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Crested Gecko Question

T

tysonmccrary

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I had a breeding pair of Crested Gecko's and the female laid two clutches and i sold all the geckos accept the last clutch. . . The coloring is amazing on them so I wanted to keep them. They are juvi's and unsexed still, if I do end up having a male and a female could I breed them or would that just make there clutches if they had any, deformed or unhealthy in anyway? I posted pics just so you could see there colors.
 

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everytime i feed the orange gecko "second crested" he only eats half what the other one does usually i can only get him to eat one meal worm or two small crickets, he doesn't eat much. I am not sure how to change that. Do you know what I can do that would help it eat more? Thanks.
 
You could stop feeding mealworms first, they can cause impaction. Crickets are "ok" once in a while but not as the staple of a crested geckos diet. You need to get "Crested Gecko Diet" as quickly as possible and feed it to that gecko. The sooner you deal with it the better chance he has of recovering fully.
 
What diet is the best for Crested Gecko's? The Crested Gecko diet by T-Rex? I found this site http://www.pangeareptile.com/products.htm the food is expensive, is there any other diet that is better or somewhere where I can get it cheaper and locally? like at a Petco or Petsmart, etc? Thanks for your reply's.
 
pangeareptile is a great site. Matts prices are very good compared to local pet stores. You can get some at PetCo that's like 2 oz in the jar. I'd recommend doing that RIGHT away. Then order some online @ pangeareptile.com

There is nothing that's less expensive that's better for them. The good news is that the "Crested Gecko Diet" is a COMPLETE diet, so no need to buy crickets @ all. Also, that CGD will last you a long time depending on the size you get. If those 2 geckos are your only 2 I'd say the 20 dollar 1lb package would last you more than six months.
 
boybronco said:
You could stop feeding mealworms first, they can cause impaction. Crickets are "ok" once in a while but not as the staple of a crested geckos diet. You need to get "Crested Gecko Diet" as quickly as possible and feed it to that gecko. The sooner you deal with it the better chance he has of recovering fully.
Click to expand...
In no way am i trying to start something but don't give out false info I'm getting close to having 50 cresteds and not one time have i ever fed a crested that powdered diet also who ever told you crickets were OK everyonce in while is crazy i feed mine crickets everyother feeding and no problems infact they are doing great if you don't know for sure maybe you could research a bit before you tell people such bad info
 
Benjamin,

I'm not saying crickets are BAD but that they are not an acceptable staple of a crested geckos diet. Obviously that crested gecko in the second picture is developing a kinked tail and it's almost surely from a calcium deficiency. I've never heard of somones gecko developing a calcium deficiency while feeding CGD however I hear a ton of people who have geckos and do NOT feed it and do develop kinked tails. I'm glad your geckos are doing well, hopefully you're supplementing them with calcium. I am offering a remedy to the problem the above gecko has.

Suggesting CGD is certainly not "bad" information, however many breeders would agere that saying crickets as a staple is a bad idea.
 
I have some of the Crested Gecko diet being shipped to me now. Thanks for the advice everyone. . . Just one more question, does anyone know if it is safe or not for you to breed gecko's from the same clutch if one is a male and the other is a female, or would the babies from them be deformed?
 
Tyson line breeding is not the end of the world but it is typically recommended that you avoid it if possible. Good choice on getting the CGD, it might be difficult to switch them over to it completely until they aquire a taste for it. You might have to begin by mixing 1/2 diet and 1/2 babyfood and gradually decrease the amount of babyfood and increase the amount of CGD.

For alot more information regarding Crested Geckos I'd recommend you join the forums at Pangea. Here is a link, http://www.pangeareptile.com/forums/index.php

Register there and introduce yourself. There's 100's of crested gecko keepers that post there daily and you'll get a pretty quick response to your questions and everyone is very friendly. Look forward to seeing you on there.

Bill
 
You could have just bought a bottle of CGD at petsmart for around $6 that would have lasted a you a long time with only two cresteds. I just feed them the stuff right away, when they get hungry they will eat it. Babyfood dillutes the formula and throws the balance off. A better way for you to get them eating CGD is dust your crickets with CGD. I feed mine CGD and dusted crickets.
 
Yes, I recommended in a previous post that you buy a bottle at petco for immediate use. Those 1.75 oz bottles only last me a week, though I have 8 geckos so I guess if you multiply that by 4 it would last you around a month? Typically I feed on day 1, leave it through day 2 and take it out day three. Day four I put it in again and leave for day five, take it out day six and feed again day 7 that's how I feed. I also throw in dusted crickets every so often so they can hunt a little, fun for them, fun for me! :p
 
the diet

I'm gonna jump on th CGD bandwagon here. I have over 100 cresteds, and over 130 Rhacodactylus, and they all eat on some form of the diet. I sell the stuff mail order, and I'm so for it, I won't sell Rhacs to people that don't use it (though they don't have to buy it from me). for switching over from baby food, I recommend this program:

week 1
25% CGD 75% baby fod
week 2
50%/50%
Week 3 and week 4
25% baby fod 75% CGD
Week 5 and beyond
no baby food

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
 
I'm not saying crickets are BAD but that they are not an acceptable staple of a crested geckos diet.
Click to expand...

I have to jump in here and say that I have worked with R. ciliatus since they were first available to the hobbiest and back when I was first working with them there was no such thing as "crested gecko diet". I fed mine exclusively gutloaded crickets, and supplemented with calcium/vitamins, and I was quite successful with them. These days I feed mine about half powdered diet and half crickets but I know from first hand experience that you do not have to feed the powdered diet to have success with ciliatus.
 
And american children grow up on McDonalds, and we feed are dogs dog food. "Will survive on," and, "Will be as healthy as possible on," are not interchangeable. You may be among the few to have had cresteds more than 3 years, but if your do the research on what they eat in the wild, you know the diet is the best available now.
 
but if your do the research on what they eat in the wild, you know the diet is the best available now.
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Actually, no, I do NOT know if the diet is the best available for them. Can you show me scientific data that proves this? I am well aware of what they eat in the wild, I've been fascinated by these geckos since 1997. However, I believe that their nutritional needs can be met by feeding them properly gutloaded insects and supplementing correctly with calcium/vitamins. I also believe their nutritional needs can be met when feeding them crested gecko diet, although I personally choose to feed my colonies insects as well as the powdered diet.

*edit*
I just checked and the crested gecko mrp has 20% protein, crickets have 21.32%

MRP has 6% fat, crickets have 6% fat

I do see that crickets have a much higher moisture content (69%) compared to the diet (5%) and that the diet has more fiber (14%) than crickets do (4%).

The ash content of the two is about the same.

So basically the only differences between the two nutritionally is that crickets have a higher moisture content and the powdered diet has more fiber.
 
Nutritional stats may match, but the sources do not. Rhacs eat a lot of fruit. We know this.
 
This is true, they do eat lots of fruit in the wild, but they do not eat a powdered diet mixed with water. I like feeding mine the crested gecko diet, and most of my geckos do like it. You can compare this to turtles: many keeprs feed them a prepackaged diet, many bearded dragon breeders feed their dragons pellets. Many snakes feed on other snakes in the wild; in captivity we feed them rodents.

My point is that as long as the nutritional needs are met, it really doesn't matter. LIke I said, I raised ciliatus from hatchling size to breeding size on crickets with the occasional baby food treat, and they were healthy and reproduced successfully for me. I'm not at all knocking the powdered diet, I think it's great. Just speaking from my own personal experience with ciliatus, that is all. :)
 
boybronco said:
Benjamin,

I'm not saying crickets are BAD but that they are not an acceptable staple of a crested geckos diet. Obviously that crested gecko in the second picture is developing a kinked tail and it's almost surely from a calcium deficiency. I've never heard of somones gecko developing a calcium deficiency while feeding CGD however I hear a ton of people who have geckos and do NOT feed it and do develop kinked tails. I'm glad your geckos are doing well, hopefully you're supplementing them with calcium. I am offering a remedy to the problem the above gecko has.

Suggesting CGD is certainly not "bad" information, however many breeders would agere that saying crickets as a staple is a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I understand alot of breeders swear by the powdered stuff if you notice they all happen to sell it also. it would be ironic to see a dealer suggest something other than what they sold. so you know, the very man who created your beloved meal replacement states in his book "some claim they get better breeding results with a greater amount of insects" beyound that id say kelli has cometo my aid and said it all better than i could have. In no way do i think its junk i just hear alot of people swearing by the stuff and you like most of the others only seem to know what is said by those that sell it........... :thumbsup:
 
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