In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about crested gecko’s diet. We will discuss best foods for crested geckos and give you a list of safe and toxic fruits. What is more, we will talk about commercial diets including Repashy, Pangea, crickets and insects and others. We will discuss what to feed your crested gecko, feeding schedules for babies and adults, best mixes, good and bad supplements (safe limits and how much to use), water needs, safe and toxic fruits, how much to feed, normal growth rates, creating balanced mixes and much more.
What do crested geckos eat in the wild?
Let’s start off by saying what crested geckos naturally eat in the wild. Crested geckos are omnivores, which means that they eat both plant and animal material.
In the wild, crested geckos eat both insects and fruits. What is more, they eat flower nectar and pollen. Crested geckos can also eat smaller lizards and even smaller crested geckos that they can overpower. However, crested geckos don’t eat vegetables or leaf salads and generally reject them.
How often does a crested gecko need to eat?
Feeding frequencies for crested geckos will depend on the age and season.
Feed hatchling crested geckos 4-5 times a week. Hatchlings will benefit from complete mix diet 2-3 times a week, and live gut-loaded + supplemented crickets 2 times a week. Same is with breeding crested geckos – feed them around 4 times a week.
Adults will need less feeding. This can be 2-3 times per week. Twice a week, offer balanced commercial mix diet food. And at least once a week (or twice a week), offer gut-loaded crickets. In winter, you can feed your crested geckos only once or twice a week.
The best time of the day to feed your crested geckos is in the evening, when they start becoming active.
Crested gecko normal weight and growth
Don’t overfeed your crested gecko, as it can cause obesity. Make sure to have scales to monitor your gecko’s weight. Scales should check weight to the nearest 0.1 grams.
A healthy crested gecko should gain around 1-2 grams each month until it reaches maturity at 18-24 months. Hatchling crested geckos weigh around 2 grams, reach around 20 grams by the month 9-10 (sexual maturity) and then reach around 40-55 grams at 18-24 months.
But adult weight will be different for each gecko. You can say that your crested gecko is obese if it weighs more than 65 grams or so, but it will also be visible.
What food is suitable for crested geckos? Food list.
- Crickets or some other insects. Feeding your crested gecko live insects at least once a week is recommended. 1-2 times a week is ideal. This is because it will help it exercise and hunt, diversifying the diet. But if you don’t want to deal with any crickets or other insects, you can offer only complete diet mix from an early age. Make sure not to catch your own insects as they might be sprayed with chemicals.
- Commercial diets and occasionally, fresh fruit purees. There are different fruits that you can feed to your crested geckos. But it is always a good idea to make sure that your crested gecko is eating mix up diet first before offering any proper fruits. Good complete diet mixes that you can offer to your crested gecko for life include Repashy and Pangea.
- Meat (only with fruits purees). You will need to mix in some meat with fruit purees that you are offering. Meat will add in some important protein to the mix. This is especially crucial if you are not offering your crested geckos any crickets or roaches. Meat that you can offer is mostly baby food chicken and turkey.
- This meat can be mixed with fruit purees. Meat proportion in the puree should be only 1-4-1/3. Very rarely, you can offer pinkie mice, but only to skinny or breeding geckos. Many crested geckos refuse fuzzy mice, though. Making your own purees more than once a month is not recommended – this mix is likely to be unbalanced. Also, instead of meat you might use freeze dried crickets and plain yogurt.
The best diet for your crested gecko consist of crickets (or other insects 1-2 times per week) and commercial diet such as Pangea or Repashy 2 times a week.
If you don’t wish to handle and keep crickets, you will need to feed your gecko only commercial diets and pureed fruits with added meat (no more than 1-2 times a month). But feeding your gecko live insects encourages hunting and diversifies the diet.
Feeding your crested gecko crickets, roaches and other insects
You need to offer your crested geckos some crickets once or twice a week, if possible. If you can’t offer them every week, do so at least every other week. This will help to diversify crested gecko’s diet and will encourage it to hunt.
Crested geckos don’t prefer many insects, and crickets are most popular and favorite insects. This is because other insects are very slow-moving and don’t spark any interest to hunt. The most commonly sold crickets are brown crickets, or Acheta Domesticus.
Crickets are easy to care for and are cheaper to buy. Some crested geckos will eat mealworms, but you will need to introduce them to your crested gecko from an early age.
You can also try offering Dubia roaches, Phoenix worms (Calci worms or Black Soldier fly larvae) and pupated adult flies and moths to your crested gecko and see if is accepting them.
How to keep and care for feeder crickets, roaches and other insects
Keep your crickets or other insects that you buy in a cricket pen, that will house roughly 200 small crickets depending or pen’s size. If you buy crickets online, you will need to keep them in the pen for around 24 hours for gut-loading. After gut-loading and dusting crickets, you can feed them to your crested gecko.
You will need to feed your crickets with commercial cricket diet or offer foods such as rodent chow, squash, grated cereal and others. Don’t have pure water in the cricket pen, because crickets will drown and foul the water, causing bacterial growth.
Instead of water, place cricket quencher, water pillows, water crystals or fruit slices (orange, apples etc.).
Make sure that crickets or other insects are gut-loaded, meaning that they have been fed a nutritious diet for at least 24 hours before feeding them to your crested gecko.
If crickets have not been gut-loaded, they will provide little or no nutritional value for your gecko. Also, don’t feed your crickets any foods of low nutritional value, such as romaine lettuce, fish food (improper Ca:P ratio) and others.
Gut-loading crickets doesn’t mean that you don’t have to dust them with supplements. We will discuss supplementation in a minute.
Read how to keep, care and gut-load crickets, roaches and other insects in this post.
What size crickets and how many crickets to feed your crested gecko?
The size of crickets or other insects will depend on the size of crested gecko’s head. Crickets or other insects that you offer should not be longer than crested gecko’s head width or length.
Depending on the age, hatchlings and babies will need around 1/4 inch crickets.
Babies and juveniles that are around 3-4 months old will need 1/2 inch crickets.
More mature sub-adult crested geckos (8 months old and over) can enjoy full-grown crickets. Below you can see a chart of cricket sizes and their lengths.
Hatchlings will eat 3-5 small crickets per feeding. An average mature crested gecko will need around 6-10 crickets in one feeding. Don’t offer crickets or roaches that are way too small for your gecko, as they will be harder for your gecko to catch. You will also need more of them to make a meal.
Never leave more crickets or roaches than your gecko will eat, or they will hide, get hungry and can bite your gecko and cause it lots of stress. If feeding smaller roaches, you might benefit from an escape-proof dish.
Although there are freeze dried crickets available, your crested gecko won’t be interested in eating these. You can use freeze dried crickets only for an extra protein source – blend them in fruits smoothies that you might make occasionally.
Fruits for your crested gecko
You can introduce pureed fruits to crested geckos even when they are hatchlings. All crested geckos are different, and some will like some fruit flavors over others.
You can offer your crested geckos the fruits in baby food form, or purees. Purees can be bought or made at home, by blending the fruits in the processor.
Make sure to introduce live crickets first to your hatchling, if your plan on offering them. And only after that, start offering Repashy or Pangea commercial diets.
After your crested gecko is familiar with Repashy like this or Pangea, you can start offering fresh fruits and purees. By offering insects first, you will make sure that your crested gecko doesn’t reject them later.
Offering Repashy or Pangea before fresh fruits will help your gecko to get used to different commercial mixes and receive a balanced diet.
Many gecko that eat fruits and purees first, later reject commercial mixes. But generally, feeding fresh fruits is not recommended because purees are often unbalanced!
List of the best safe fruits and berries for your crested gecko:
- Guava
- Papaya – good for mixing with other fruits
- Banana – only use as treats, because they are high in potassium and can bind calcium, preventing its absorption
- Peach
- Mango
- Pears
- Cantaloupe melon
- Apples – staple
- Plums
- Apricots – staple
- Figs
- Berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
List of non-safe fruits that can be toxic to your crested gecko
All citrus fruits and berries should be avoided:
- Lemons
- Limes
- Oranges
- Grapefruits
- Grapes
- Pineapple
- Tangerines
- Kiwi – better to avoid feeding. Acidic + high in oxalates
- Toxic fruits to crested geckos include rhubarb and potentially avocados. Avoid them in the diet.
Some fruits are high in oxalic acid, so you must offer them less frequently. Fruits that are high in oxalic acid will bind calcium and interfere with its absorption. Some of the fruits and berries that are high in oxalic acid include blueberries, figs and plums.
If you are buying baby foods for your crested gecko in jars, make sure they don’t contain citric acid or added sugar. These are common ingredients to preserve fruits and make them taste more sour/sweet.
Importance of Calcium:Phosphorus ratio in crested gecko’s diet
It is important to feed your crested gecko with high quality commercial diets, because fruit purees are often unbalanced. Only feed homemade purees temporarily if you run out of a commercial mix.
Not all fruits are nutritionally equal and you should not feed your crested gecko only the fruits that it likes. Calcium:Phosphorus ratio in crested gecko’s diet is crucial – and it should be 2:1 (or up to 3:1).
If you don’t create nutritionally balanced purees, your crested geckos risks becoming deficient in calcium (too much phosphorus will bind calcium). Below, you can find Ca:P ratio in fruits. Make sure to mix the fruits to create a ratio of 2:1 of Ca:P. Numbers are taken from spruce pets website.
Ca:P ratios in crested gecko fruits and berries
Papayas – 4.8:1
Prickly pear – 2.3:1
Apples (with skin on) – 1.1:1
Blackberries – 1.5:1
Cantaloupe melon – 0.6:1
Honeydew melon – 0.9:1
Guava – 1:1.3
Apricots – 0.7:1
Pears – 1.1:1
Mangoes – 0.9:1
Raspberries – 1.8:1
Strawberries – 0.7:1
Summer squash – 1:1.7
Cherries – 0.8:1
Bananas – 0.3:1
Peaches – 0.4:1
Blueberries – 0.6:1
Fresh figs – 2.5:1
Plums – 0.4:1
Watermelon – 1:1.1
As you can see, by making your own puree can be hard to achieve required Ca:P levels. This is why using commercial diets such as Pangea and Repashy that have proper Ca:P ratios, added supplements, minerals and protein is the best choice.
When you run out of the mix, you can prepare fruit purees or buy them. We will give you a puree recipe that is closely matching the Ca:P levels.
Fruit smoothie/puree recipe for your crested gecko:
Many crested gecko enjoy mixing fruits with some plain yogurt as described in ‘Hilde Diet’ (yogurt + balanced fruits).
For this recipe, you will need to mix fruits with plain yogurt or kefir with no added sugar of any type.
You must choose and mix fruits to achieve a recommended Ca:P levels, that should be 2:1 or 3:1. Blend the fruits and mix with yogurt. One recipe is to choose fruits such as papaya, some apple with skin, plums or peaches and few strawberries. Always remove the pits. The mix should have the consistency of the ketchup.
Don’t use yogurt with every feeding, as use of yogurt with reptiles has not been researched extensively. Many people believe that feeding yogurt can interfere with natural gut flora that includes Salmonella.
But if your crested gecko accepts yogurt with fruits, you can offer these smoothies once or twice a month, when your run out of your normal commercial diet.
If you need to make your own smoothie more often than this, skip the yogurt. For a protein source, use 1/4-1/3 parts of turkey or chicken meat in jar mixed with fruits. You can also add in some gut-loaded freeze dried insects (such as 3-5 crickets) instead, especially if your crested gecko refuses to eat any live insects.
Please remember, that commercial diets are the best formulas for feeding your geckos. You will also need to add minerals and vitamins to the homemade puree/smoothie, and we will talk about it in a second. Don’t leave fresh fruit puree/smoothie in the tank for more than 10-12 hours, or it will go off and can even mold.
Make sure to place the smoothie in the spot where the cup won’t be easily knocked over, as most crested geckos will walk over the food.
Fruits will be sticky on gecko’s feet, and will cause it problems with walking and climbing. It also means that you will need to clean up all around the cage. Feeder ledge like this is suitable for feeding your gecko.
Commercial crested gecko diet – MRP (Meal Replacement Powder)
Repashy
You will need to feed your crested gecko with commercial diets, that are balanced, nutritionally rich and supplemented. Try to have a stock of commercial mixes and only feed homemade fruit purees or mixes when you run out.
Preparing your own balanced and supplemented purees is time consuming and it can be hard to achieve balanced levels of calcium, phosphorus and other vitamins & minerals. CGD (crested gecko diet) mix bags usually last for many months.
The best commercial mixes for your crested geckos include:
- Repashy – available in different flavors, such as this Mango. Repashy has been formulated by the specialist in the gecko field Allen Repashy. This mix contains crucial vitamin D3, calcium, other minerals and vitamins, pigments, protein. Mix 1 part of the powder with 2 parts of water.
- Pangea – professionally formulated formula, which comes in various flavors. You will need to try few flavors to see which one your gecko likes the most. The flavors include banana/papaya, Watermelon and Mango and one with insects. There is also a breeding formula mix.
Pangea Complete Crested Gecko Food
- There are also other brands that make complete crested gecko diets, but only buy them if you cannot find Repashy or Pangea. These include mixes such as Zoo Med Crested Gecko Diet, Black Panther Zoological and Big Fat Gecko Diet.
You will need to mix the powder with water and offer it to your crested gecko 2-3 times a week (and 1-2 times offer insects, highly recommended). If you cannot offer insects, feed CGD (crested gecko diet) 3-4 times a week. Don’t offer just the powder, but mix it with water.
Pure powders have a very low water content. The portion size should be equal to a small shallow cup (often sold for geckos) or around the size of gecko’s head.
You can leave the mix in the vivarium for 24-36 hours. Your gecko might decide to eat the mix later or even the next day. The mix will start settling/separating after 24 hours. Don’t worry if your crested gecko is not coming out to eat straight away – it might be shy and might prefer to eat at night when no one is watching.
What if my crested gecko doesn’t like the complete commercial diet?
There can be few reasons why your crested geckos hates the commercial diet. One of them is that you have introduced purees and smoothies to your gecko before you started offering commercial mixes.
Crested geckos that have been eating fresh fruits and berries are very likely to refuse powdered diets. In this case, you will need to mix some powdered diet in the puree and keep reducing the puree content gradually.
Another reason why your crested gecko might be refusing to eat a complete diet mix is because it might hate the fruit flavor. For example, some crested geckos might hate peaches, so you might have to try another flavor and see if it likes that one better.
Treats for crested geckos
You can also offer treats to your crested gecko, but only occasionally. Treats will include fruits high in oxalates and potassium, such as bananas. Other treats should include fruits/berries that are high in calcium, such as blackberries, guavas, papaya and dried figs. Offer treats only once a month, which equals to around 10% of crested gecko’s diet.
You can also give your crested gecko some honey as a treat – but not more than a drop of honey. But don’t offer honey more than once a month – because it is too sweet and your gecko might get used to that flavor. Plus, it is mostly just sugar.
Supplementing crested gecko’s diet
Supplementing your crested gecko’s food is crucial. If you don’t gut-load and supplement the food, or just feed your gecko with unbalanced smoothies, it will develop a Metabolic Bone disorder and vitamin deficiency. This will lead to death if not corrected.
You will not be able to notice deficiencies for many months, so it is important to care about supplementation regularly. Calcium and vitamin D3 are the most important in crested gecko’s diet. Vitamin D3 is needed to absorb calcium. But don’t oversupplement – it will cause toxicity.
No matter what food you are feeding your crested gecko, you will need to supplement it. The only exception will be a complete crested gecko diet, such as Pangea or Repashy. It is already supplemented and balanced.
With insects, you will have to gut-load them for 24 hours before feeding and dust them with vitamins and minerals before feeding. To gut-load insects, you will need to keep them in a pen and feed them nutritious diet for 24 hours. Read about gut-loading in this post.
But you will also need to dust insects. You will need to place your crickets in a high sided dish, such as this cricket shaker like this, to lightly cover them with supplement.
If you are making your own puree/smoothie, you will also need to supplement it.
Which supplement to use and avoid for crested geckos and how much to use?
It can be easy to overdose with supplements. Crested geckos need a wide range of vitamins and minerals, but let’s talk about calcium and vitamin D3 first. The problem with many supplements is that they contain very high levels of vitamin D3. Crested geckos are crepuscular & nocturnal, and they need less vitamin D3 in the diet.
Too much vitamin D3 will cause over utilization of calcium in the body, causing hypercalcemia. But at the same time, if you are feeding insects, these can be high in phosphorus, and you will need to add calcium to balance Ca:P levels. And you will need to add vitamin D3 so that the calcium can be absorbed.
Many supplement that you can buy have high levels of vitamin D3, which can lead to toxicity. So watch out for vitamin D3 levels in the vitamins/multivitamins.
Make sure the supplement doesn’t contain more than 45,00-50,000 IU/kg of vitamin D3. It is better to stay in the 45,000 IU/kg range. Only use a pinch of a multivitamin powder to lightly coat each insect.
And for smoothies, add around half a teaspoon for around 300 grams of puree (you can freeze the food for later).
Never supplement complete powdered diets or you will ruin the vitamin and mineral balance and oversupplement it. Supplement insects 2 times per week (with every insect feeding). Same goes with purees (don’t feed more than 1-2 times a month).
How much vitamins to add in gecko’s food?
When counting how much of vitamin to add, follow the guidelines that tell you how much of supplement to add per gecko’s weight, rather than grams of food. When counting how much of supplement to add for specific weight, you will minizme any chances of oversupplementation.
On average, two pinches (one pinch is around 0.36 grams) will be enough to supplement one portion of food for a 40 gram crested gecko. Follow the instructions on the labels.
If your crested gecko needs calcium (such as gravid female or one with calcium deficiency), then use pure calcium powder without vitamin D3. But generally, a healthy crested gecko will benefit from insect supplementation with multivitamins around 1-2 times a week.
The best choice of supplements for your crested gecko include:
- Repashy Calcium Plus all in one supplement like this. This brand is very reputable and can be trusted with proper vitamin and mineral ratios. Contains around 20,000 IU/lb of vitamin D3.
- Reptivite by Zoo Med. Multivitamins with balanced Ca:P ratios (around 2.5:1). Contains around 22,907 IU/kg.
- Repti Calcium by Zoo Med. Only calcium + vitamin D3. Contains around 23,000 IU/kg of vitamin D3.
There are more vitamins and multivitamins that have acceptable vitamin D3 levels. But there are also many offenders that contain very high vitamin D3 levels. So it is better to avoid purchasing them before any changes are made.
Such examples are RepCal vitamin D3 with calcium (label says it contains minimum 400,000 IU/kg of vitamin D3!) and Fluker’s calcium with vitamin D3 (contains 100,000 IU/kg). The ranges might change regularly, so check the labels to make sure.
Crested gecko water needs
This crested gecko is very hungry!
As we have mentioned before, crested geckos require high humidity levels. Misting will help to achieve high humidity levels in the tank. Plus, crested geckos love drinking water drops from the leaves and other surfaces. Mist your crested gecko’s tank once a day, preferably in the evening.
Mist twice a day for hatchlings and young geckos as they find it harder to drink from cups. You can use a misting spray bottle to spray different surfaces in the tank, but make sure to have a cup with clean drinking water at all times.
Using a feeder ledge for both food and water is the one of the best choices.
A small cup inside the ledge will prevent your gecko from drowning. Wash the cup with soap or replace every 2-4 days. What is more, avoid giving tap water – distilled bottled water or water that is filtered with reverse-osmosis system is the best.