Crested geckos feed on fruits, vegetables and insects found in the wild. There are a few comprehensive crested gecko diets (CGD) available that provide all of their vitamins and minerals requirements.
If you choose a commercial diet for your crested gecko, offer fruit three to four times per week along with live insects twice every month. Alternatively, create your own blend of fruits and vegetables by mixing your own mix.
Contents
Fruits
Crested geckos require a diet rich in fruits and insects to provide exercise and food hunting activities within their natural environments. Vegetations with moderate levels of oxalates or phosphorus content could also prove useful; carrots, squash and green leafy veggies like spinach or kale would make excellent additions.
Papayas, mangos, bananas and pears are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, while strawberries and figs contain significant quantities of vitamin C and E; these should only be offered sparingly due to high oxalates/phosphorous ratios.
Your crested gecko may require a combination of commercial or homemade diets as well as fresh fruits. Commercial products like Fluker’s Gargeer Complete have been specifically created to meet their needs; simply mix it with water. There are various life stage options to consider when feeding this powder-form food product to your crested geckos.
Insects
Crested geckos are eager hunters and will eat insects such as crickets, cockroaches, dubias, silkworms and mealworms as food sources. Additionally, they enjoy feasting upon flies, maggots and beetles to keep themselves stimulated. It is best to provide various prey items of different sizes so as to keep your crested gecko engaged – however be wary about leaving more insects than they can consume within 10 minutes otherwise hungry crickets may chew through its enclosure causing significant damage!
Your cresties’ diet should include various safe fruits like mangoes, berries and pears; Cactus fruits can also be great as they’re soft and easily digested.
Commercial reptile diets can be great help to your crested gecko, as they contain the correct amounts of dried and powdered feeder insects, vegetables, fruits and more – as well as essential vitamins and minerals for optimal health. Avoid feeding them any citrus fruits such as oranges as these contain oxalic acid which prevents their bodies from absorbing calcium correctly, leading to metabolic bone disease.
Mealworms
Crested geckos are omnivorous reptiles, so they can benefit from eating live insects on occasion. Crickets and roaches are among the more commonly offered feeder insects; for optimal results it’s best to include other feeder insects, such as super worms, wax worms, nutrient grubs silkworm larvae tomato hornworms cicadas or grasshoppers as part of a varied diet.
Before feeding them to your crested gecko, be sure to gut load its feeders for several days to ensure they contain plenty of vital nutrients that will maximize its potential benefit. Also keep the insects smaller than what could cause choking or impaction issues.
Additionally, fruits that are safe for cresties include mangoes (with seeds removed) as well as raspberries, strawberries, watermelons, papayas and kiwis. Be careful when giving citrus-containing fruits like oranges as this contains oxalic acid which is toxic for them.
Treats
Crested geckos are omnivorous reptiles that need sources of protein in their diet, which they typically obtain by eating insects in the wild. Some keepers choose to gut load their feeder insects with additional nutrition for health benefits and added nutrition.
Keepers often opt for commercial all-in-one diets for their crested geckos. These can typically be found in the reptile section of pet stores and feature fruits, vegetables, insects and earthworms in one convenient package.
However, some of these foods contain high concentrations of sugar and should only be fed occasionally as treats (once or twice a week). Furthermore, vegetables like avocado should never be given as they contain small amounts of persin which is toxic to reptiles. Also avoid cucumbers due to low calcium to phosphorus ratio and rhubarb which contains high concentrations of oxalic acid concentrations.
