Options for feeding large number of Cresteds.

I have a few carefully selected crested geckos that I spare no expense to when it comes to feeding, mostly Crested Gecko MRP and Dubia nymphs. Because I only have a few I just buy the gecko Diet MRP at some big chain pet store but it is relatively expensive there. I was wondering what the largest amount of the MRP you can get on line was. The most I found was 8 lbs for $99.

Anyone have any estimates on how much it would cost to feed a baby for a year the recommended amounts of MRP? Anyone experiment with their own diets?

Okay so when we sell a gecko to a newbie, we tend to tell them it SHOULD cost from $10-$20 a gecko. This obviously depends on size, portion sizes, and if you buy in bulk.

The more you buy, the cheaper it is per ounce. If you are going to be getting a "few" geckos, an 8lb bag would keep you stocked for quite a while. If you feed the correct portion size for each gecko, wasting as little as possible, I would say $10 a year for a baby.

Good luck, this was more of a ball park range for ya. I am sure someone else might have it down better than myself.

Good luck, and happy herping!
--Amanda

Since you also have roaches, this is what I do:

If there is any extra aftera day or two, put the leftovers in with the roaches. The roahces will devour it and you get both a clean dish and no wated food.

I have about 90 geckos now and the 4lb bag last me about a year or so, just to give you an idea.

So 4 lbs of gecko MRP lasts you about a year for 90 geckos? That's pretty good. To be honest I thought having to purchase the crested gecko MRP would make it cost prohibitive to raise large numbers of these (I'm currently thinking of acquiring several dozen colorful babies).

I do find that I waste quite a bit f it, I prepare a small ceramic bowl of it for them but after two days there's usually still some left. Lately though I've been adding less and less water to the mix and they're still eating it. Hopefully soon they will take it totally dry, then I wouldn't need to toss any old food out.

Yeah Garrick DeMeyer offers his CGD completely dry, and he says that they eat it without hesitation.

When I first got Cresteds I was doing the same thing, offering too much and I ended up wasting a lot of it. Then I emailed Garrick(Thats who I got the pair from), and he said I should try offering it totally dry. So thats all I do now. And mine love it.

Oh that's good to know...

I remember buying my first cresteds 10 years ago from Garrick. He was the second person I ever mail ordered reptiles from, the first being Ron Tremper.

I personally would not feed dry. Primarily b/c humidity is such a key factor with them, and secondly b/c I am not sure that the mix will digest properly without being first mixed with water? That may be a good question to pose to Repashy, himself...

I've personally just moved to smaller and smaller containers over time. I've actually just bought a bunch of 1/4" furniture caps (the plastic tips you put on the ends of iron furniture to keep it from scratching floors) that I'm going to superglue to some plastic bases for support. They're somewhat deep so the CGD doesn't dry out as quickly as it does in wider bottlecaps. So far these are working really well for all my hatchlings and juvies.

I have my crested on automatic foggers I use for my darts as well so no need to mist much, plus there's a water dish right next to the food so they can get a drink if need be. Not sure how it would cause digestibility issued if there's water available to them.

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

I personally would not feed dry. Primarily b/c humidity is such a key factor with them, and secondly b/c I am not sure that the mix will digest properly without being first mixed with water? That may be a good question to pose to Repashy, himself...

I've personally just moved to smaller and smaller containers over time. I've actually just bought a bunch of 1/4" furniture caps (the plastic tips you put on the ends of iron furniture to keep it from scratching floors) that I'm going to superglue to some plastic bases for support. They're somewhat deep so the CGD doesn't dry out as quickly as it does in wider bottlecaps. So far these are working really well for all my hatchlings and juvies.

If there is a water dish available at all times then they seem to do okay with digesting the dry CGD.

I read on Pangea that Allen said that there was a reason he put instructions on the labels lol, which I understand. My thing is, you can do one of two things, go ahead and mix the CGD with water, or leave the CGD dry and leave a water dish. I've observed most of the time, when they eat the dry CGD almost right after being done they go get water. So essentially that would be the same as mixing it up IMO. I mean, both the CGD and the water is in their stomachs, so they should be able to digest it.

Originally Posted by sfconstrictors

I read on Pangea that Allen said that there was a reason he put instructions on the labels lol, which I understand.

I remember that thread. I remember thinking to myself, "that doesn't really answer the question.." lol I do know that there are some vitamins and minerals that do need to be dissolved in water to be digestable, though. Whether drinking some water after eating dry CGD would be enough to accomplish this or not, IDK?

I guess I don't understand how not mixing it with water accomplishes anything good or productive.

If the goal is to save CGD, then you'd actually want to mix it with MORE water, not less, as the geckos will then actually eat less CGD before their stomachs are full (the water would take up more room in their stomachs).

I have a few heavy eaters who if they ate dry CGD, I'd worry about how it might swell in their stomachs after drinking water after the fact?

It only takes me a few minutes a week (I mix a week's worth at a time) to mix mine in the little squeeze bottles I use, and then I keep that in the fridge. One quick squirt takes a fraction of a second to fill a food dish, so feeding dry wouldn't be a time-saver, either...

I guess I just see more potential risks than benefits, personally.