crested gecko babys eating gecko diet powder + crickets that have been dusted?

[macro junkie]

a friend i know is feeding gecko diet..u know the powder stuff mixed with water?well hes also dusting his crickets with that crickets dust u can get?

i been reading that all the gecko needs is the gecko diet but giving them live food will give them exercise..but dusting the crickets as well with that cricket dusting stuff(forgot the name)

do any of you do this?1st iv heard of it is when he told me.seems excessive to me?

[blackbat67]

Most of the time my crestie gets fed just CGD, but maybe once or twice a week I feed crickets, dusted with calcium. He loves it , plus he grows faster, hehe.

[tesse.t]

i feed mine mainly the repashy 2 part CGD and leave it in for around 2-3 so they always have access to it as they need it for proper growth its not necessary to feed them dusted crickets as long as they have the CGD so its down to preference if you decide to feed them crickets as well, i just give mine them once a week. mainly cause its fun to watch them catch them

[macro junkie]

my Q is dusting the crickets every time u feed the gecko..so just say your throwing in 1 cricket dusted per day and they got the cgd..would that be to much or fine?

[biohazard156]

It depends on what cgd he is feeding... the two part diet can be mixed in the 50/50 ratio base to nectar which means you have to feed calcium dusted crickets as part of the diet.
Mixing it 60/40 base to nectar takes away the need for the crickets, so obviously no dusting required there....

To be honest, the crickets shake off the dust so quickly that if the crestie is not eating the bugs straight away, it will not be getting much calcium from it at all.

But yes, if he *has* to feed crickets depending on the mix ratio, then dusting every time is required, if its not required and they are just a treat....then it wouldn't be as important.

[macro junkie]

ah ok..Thanks


can somone link me to a thread thats just about housing crested geckos?.

[sparkle]

Originally Posted by macro junkie

a friend i know is feeding gecko diet..u know the powder stuff mixed with water?well hes also dusting his crickets with that crickets dust u can get?

i been reading that all the gecko needs is the gecko diet but giving them live food will give them exercise..but dusting the crickets as well with that cricket dusting stuff(forgot the name)

do any of you do this?1st iv heard of it is when he told me.seems excessive to me?

it is not excessive no and the bugs dont give them excercise as such they give them protein, also if the bugs are fed the repashy special bug feed and also fruits and vege the crestie will obviously benefit from this too..

Most baby cresties I have seen fed on CGD alone are extremely slow to grow ...they love live foods and if brought up on it you dont have the issue when you sell on of cresties who simply will not eat live..

as for the calcium debate .. as CGD contains D3 I dust my crickets with calcium only. if the crested gecko is eating CGD ( i feed mine repashy 2 part system and i mix 50/50 with pureed watery melon water) then it will intake D3.. therefore the requirement to dust the crickets or other feeder insect with a mixed supplement is not necessary..

it is possible to overdose on D3 so I use calypso cricket dust to dust the crix etc.. I dont find they shake off all the dust.. they have a very light and thin coating which is what is advised for feeding lizards in general.. you should be able to just see the powder on the insect.. the easiest way to dust is to put them in a long tall cylyndrical tube with calcium and bottomo and shake vigorously.. I have never seen a cricket shake dust off if done this way

[dusty cricket]

i use cgd but with organic babyfood instead of water. i also feed hoppers and occasionally some of the leos mealworms which are gutloaded. i mix a teaspoon of calcium carbonate into each bug dust jar when i first open them and cruelly i dunk each hopper into the dust jar for a little 'swirling' when i feed. the first hopper that goes into each viv gets fed to the crestie by hand and the rest are chucked in left to their own fate. hoppers are fed usually twice a week and the puree is always in each viv. i replenish that about every third day. i ate a hopper for a bet and it didn't taste of anything.

[SandiskReptiles]

my crestie dont eat locusts, crickets OR roaches. Yet he loves mealworms.

Every day he has CGD (the crested gecko diet powder mix either by T-rex Superfoods OR Komodo)...he has the CGD offered daily, changing it every 2 days. And then twice or three times a week i toss in about 8 mealies and he scoffs them all. But never wants more.