Live food
Live food is very important for crested geckos. It supplies them with the necessary nutrients and at the same time maintains, at least at some level, their natural instincts which are manifested in the hunting of prey. Mostly crickets are used for feeding, which I can only recommend. Specifically, the species of steppe/banana cricket, which has several advantages over its related domestic cricket. First of all, it is less prone to changes in humidity and temperature, so it can be said that it is more durable and will die less at home. In addition, it is also a little noisier. I personally recommend buying crickets in the size of "medium". On one hand, it is an ideal size for adolescents and adult crested geckos, and on the other hand, crickets at this stage of development do not have very often developed wings to chirp.
Sometimes, either to diversify or in case when I need an individual to catch up with my colleagues, I use superworms, they are very fat and the pagekons grow quickly after them and of course they are also fat. Therefore, I do not recommend them for regular feeding.
I cover all insects in a prepared vitamin mixture. I will write more about vitamins in the article "vitamins".
Porridge and pre-prepared dry mixtures serve as a suitable food supplement and variety of food. Since I do not have enough time, I tend to have pre-prepared commercial food mixtures that are available on the Internet. I have the best experience with the Pangea brand. The second, more demanding but better way is to make this porridge yourself. It's very simple, all you have to do is mash the fruit - I especially recommend mangoes, bananas, or figs. It is also possible to buy a children's snack, but be careful, it must be sugar-free. It is possible to add a little honey or flower nectar to the home-made porridge, which is beautifully sweet.
List of the best safe fruits
-
Papaya
-
Guava
-
Mango
-
Peach
-
Plums
-
Pears
-
Cantaloupe melon
-
Apples – staple
-
Apricots – staple
-
Figs
-
Banana – use only occasionally !(may prevent calcium absorption)
-
Berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
List of non-safe fruits
.png)
All citrus fruits and berries should be avoided:
-
Lemons !!
-
Limes
-
Oranges
-
Pineapple
-
Tangerines
-
Kiwi
Porridge and fruit
How much and how often to feed?
Juveniles need to be fed more often than adults. You can feed the young easily every day, it is good to change their food easily, so that it is not too monotonous. We feed adults 2-3 times a week. It is important to watch out that the pagekon really crickets her. This is well determined by monitoring his poop. Pagekon has poop - pagekon eats.
An adult has no problem arranging 5 medium crickets for sitting. In adolescents, it is about half. The amount of porridge is incorrectly estimated, I always recommend filling the lid from the pet bottle to the brim and preparing it for the pagekon.
​
Where to put food and what about a bowl of water?
If you have a larger terrarium, you need to put food in more places so that you animals have no problem finding it. Since gecko is a tree creature, it is good to leave the porridge on a branch and not lay it on the ground.
A bowl of water is not a necessity, but it will certainly not hurt if it is not too deep. Cresties drinks by licking droplets from a sprinkled terrarium and flowers. Dew at least every day for the evening, ideally twice a day.
