Crested geckos require a diet rich in calcium and low in phosphorus; this formula provides the ideal ratio. Plus, it includes carotenoids and other essential ingredients needed to support healthy eyes!
Feed this diet in a small feeding dish along with calcium powder-coated feeder insects and fresh fruit for day, gargoyle and new caledonian giant geckos of all life stages.
Contents
Feeder Insects
Most pet owners provide their geckos with feeder insects for a healthy diet, including crickets, mealworms and wax worms. Pre-gut loaded crickets and mealworms with multivitamin powder may be best purchased pre-gut loaded from stores; alternatively some owners gut load their own insects using salad or fruits and vegetables as fillers.
Crested geckos may find certain feeder insects difficult to digest due to their hard exoskeletons; therefore, we advise providing wax worms as occasional treats instead of mealworms as feeder insects.
As dead bugs don’t provide the same nutritional value and won’t encourage your gecko’s natural instinct to hunt, we discourage the use of pellet foods which often contain low-grade ingredients and provide a substantial source of unhealthy fat in its diet; such foods should only be given occasionally (no more than once or twice per week).
Multi-Vitamin Carnivorous Reptile Powder
Prepared diets provide all of the essential nutrients for crested gecko health in one convenient powder form. Just be sure to choose an excellent brand designed specifically for reptiles with proven generational testing that ensures precise nutrient ratios and top quality ingredients.
Zoo-Med’s Multi Vitamin Powder Supplement was specifically formulated to meet this need, providing reptiles with all of the essential vitamins, minerals, and trace nutrients they require for healthy development and longevity.
Some reptile owners add mealworms and waxworms to their pet reptile’s diet as supplements. Mealworms, the larvae of mealworm beetles, should only be given to reptiles capable of digesting them; waxworms on the other hand don’t possess hard exoskeletons so can be offered once every week as treats for crested geckos.
Pinky Mice
Leopard geckos are typically insect eaters, preferring insects such as crickets, cockroaches and beetle larva. For special treats once every week or so they might enjoy some fruit as well; high-fat foods like waxworms and hornworms should be given with caution as they can lead to loose or runny stool issues.
Hatchlings and juvenile Leopard geckos need to be fed size-appropriate pinhead crickets at first, as they grow their diet should become increasingly varied to include Dubia roaches or crickets that range in size from 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter.
Many pet owners prefer feeding their crested geckos a meal-replacement powder diet. It provides all of the nutrition a reptile needs without the hassle of uneaten insects rotting in its cage and creating messy conditions. Most meal replacement powder diets come as granules that mix easily with water to form paste; you can find these online or at most pet stores; some varieties are specially designed to provide all necessary vitamins for healthy reptile growth.
Fruit
Pet owners typically provide crested geckos with soft fruits as well as feeder insects like crickets, earthworms, waxworms and fruit flies for feedings. Dubia roaches may provide extra vitamins that pregnant females require.
While you can create an all-in-one diet for your crested gecko by mixing feeder insects, hard fruit and even some dietary powder together, pre-made all-in-one diets offer easier use while providing all of the required nutrition for health crested gecko living in captivity.
Pangea Watermeon Complete Diet, first introduced in 2013, has quickly become one of the most sought-after crested gecko food options. Ideal for gargoyle geckos (Rhacodactylus auriculatus), New Caledonian geckos (Rhacodactylus leachianus) and mossy prehensile-tailed geckos (Mniarogekko chahoua), this diet includes freeze-dried banana, mango, figs, watermelon hibiscus among many others – providing essential minerals, carotenoids, essential amino acids as well as other important nutrients – perfect for gargoyle gecko food bowls or cups for convenient feedings!
