The crested gecko should be your starting point if you are looking for a beautiful, easy-to-rear pet. It has beautiful eyelashes in the form of soft spines above the eyes. They are soft to touch and among friendly lizards and feed on common foods like crickets.
A crested gecko hatchling eats 1-2 small crickets while an adult can eat 7-8 adult crickets. For their safety, only feed them 3-6 crickets each week. Ensure the crickets are the right size to prevent impaction and/or death. Supplement crickets with other foods since they don’t have all nutrients.
In addition to feeding the crested gecko their commercial meals, you should include insects as a treat and supplement their nutrient intake. Crickets are a great source of proteins for your crested gecko. But, how often should you feed them to your crested gecko?
Do crested geckos eat crickets?
Yes, crested geckos eat crickets, and you should purposely feed them several times a week as they provide the gecko with proteins necessary for their health.
The crested gecko is omnivorous and when in the wild, it feeds on insects and fruits. Thus, when you make it your pet, feeding it on crickets is a thrill for them.
How many crickets to feed a crested gecko
Its size and stage in life determine the number of crickets you feed the crested gecko. While adults can have eight crickets at once, the smaller hatchlings shouldn’t have more than three crickets.
The size of crickets also influences how many you feed to the gecko. For example, an adult gecko should have seven big crickets, while the young ones should have three small or medium ones.
How to feed crickets to crested geckos
There are several ways you can feed the crickets to the geckos. First, when feeding an adult crested gecko, you could hold the crickets in your hand for the gecko. If you are afraid the gecko could bite your fingers, consider using some tongs when holding the crickets.
You could also place the crickets in the terrarium where the gecko can easily access them. Alternatively, you can have a feeding tank in a place where you put the crickets, and the gecko feeds from it.
How to keep crickets for crested geckos
For your crested geckos to gain optimally from the nutrients found in the crickets, they must be kept well.
The ideal environment for the geckos is large containers with smooth, tall sides. Ensure it’s closed, so the crickets don’t escape.
Since there are many types of crickets, ensure you have bought the feeder types that will benefit the gecko. The common types used as feeder crickets are brown and banded crickets.
If you have the baby crested gecko, you need to buy the small crickets that the gecko will feast on comfortably. However, an adult gecko can effortlessly feed on big mature crickets.
Crickets are not choosy when feeding and will feast on what’s available. They are omnivorous and will feed on either plants or animals.
How to gut-load crickets for crested geckos (+ pros)
Gut loading crickets before feeding the gecko will give them the nutrients you need to be passed on to the gecko.
Gut load the crickets within 24 hours to ensure that the nutrients you have fed them don’t get digested. A cricket digests its feed in a day, after which the crested gecko won’t benefit from the diet you had intended.
You can gut load the crickets on different meals that you wish passed to the gecko. Examples include:
- Oranges
- Apples
- Kales
- Oat
- Green leafy vegetables
- Carrots
- Grains
Alternatively, you can opt to buy gut-loading formulas from the stores. Evaluate the ingredients to ascertain they contain the nutritional value you want to be passed to the gecko.
What you choose to gut load the crickets is determined by the nutritional value you wish to pass to the gecko.
Allow the crested gecko hatchling a month before you can introduce gut-loaded crickets into their diet.
How to dust crickets for crested geckos (+ pros)
Dusting the crickets for the crested gecko involves spraying the crickets with supplements before feeding them to the crested gecko. The supplements are mostly vitamins or minerals that boost your gecko’s health.
Analyze the ingredients that make up the supplements and ensure they contain the best nutrients for your gecko.
To dust the crickets, follow this process:
- Assemble the crickets in a container.
- Spray the supplement on the crickets.
- Distribute the supplement among the crickets by shaking reasonably.
- Feed the crickets to the gecko before they lose the supplement.
The geckos obtain the added nutrients from the bodies of the crickets.
Do you feed dead or live crickets to crested geckos?
The crested gecko can have either dead or live crickets. The benefit of having live crickets for the gecko is that you can gut load them. Then, dust the dead crickets with the right supplements to boost their nutritional value.
How many crickets do you feed to crested geckos?
The amount of crickets you feed to the crested gecko depends on the stage it is in life. At each stage, the amount of crickets the gecko can accommodate varies. Here’s a breakdown:
- 1-4 months old crested gecko: 3 small crickets once in two days.
- 4-10 months old crested gecko: 4 medium size crickets for three days in a week.
- Above 10 months gecko: 4 adult crickets for three days a week.
You should control the amount of crickets you feed to the gecko at any stage, as too many can adversely affect the gecko.
Ensure you pick leftover crickets, too, as they can become a nuisance to your crestie. Crickets are accustomed to chirping at night, and this would cause stress and disturbance to the gecko. The crickets could also jump up and down the terrarium disrupting the gecko.
What size of cricket do you feed to crested geckos?
Adult crested geckos can have 6 to 7 adult crickets three days a week. However, young crested geckos below ten months should not have between 3 and 4 medium-sized crickets.
The size of your gecko will determine how many crickets you feed it with the small size should have fewer crickets.
Alternate the days you feed crickets to your crestie as doing it daily will make it decline to feed on the regular feeds.
How do you feed the geckos?
Here’s how to feed the gecko:
- Gut load and dust the insects with supplements you intend to feed the gecko 12 hours in advance.
- Hold the cricket by the back legs. Get the right size by ensuring the cricket is not bigger than the space between the crested gecko’s eyes.
- Use tongs to hold the insect if you’re afraid of the gecko nipping your fingers.
- Observe the eye language of the gecko. If it gets focused and predatory, it’s hungry and interested in the treat. If the gecko acts disinterested, don’t insist. Save for later when it’s hungry.
- Stay around until the gecko is done, as leaving excess crickets can be a nuisance to the gecko.
What and how you feed the crestie determines their health. Having a balanced diet helps monitor the pet’s weight. The wrong diet will have the crestie malnourished or obese. Supplement the meals you buy from the stores with gut-loaded crickets to compensate for the nutritional value deficit in their commercial feeds.
Conclusion
Feeding crickets to your crested gecko works perfectly in helping achieve a balanced diet critical to having a healthy crestie. Balance the number of crickets you feed to the gecko for optimal results. In addition to offering a balanced diet, the feeding time allows you a good time to bond with your pet.