does has food seven days a week. I just dont have luck keeping a colony of crickest at my house they always get out and it is easier to feed them right away into his cage instead of letting them get out into the house and having to chase them around. The crickes dont seem to bother my gecko and he is of a good weight as of last check. As of the calsium my vet told me that i could back of the use of it because he is not producing eggs and is full grown so is not using it for bone preduction. I realise that the people who make GCD say to use it more often but they are also trying to sell the food so the more one uses the more they make. Again i said before that what i do is not the normal feeding routen but it works over the past four years for me and is just another way to feed. I feed the CGD less because he is less likely to eat it and it is wasted if i feed it to him more often, at this routene he eats most of it. when feed more often he wont touch it.

Tom

Maybe I am not understanding what you explained, but it sounds like you buy a couple dozen crickets and toss them all into your gecko cage for him to eat at his leisure?

Crested geckos are not full insectivores, a steady constant diet of insects isn't a healthy diet for them, they need a good portion of 'nectar' fruits as well. The benefit of the crested gecko diets is they were designed specifically to meet all the nutritional needs of crested geckos and is a complete diet. Before this product came along the options available for crested geckos was a mix of insects and pureed fresh nectar fruits or fruit baby food. Even this wasn't a balanced diet and if baby food was used, often too high in sugars. (the bottle may say no sugar added but that is often very misleading, as they just end up adding other sugar types (ie glucose, fructose etc).

I also don't feel its just the company trying to sell more products...as properly portioned out, a small 2.75 oz jar of powder can last several months feeding a couple crested geckos. With it now available in 4, 8 and 12 oz packages, it is easy to feed several adult crested geckos for a year for around $20.

How I mix the powder is just using a measuring spoon. For a single adult gecko, a quarter teaspoon of powder, with 2-3 1/4 teaspoons of water (or 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoons if you wish to add up the quarters) fed every other evening is really all the food they need. For extra calcium for my egg laying females, I just shake some powdered calcium into a small lid and set it into the cage to let the gecko lick up as much calcium she feels she needs. Never had any problems with poorly shelled eggs or calcium crashes during the time I was breeding crested and gargoyle geckos. My gargoyle geckos continual to lay eggs even without being mated, but even these infertile eggs are well shelled and healthy (though still very much infertile).

There is a reason why most crested and gargoyle gecko owners/breeders use the complete meal replacement powders. Its not because the manufacturer (in the case of the Rhapeshy diets, it was designed by a long time breeder, not must a generic pet food manufacturer looking for a way into the market to make money) is brainwashing people to buy the product, it is because it has been proven as the most effective way to raise, breed and keep these geckos.
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PHLdyPayne

This information is very helpfull but i cannot get my gecko to eat the Repashy CGD... in the morning it is untouched! When i use baby food, i see a few dents in it. I mix a tiny bit of CGD in the baby food for better suppliment.. but yea i feed him 2-3 crickets a day and leave a bowl of baby food overnight.. I think the idea of leaving calcium also in a bowl is a good idea.. cuz then ur not forcing them to eat calcium when they dont really need it.. specially for my male who doesnt need it as much as a female...

I feed him 3-4 crickets every single night and i occasionally throw in a mealworm (1 a week). I also throw in a wax worm once or twice a month. Lately ive been trying to lay off so many crickets so ill feed 2 crickets and leave a bowl of shredded fruit, baby food, with some CGD powder mixed into it so if he's not full from the crickets, he will go down and eat the fruit. He doesnt touch the fruit or baby food. WIERDO! so after reading these posts i will only dust every other day.

The best way to use the CGD is without any added fruit. Try it by itself and offer no crickets. Don't give too much as then it will be difficult to see if any is actually eaten. For a single adult gecko a half teaspoon is enough. I give my geckos this amount in a small ceramic dish (about 1.5 in diameter). Babies I feed even less, maybe a quarter teaspoon. I adjust the amount based on how much is left over the next day. If the dish is practically spotless then I give a little more next time so there are still some traces of the diet left.

For babies giving just a tiny amount is the best way to see if they are eating it.

It sounds like you are adding shredded fruit and fruit baby food. Both of these are unnecessary. You are far better off pureeing the fruit and not use any baby food at all. The geckos will only eat what they find tastes the best and is easiest to lap up. Pureed fruit can be mixed with the CGD to help switch them over if they don't seem to like it straight, but the amount of fruit should be reduced over several meals till you are using straight CGD. Also, insects shouldn't be offered as the diet is complete (if you are using the Clark's diet, make sure you have the complete diet form, as their old powder lacks protein and is designed to be fed in addition to crickets, but they have formulated a complete diet now, which has all the required protein as well, so it doesn't require any additional insects). Insects can still be offered as a treat on occasion it desired.
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PHLdyPayne

Got it.. ok i think what im going to do is offer less and less crickets to get him off crickets and slowly mix less and less baby food into the CGD untill he eats only CGD!!
Hopefully it works cause he loves crickets.. he eats them as soon as they hit the floor in his cage!!

I will give it a shot again but in the past this method of feeding did not work for me.

Tom

If this doesn't switch him over to the Rhapashy diet, try the Clark's...its a bit more fruity in smell and some geckos may take to it better than the Rhapashy diet. I have noticed the Clark's complete diet doesn't smell as fruity to me as their original diet which still required regular feeding of insects, so the original diet may be a last alternative as it was designed to be fed along with crickets and is healthier than baby food (lacks all the added sugar babyfood tends to have and has most nutrients needed, minus proteins which why it needs crickets fed as well).

It may even be possible to get a free sample of the crested or gargoyle complete diet at a show. I received the one I have from a show this past October and its a very big jar (probably around 4 oz) which is quite nice to get for free.
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PHLdyPayne

Awsome! Yea i only fed 2 crickets last night and 1 mealworm and mixed half CGD with half baby food and he ate half of the bowl.. So im hoping that giving him less and less crickets and mixing more and more CGD until its eventually all CGD will work =) If not i will def try the Clarks brand! Giving him crickets does give him something to do at night though so, i hope he doesnt get bored staring at the ground for crickets all night ha.

THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE PEOPLE!! =)