🍖Feeding a Crested gecko: diet, supplements, food refusals
Crested gecko : The practical staple is a complete fruit-gecko powder mixed with water, offered 3 to 4 times a week, plus calcium-dusted insects once or twice weekly. Fruit purée alone is unbalanced.
In short: 18 to 22 cm including tail as an adult, 15 to 20 years of lifespan, beginner level. A small nocturnal arboreal lizard, docile yet quick, readily leaping from branch to branch after dusk. It thrives at room temperature without heating in most homes, but once its tail drops, it never grows back.
The Crested gecko diet, precisely
A fruit-and-insect eater: complete fruit-gecko powder mixed with water 3 to 4 times a week, plus calcium-dusted insects once or twice weekly; fruit purée alone is unbalanced. Temperature governs digestion: a Crested gecko kept below its 25-27°C basking spot digests poorly and eventually refuses food — faced with a refusing animal, check the thermometer before the menu.
Gut-loading and supplements: the invisible part
A cricket is only worth what it ate: feed your insects for 24-48 h (fresh vegetables, bran) before offering them — that is gut-loading. Add calcium + D3 dusting at nearly every juvenile meal, every other one for adults, plus a calcium dish available at all times.
Water and hydration
The 50 to 80% humidity is part of hydration: regular misting alongside a clean water dish changed daily. Dehydration shows in skin folds and sunken eyes: that means the exotics vet, not the mister alone. The full profile is on the full Crested gecko profile.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Crested gecko eat?
A fruit-and-insect eater: complete fruit-gecko powder mixed with water 3 to 4 times a week, plus calcium-dusted insects once or twice weekly; fruit purée alone is unbalanced.
Why is my Crested gecko refusing food?
Check temperatures first (basking spot at 25-27°C): too cold means no digestion. Then shedding and settling-in stress — but measured weight loss calls for the exotics vet.
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