Crested geckos need a variety of foods in order to remain at peak health, such as fruits, vegetables and insects/worms. Daily meals should contain nutrient dense options like this.
Lugarti Premium Dubia Diet seeks to meet these needs by providing a complete, but gutloadable diet of whole food ingredients, worms and bee pollen.
Contents
Fruits
Before meal replacement powders were available, many crested gecko owners would create their own diet by mixing fresh fruit with baby food – often mimicking its wild diet of nectar, fruit, and insects.
Now, there are numerous types of crested gecko food available, most typically featuring high levels of insect-based protein as well as various fruits and other nutritionally beneficial ingredients.
Most brands provide various flavors to meet the preferences of individual geckos, with Lugarti Premium Gecko Diet and Arcadia Sticky Foot Gold providing insect-to-fruit ratios more similar to wild Crested Gecko diet than brands like ZooMed or Fluker’s CGD. Furthermore, using multiple sources of protein provides greater amino acid variety which may better meet lugarti needs.
Vegetables
Crested geckos need a balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and insects in order to remain healthy. Protein sources from insects should provide ample energy, with calcium to phosphorus ratio being maintained at optimal levels.
Diets such as Lugarti Premium Gecko Diet can play an essential role in maintaining an animal’s overall health and wellness, by offering multiple sources of protein that help diversify its amino acid profile while simultaneously adding essential vitamins and nutrients to its nutritional makeup.
Crested geckos require a diet with an ideal balance of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients for proper health; for this reason it’s crucial that both fresh and canned food options be provided as part of their diet.
Many pet gecko owners have attempted to create homemade food for their lizard, such as baby food or jelly pots, but often end up creating something with insufficient nutrients and excessive amounts of sugars, leading to malnourishment and MBD in their reptile.
Insects
Crested geckos feed on insects and worms in their natural environments, so it is beneficial to offer these in captivity as enrichment, to assist with juvenile development faster, fatten thin adults faster and provide vital vitamins.
Many rehabilitators use a mix of baby food, live insects, and frozen birds/small mammals to recreate the diet of arboreal lizards; however, this method of preparation is challenging, time consuming, and expensive.
Allen Repashy created Lugarti Premium Gecko Diet (CGD), which includes all the essentials needed to feed crested geckos a good diet – from proteins and fats, fruits, vegetables, prebiotics and even insect larvae as supplemental nutrition sources. Plus, Allen Repashy kept their list of additives to an absolute minimum!
Mealworms
Mealworms provide reptiles, chameleons and geckos with an excellent source of protein for absorption of vitamins and regulating body heat. Furthermore, they’re high in fat which aids absorption.
These insects can be fed as either meals or supplements to existing diets, adding variety and enriching their nutrition. Plus, they’re easy to keep alive, low in chitin content, and make for great activities!
This high calcium, low phosphorus diet for crested geckos provides essential vitamins and minerals that may otherwise not be available due to captive breeding practices. Beta carotene helps prevent vitamin A overdose while bee pollen is likely found naturally within arboreal geckos’ natural diets.
Bee Pollen
Bee pollen is an excellent addition, providing an abundance of essential vitamins and minerals for bone health; including calcium and vitamin D3 as well as A and E vitamins to prevent overdose, plus added fiber from kelp and algae as well as important micro-nutrients like iodine.
Bee pollen provides reptiles that have evolved to get most of their protein from insects or small vertebrates with an ample supply of protein, encouraging blood supply to the nervous system and helping reduce stress. Furthermore, its rich in phenolic compounds that have hepatoprotective effects; its protein content differs depending on plant species or harvesting regions [1] while also including macroelements like nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous magnesium zinc cobalt selenium copper [2.
