The crested gecko is a species from New Caledonia in the South Pacific. As a pet, cresties are quite easy for beginners as the creature has only some simple, easy-to-meet requirements. Though it used to be a rare sight, nowadays, crested or eyelash geckos are a common type of exotic pet for those who want something a little different.
What do crested geckos eat?
The mainstays of this pet’s meal are fruits and insects. Crickets are perhaps the best choice, as the insect is now sold commonly in the pet trade. You should select a size where the length of cricket equals or is smaller than the size between the gecko’s eyes so they can swallow it. Or you’ll have to used freeze-dried ones and break them into smaller pieces.
Crickets are rich in vitamins and other minerals that are very favorable for your pet’s health. They should be offered three times a week in the primary diet or once a week as a treat or supplement.
As for meal replacement powders, they are mixed with two parts water and offered in shallow dishes three times a week. You can leave this food in their dish for 24 to 36 hours before removal.
Top foods for crested gecko
Now let’s look at some other foods made especially for your crested gecko.
#1 Pangea Fruit Mix With Insects Crested Gecko Complete Diet 1/2 lb
Pangea makes a variety of powdered meal replacements (MRPs) for crested geckos. This particular fruit mix includes ground insects for a completely nutritious solution that’s super easy to feed them.
Just mix one part powder into one or two parts water and stir well. You can also blend it if you like. Then pour it into their food dish.
You can pre-mix a larger batch and store it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. The dry mix package stays fresh (when sealed) at room temperature for 6 months, or up to a year if refrigerated.
Also important, it doesn’t smell terrible like some MRPs do. The ingredients include things like dried banana, apricot, papaya, insect meal, rice bran, whey protein isolate, di-calcium phosphate, fermented bacteria (probiotics) for digestion, and a lot of minerals and vitamins. The final nutritional count features a minimum of 22% crude protein and 8% crude fiber.
#2 Pangea Banana/Papaya Fruit Mix Complete Crested Gecko Food
Pangea’s Banana/Papaya is a popular choice. Just add it to water and mix well. It’s finely ground so that it makes a nice, smooth paste. And you can leave it in the food dish overnight. Just remember to supplement with a protein source like insects.
#3 Pangea Gecko Diet Growth and Breeding Formula
If you have a baby gecko or are about to breed an adult, try Pangea’s Growth and Breeding Formula. It’s sure to fatten up your pet in record time. It contains lots of calcium (up to recommended maximum for crested geckos) and protein, plus plenty of fat. The protein and fat come from black soldier fly larvae and crickets. Chances are your picky eater will start licking the bowl now.
#4 Pangea Fruit Mix Watermelon Complete Gecko Diet 1/2 LB
Pangea’s watermelon mix also convinces picky eaters to enjoy their meals. Besides fruit, it also offers probiotics, whey protein, egg whites, spirulina, and bee pollen.
Adults can be fed this mix two to three times a week. Just replace the food with a fresh bowl every 48 hours. Then supplement with insects occasionally.
#5 Zoo Med Crested Gecko Food – Tropical Fruit
Zoo Med makes this tropical fruit mix from bananas, figs, papayas, mangoes, and black soldier fly larvae, plus probiotics. It’s customized for crested, gargoyle, day and other kinds of omnivorous geckos.
#6 T-Rex Sandfire Super Foods Crested Gecko Diet MRP
T-Rex’s Sandfire meal replacement powder has a reputation for a strong odor, but pet owners still recommend it. That’s because it’s packed with appropriate nutrition and many geckos seem to appreciate it. It’s also a product developed by the well-known expert Allen Repashy.
The mix contains a wide variety of foods including honey powder, hemp seed meal, Brewer’s Yeast, algae, plant extracts, and fig powder.
#7 Zilla Reptile Munchies For Pets
This is a crested gecko product, all in one package. Crested gecko will be provided with all the most essential nutrients, including calcium.
#8 Repashy Crested Gecko MRP ‘Mango’ Superblend
Repashy’s products have a loyal fan following among gecko owners. This Mango Superblend features 20% minimum crude protein, 10% fiber, and 5% fat. But note that some customers say the Repashy meals smell a bit repulsive to people.
#9 Repashy Grubs ‘N’ Fruit Crested Gecko Diet
Grubs and fruit is basically the gecko’s diet in the wild. This blend has 30% black soldier fly larvae plus 50% fruit. It offers a lot of nutritional value, enough to fatten up breeding or developing geckos.
#10 Fluker’s Freeze-Dried Crickets
If you don’t want to hassle with live crickets, try these freeze-dried ones form Fluker. People report that they are about half an inch in length. That may be too large for your pet, but you can easily break them up into smaller pieces. Moreover, they are gut-loaded and full of nutrients.
#11 Josh’s Frogs Black Soldier Fly Larvae
Or go with live insects that your pet can hunt. These black soldier fly larvae come at least 250 to a box. They are shipped expedited so that they arrive alive. And they are raised on vitamin and mineral-packed food.
#12 Dubia Roaches 200 Medium
Geckos also love to eat roaches, specifically these small ones. They ship expedited to your home. But don’t worry if they get loose. They don’t fly or climb vertical surfaces. Furthermore, they are a tropical insect that won’t survive long outside the right environment.
How often do crested geckos eat?
As with a human, crested gecko’s eating habit is also influenced by a set of many factors like metabolism, body size, and age. Juveniles eat every night, but most adults tend to eat only a few times a week. Provide food every other night or every third night for them.
In winter, the cold weather reduces their appetite, and thus, their feeding frequency, while summer increases markedly their metabolism and appetite. Be careful to keep them under 82 degrees all the time because they don’t tolerate high temperatures. Feeding more dusted bugs in the warmer months may spur growth and help breeding females get enough fat, protein, and calcium.
If your pet does stop eating for a while, do not panic, this is because your pet’s metabolism is different from that of other mammals. A healthy crested gecko can go for several weeks without eating. But always have food available during this time. Take them to a vet if you don’t see signs of eating for three weeks, or if they are lethargic or show other signs of illness.
What can crested geckos eat?
In its native land of New Caledonia, a crested gecko usually eats fruits and insects. In this guide, we will delve into details of what this lizard can consume.
There was a time when captive geckos were fed with baby food mixed with crickets to supplement the creatures in terms of nutrition. However, such a diet would eventually lead to nutritional imbalance and would cripple or kill your pet. Moreover, a crested gecko should not consume food with a high ratio of phosphorus.
Crested geckos are ectothermic or “cold-blooded”. Their blood isn’t really cold, but their energy from food doesn’t have to be spent maintaining their body temperature as in mammals. Mammals also have complex brains that use energy. So a reptile like a crested gecko doesn’t need to eat as much as endothermic animals.
Cresties can consume insects and powdered gecko diet with sufficient nutrients like fat, protein, and vitamins. Just remember that the insects in question should be rich in calcium and vitamin D3 in order to avoid nutritional deficiencies and nutritional imbalance while at the same time, avoid some potential troubles (like a metabolic bone disease) stemming from feeding food with a disproportionate ratio of phosphorous and calcium.
What do baby geckos eat?
Baby geckos should be fed small crickets or mealworms each day. It is recommended that the insects in question should not be bigger than the geckos’ heads, as they could choke. It is also better to feed the insects ahead of time with food rich in calcium, vitamins, and minerals to make them more nutritional for the geckos.
Or you can coat the insect with calcium powder which is less time-consuming and more efficient. Insects could be placed in small shallow dishes so that the baby geckos could climb up and eat without difficulty. There should also a daily ration of fresh water for the geckos, which they may enjoy licking off leaves or other decorations instead of drinking from a dish.
Unlike most species of geckos, this species is omnivorous, which means it can eat many kinds of food. In fact, this species is mainly frugivorous, which means it eats mainly fruits, with some insects added as a supplementary source.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Waxworms?
The fatty, humongous waxworm incites a morbid fascination in many of us. The reason is that with such a corpulent body, seems like it would be a tremendous source of energy and calorie for your pets. And so, the natural question is: “Can crested geckos eat waxworms?” And if it can, then how much?
A waxworm is the caterpillar larva of a wax moth, an insect with a medium-white body, dotted with small black feet and a black or brown head. The insect starts as a parasite inside a bee colony, eating cocoons and making bees shed their skins and in some cases, chewing through the bee wax. As such, many beekeepers consider it as a kind of pest.
Interestingly, this kind of pest is considered to be an effective solution to the problem of plastic we are facing today, as it can consume polyethylene plastics. Waxworm is also known to have a very high level of fat, almost 22%, but without much in terms of other nutrients. As such, the insect would not be a good food source for your pet.
As a fat-filled insect, a waxworm would be far from being a staple food for your pet, unlike a mealworm. As such, it is better to let your pet munch the worm just as a treat. And it is better to pinch the heads of the worms before serving them to avoid some potential problems along the way. All in all, though waxworm is far from an ideal food for your pet.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Vegetables?
Vegetables are no strangers to our daily meals. These fiber-rich, verdant plants that contribute their fair share in improving our health. As such, it would be natural to ask the question: “Can crested geckos eat vegetables?”
A vegetable as you know, contains a very high level of fiber. For humans, this means that vegetables contribute greatly in facilitating the digestive system. Moreover, vegetables also have a great number of vitamins like A, B, C that improve the overall health condition of those who eat them.
Surprisingly, vegetables are also good for bone health as they contain a high level of vitamin K and calcium. Be that as it may, it might not be wise to assume that since a vegetable is good for humans, it is going to be good for your gecko.
A crested gecko does not have a functioning cecum which is the part of the body that digests cellulose, the substance found in vegetables. In addition, they have a shorter digestive tract, unlike a herbivore which has a much longer and acidic digestive tract. As a result, it would be very hard for a crestie to safely consume a large amount of veggies.
As such, it would be better to feed only a small amount of vegetables to your pet on an occasional basis in order to avoid some potential problems.
All in all, though full of nutrients, the vegetable is still not considered as a staple food for your gecko as there are too many problems.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Tomatoes?
The red, rich and watery fruit that has become an indispensable part of our everyday culinary practice. In fact, we would be hard-pressed not to see the presence of tomato anywhere on the Earth. And so we arrive at the natural question: “Can geckos eat tomatoes?”
A tomato, as the redness of its skin suggests, is very rich in vitamin A. Other than that, the tomato is also very rich in vitamin C, K and B9. All in all, it is a fruit well-endowed in terms of vitamins and other minerals, especially phosphorus. As a result, the tomato is very good for your health.
However, the same could not be said about your gecko. As you can see, the tomato has a very disproportionate ratio of phosphorus to calcium, more than 2 to 1, so it would be very difficult for your gecko to digest this fruit.
As mentioned before, due to the high ration of phosphorus to calcium, it would be better to serve the fruit as a kind of side dish on an occasional basis. Moreover, it would be better to serve the fruit in small portions to facilitate your pet’s digestion.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Fruit?
Fruits have become an indispensable part of the human diet. In every corner of this planet, we could find the presence of one or more kinds of fruit either as a dessert or an ingredient in someone’s meal. Given such omnipresence, it would be prudent to ask: “Can crested geckos eat fruits?”
As you already knew, fruit is a very rich source of nutrients and vitamins, however, as there are so many kinds out there it would be very hard to determine which one would be best for an eyelash gecko. However, there are some indicators, like the ratio of phosphorus and calcium.
Speaking of species, it would be nice to remember that geckos are many different species. For instance, there are crested geckos (Rhacodactylus ciliatus), day geckos (Phelsuma spp.) that eat fruits, while on the other hand, many species, like leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) and African fat-tailed geckos (Hemitheconyx caudicinctus), are insectivorous. As such, it would be wise to know your pet beforehand in order to determine the best fruits for them.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Baby Food?
As babies, it comes as no surprise that we are not ready for the tough and rough world of adult food, as a result, baby food is offered for us as a way to boost our still vulnerable constitutions. Not only that, but baby food is also a fast and convenient source of meals for busy parents, and so, in some parts of the world, this kind of food has become quite popular. As such, it piques our interest regarding the question that “Can crested geckos eat baby food?”
Though heralded as nutritious, baby food, is in fact, quite low in nutrients. A report in The Guardian indicates that baby food has half the nutrition as home-made meals.
Moreover, baby food also does not have so much of a beneficial balance in minerals and vitamins. As such, it would not be a surprise to hear that baby food is far from heaven-sent manna for your beloved pet. This is not to mention the fact that there are many species of geckos that are entirely insectivorous, which means that they would not appreciate the fact that they are fed this kind of food.
As mentioned before, this kind of food is not a good alternative source of nutrients for your pet, so it would be better to avoid it if possible. It would be better to find some insects or other fruits to feed your pet. All in all, it is better to know that you should not waste too much of your time trying to feed your pet this kind of food, as in the long or short run, it would still be inadequate in providing your gecko with a viable source of nutrients.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Apples?
Apples are probably one of the most popular fruit you can find anywhere in the world. This makes us, reptile pet owners, wonder if crested geckos can eat an apple?
The first thing you need to know is, for a medium-sized apple, it has less than 100 calories. There is no fat, sodium or cholesterol. Moreover, that medium-sized apple also has 4 grams of dietary fiber or 17% of the recommended daily intake for American individuals.
Consuming an apple a day may help you with digestion and weight loss. Also rich in vitamin C (approximately 14% of daily intake), an apple is the best fruit you can have on the market. Be that as it may, a gecko has a different metabolism from that of a human.
And more so, a gecko also needs food that has twice as much calcium as phosphorus. So an apple, with 13.8 mg phosphorus and 7.5 mg calcium for every 125 g of the fruit is not quite an appropriate kind of food to be served as a main dish. It is still ok to serve apple as a side dish, on an occasional basis, with small portions in each serving. All in all, your pet could consume an apple, though it is better to serve this fruit irregularly.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Mealworms?
Although called a worm, a mealworm, in actuality, is a baby black beetle. This insect has been food for humans as well as for other pets. And so, it would be natural to ask: “Can crested geckos eat mealworms?”
Mealworms are quite rich in fat and protein with 13 g of fat and 20g of protein for every 100 g of mealworm. Moreover, 100 g of this insect also contains a quite high level of calories (223).
Foremost, you should feed mealworms to your gecko in a shallow feeding to ensure that your gecko would take its time and enjoy its meal to the fullest. Secondly, it would be better to accompany a dish of mealworm with some kinds of supplementary dishes like fruits. This is meant to provide your pet with some more nutrition along with protein. All in all, mealworm could be a staple food or at least a typical main course for your pet.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Strawberries?
Strawberry, the scrumptious fruit that has assumed legendary status among humans. But the question is: “Can geckos eat strawberries?”
Strawberry is a fruit that is very rich in vitamin C, a vitamin that is vital in supporting the immune system. Strawberry is also very rich in folate, a vitamin that facilitates cell growth. Yet, strawberry has a quite unfavorable ratio of phosphorus and calcium. While such a ratio is far from disproportionate compared with many other fruits, it could still prevent you from turning this fruit into the main course for your pet.
As mentioned before, due to the high ration of phosphorus to calcium, it would be better to serve the fruit as a kind of side dish on an occasional basis. Moreover, it would be better if you could smash the fruit into tiny bits. All in all, though full of nutrients, strawberry is still not considered a kind of staple food for your gecko.
Conclusion
Your little crestie is so charming and cute. Be sure to feed him the best food for crested geckos so that he keeps you company for a long time.