Crested geckos require a complete gecko diet (CGD) in order to get all their essential nutrients, and there are various CGD products on the market such as Pangea and Repashy that offer versions with and without insects.
Mealworms should only be offered as treats, since their hard exoskeletons could lead to impaction issues in crested geckos.
Contents
Fruit
Crested geckos require fruit in their diets, but protein supplements must also be provided. A simple solution is providing live feeder insects such as crickets, waxworms, earthworms, mealworms or flightless fruit flies on an as-needed basis with high-quality calcium powder dustings for extra calcium supplementation. This should be repeated every two or four days until no further food needs are present.
Repashy’s Banana/Papaya and Watermelons and Pangea Gecko Diet With and Without Insects provide complete crested gecko diets. When feeding these to your crested gecko, add in live feeders along with high quality calcium supplements as extra treats.
Citrus fruits should be avoided altogether or offered only occasionally as treats, while bananas contain high levels of potassium which may bind with their calcium intake and result in illness for your crested geckos.
Veggies
Your crested gecko (and other frugivorous reptiles) benefits greatly from eating a wide range of vegetables on a regular basis or as snacks between meals; some recommended options for crested geckos include:
Prepared crestie foods can fulfill all the nutritional requirements of your pet crestie. One such diet, known as CGD (Crested Gecko Diet), features fruits, vegetables and insects in an optimal ratio of calcium-to-phosphorus content compared to homemade diets – not to mention it’s often less costly!
Some food mixes for cresties provide additional supplements such as Vitamin D3, E and Folic acid to supplement their homemade diet and address mineral imbalance in cresties. Others are free from citrus fruit that is known to contribute to mineral imbalance. CGDs can be great way of providing new hatchlings or those suffering from metabolic bone disorder with extra nutrition.
Insects
Crested geckos found in nature typically feed on insects to obtain all the nutrition they require, as well as fruit, vegetables, and even overripe ones. Unfortunately, replicating their natural diet in captivity can be very challenging.
Repashy and Pangea both offer products to aid crested gecko owners. Both provide complete gecko food packages that contain all the vitamins, minerals and protein their cresteds require for optimal health – in powder form so it can easily be mixed with water into a smoothie like consistency that most cresteds enjoy eating!
As an extra source of nutrition, combine safe salad items (dark leafy greens) with fruit and insects once or twice each week for maximum nutritional impact. Be sure to gut load feeder insects for 12-24 hours prior to offering them to your crestie for consumption, and always dust with an excellent calcium supplement like Repashy Bug Burger or Arcadia InsectFuel prior to offering at feedings as farmed insects may not contain as much calcium than wild insects would do.
Live Feeders
Pet shops and websites alike often give misinformed advice regarding what live insects to feed a gecko, especially crested geckos. Live insects should only be offered as enrichment food and should only supplement an already premade cgd diet, if needed at all. Dubia roaches provide optimal nutrition and should be the primary feeder; superworms, nutrigrubs mealworms waxworms can all also be offered sparingly; butter worms should only be offered sparingly as these contain very high levels of fat and should only occasionally.
If you decide to provide live food for your crestie, the most nutritionally beneficial foods include Repashy Bug Burger, Arcadia Insect Fuel and Black Panther Zoological. When mixing them with water they should form a thick smoothie-like consistency that should then be offered as meals.
