Feeding your Crested Gecko

Crested geckos are omnivores, meaning that they eat both plant and animal matter.

What to feed:
Crested geckos will eat crickets, waxworms, mealworms, baby food, Repashy Superfoods, and fruit. Mealworms, however, should be avoided due to their thick exoskeleton and little nutrition. Some fruits you can feed to your crested gecko: peaches, pears, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, mangos, passion fruit, papaya, figs, and watermelon. Do not ever feed your crested gecko citrus fruits such as: oranges, lemons, limes, pineapple or grapefruit. Citrus is terrible for your geckos.

In the wild, crested geckos eat decaying or rotten fruit, so it's okay to feed geckos fruit that's a little overripe, but fresh fruit is better since it provides more nutrients.

Crickets and waxworms or other insects should always be "dusted" with calcium powder at every feeding. You should provide a multi-vitamin on the insects at least once a week as well. To dust insects with calcium, drop them into a zip-lock bag, add some calcium dust, and shake them around until they're covered.

If you choose to feed your gecko baby food, make sure it's organic and has little to no citric acid in it. You will probably never find baby food without citric acid in it as a preservative, and I personally avoid feeding my geckos baby food because of the citric acid in it.

The best option to feed your gecko is the Crested Gecko Diet (CGD), also known as the Repashy Superfood diet. This diet comes in powder form and must be mixed with water before fed to the gecko. CGD contains all the nutrients your gecko needs, and fruit does not have to be given if you're feeding this. Crickets should always be fed to your crested gecko, even if you're feeding CGD.

How much to feed:
Insects should never be bigger than the space between the gecko's eyes, or half the size of its head. If insects are too big for your gecko to eat, it can choke on them or might avoid them altogether.

Adult geckos should be fed as much CGD as can be consumed in 4 hours. Never leave food in the terrarium for more than 24 hours, as it can spoil or mold. Offer your gecko about 1 teaspoon of blended fruit. The fruit has to be blended well or chopped into tiny pieces. Adult geckos should also be fed about 3 crickets every day.

Juveniles should have 1-2 crickets per day and about 1/2 teaspoon of CGD or fruit.

When to feed:
The only thing that works with my gecko is if I feed him crickets in the morning and CGD at night. Different geckos have different personalities and habits, however, so you'll have to experiment and see what time is best for your gecko to eat. If you don't know, you should feed your gecko in the evening before turning his light off.