Being Difficult.

[xxohmycaptainxx]

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So my new male Crested Gecko, Desna, was doing so well right after I got him. When I first got him on the 24th of last month he was put into his tank for a few days until the supplies to build his vivarium came in.

A few days later he was put into a critter keeper while I built his vivarium. On Friday, the 29th, he was put into a 66qt tub which will be his home for the next month while his vivarium acclimates. Anyway my issue is that on the day I got the tub for him he ate around 4-6 crickets from a pair of tongs, the next day he ate 3-4, and on Sunday the 31st he had another 4-5.

He has pooped during this time and on Monday I wrote up his feeding schedule. Which is a feeding on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Since he had eaten Sunday he refused food Monday. To get him on schedule I waited until yesterday, Wednesday, to try and feed him again but he refused. He ate so readily those few days, what happened? I would just take him out, lay him on my lap, put the cricket by his face and he'd just chomp away. Could him not eating be due to him eating so much to those other few days? He doesn't seem stressed from what I can tell and his colors aren't dulling so I don't believe he's shedding. I left the three dusted crickets I was going to feed him in his tub so hopefully he eats them. I'm sure its nothing but it just has me worried because he ate so readily before.

Before anyone says anything about fruit or CGD, I'm going to offer him fruit around once a week per this site's caresheet's instructions. I'm not using CGD also per the caresheet's directions. Along with that, Desna has been fed mostly crickets and small amounts of fruit his entire life so I shouldn't have any issues with him not eating due to it being a new food for him.

[CrestedL]

Hi, I would just like to start this off by saying you should not keep giving him crickets as his daily meal. The owner before him should have thought this through too, while it is only okay to feed crickets as their only died ONLY IF THE CRICKETS ARE HEAVILY AND CORRECTLY SUPPLEMENTED. That's the beauty of CGD, it already has the perfect amount they need to stay healthy and it's easily used. Without the proper nutrients, such as calcium which crickets are very very low on, your gecko has a chance to develop MBD, which is irreversible, and if you want to see what it can do im sure there are threads showing its affect, but all in all it puts the gecko in a lot of pain and it's really avoidable if you feed him right. His owner has groomed him to only want crickets, but what they should of done was have him get on a regular schedule with CGD and then feed him crickets to know he would like it. Think of this, CGD is a complete meal for them while crickets are supposed to be treated as treats, so if you were to put a bowl of dog food infront of a dog and a bowl of treats, which would you think the dog would eat? Along with the fruit, if he's not eating a healthy fruit that has been supplemented it can also be bad for him, things like banana that are fed often to him with no supplements is probably the worst (not how I said often, if it's every once and a while you should still be supp it but it's fine if not but only it's its on occasion)

Please post the information on this caresheet that you're looking at, if it's tellig you to only feed him crickets, I have a bad feeling it might have some kinks in the information which can be checked over easily here and corrected it need be

*edit, I would like to also say I wouldn't keep tong feeding him, it will make him very dependent on you and he will learn that he cannot eat all by himself, you are essentially babying him when he should be able to eat by himself

*double edit, the reason he slowed down is probably because you started holding him, you should give CGeckos about 2 weeks to acclimate, whereas I don't think you have him a full 2 weeks, and the stress could cause him to go off feed and refuse

[Aimless]

CrestedL, I absolutely disagree. the caresheet on this forum was written by GU mod thorshammeri, who is a very experienced gecko keeper with decades of time spent keeping and breeding a large number of gecko species. there is no one true way in gecko keeping, and you can certainly have a healthy crested live its entire span on mostly-crickets.

to the OP: I would say, give him time. you haven't had him long at all and there have been many changes. he's quite likely still settling into the new home, and acclimation begins all over again every time you put him into a new cage.

[CrestedL]

CrestedL, I absolutely disagree. the caresheet on this forum was written by GU mod thorshammeri, who is a very experienced gecko keeper with decades of time spent keeping and breeding a large number of gecko species. there is no one true way in gecko keeping, and you can certainly have a healthy crested live its entire span on mostly-crickets.

to the OP: I would say, give him time. you haven't had him long at all and there have been many changes. he's quite likely still settling into the new home, and acclimation begins all over again every time you put him into a new cage.

Im not saying the method of feeding them crickets was completely wrong, but if you're not supplementing them completely it would be harmful

[Aimless]

this is what I was responding to: "you should not keep giving him crickets as his daily meal."

I'm sorry if I somehow misinterpreted your statement. the caresheet referenced also discusses gutloading, as does the nutrition subforum on this site (if the OP should need guidance for such).

[xxohmycaptainxx]

At the times of the feedings the crickets were not gutloaded to the best of what could be done. They were gutloaded but on a lower quality gutload by Flukers that I no longer use, my Zoo Med Adult Bearded Dragon food came in which will now serve as my gutload per the cricket guidelines on this forum. As @Aimless stated CGD is actually a very poor diet for Cresties and a healthy diet of mostly gutloaded crickets and occasionaly fruits or honey is a better option. I will give him more time to settle. He does so well with handling that I mistake it for him being comfortable. They're so much different from leopard geckos, who actively show their discomfort by trying to escape your grasps or darkening their colors. My leo, Bonita, turns this ugly grayish-yellow if I try to pick her up. I'll give Desna more time to settle and in a week or two I'll try feeding him again. Not sure if those 3 crickets are still in there, gotta check, but there was a huge poop that I have to clean out so I know at least that he's healthy and digesting the food that he did eat. Thanks for the advice!

And also I will continue to tong feed him. It makes things easier for me stress wise, as it stresses me out that they won't eat for whatever reason, so tong feeding and knowing for sure whether my animals are eating or not is more comforting to me. I am not yet doing it for my leopard gecko, she's still not used to eating crickets yet, but I do it for both my Crested Gecko and my Pacman Frog. I like knowing that they're eating, how much they're eating and that they're comfortable enough with me to eat from tongs. Tong feeding or hand feeding is a great way to bond with animals and many keepers, from what I've seen, prefer to tong feed. What's wrong with babying your animals? I always have the time to tong feed and be sure he gets all his food, so why stress over worrying about whether he ate the crickets I put in his tub or not? It really makes no sense. You really should rethink your argument as I can't see any downside to tong feeding.

[CrestedL]

At the times of the feedings the crickets were not gutloaded to the best of what could be done. They were gutloaded but on a lower quality gutload by Flukers that I no longer use, my Zoo Med Adult Bearded Dragon food came in which will now serve as my gutload per the cricket guidelines on this forum. As @Aimless stated CGD is actually a very poor diet for Cresties and a healthy diet of mostly gutloaded crickets and occasionaly fruits or honey is a better option. I will give him more time to settle. He does so well with handling that I mistake it for him being comfortable. They're so much different from leopard geckos, who actively show their discomfort by trying to escape your grasps or darkening their colors. My leo, Bonita, turns this ugly grayish-yellow if I try to pick her up. I'll give Desna more time to settle and in a week or two I'll try feeding him again. Not sure if those 3 crickets are still in there, gotta check, but there was a huge poop that I have to clean out so I know at least that he's healthy and digesting the food that he did eat. Thanks for the advice!

And also I will continue to tong feed him. It makes things easier for me stress wise, as it stresses me out that they won't eat for whatever reason, so tong feeding and knowing for sure whether my animals are eating or not is more comforting to me. I am not yet doing it for my leopard gecko, she's still not used to eating crickets yet, but I do it for both my Crested Gecko and my Pacman Frog. I like knowing that they're eating, how much they're eating and that they're comfortable enough with me to eat from tongs. Tong feeding or hand feeding is a great way to bond with animals and many keepers, from what I've seen, prefer to tong feed. What's wrong with babying your animals? I always have the time to tong feed and be sure he gets all his food, so why stress over worrying about whether he ate the crickets I put in his tub or not? It really makes no sense. You really should rethink your argument as I can't see any downside to tong feeding.

Aimless never stated it was a "very poor diet", they wouldn't make CGD if it was "very poor" for them to eat. Aimless said that it's fine for a gecko to live on a healthy diet of mostly crickets, but im going to guess that she also means they have to be properly supplemented. I have fed my gecko CGD with crickets every week and he's fine, so CGD is not a "very poor diet" as you can do either crickets or CGD but with the crickets having to be properly gutloaded for a full time feed.

[Aimless]

I think any combination of crickets and CGD, or each alone, is fine. IF you are only doing crickets you need to have a proper gutload or your gecko will not have its nutritional needs met. it is certainly possible to raise healthy geckos on only insects; likewise you can raise healthy geckos on only CGD.

I feed CGD as a staple with well-gutloaded crickets about once a week and occasional fruit as a treat. I figure it's the best of both worlds. I didn't feed crickets as often the first few years I kept cresteds because CGD was just easier. a few years ago I started keeping a few geckos that are more carnivorous in nature, so now I always have bugs around.

[xxohmycaptainxx]

Ahh well either way I'm keeping him on crickets. I'm not sure but I think he shed. The other day he was very gray looking, but it was still daytime so he could've been just dull. The next morning he was really bright. Like I've seen him fired up and he was way brighter than what I had previously seen. His yellows were so much brighter and his red flanks popped more. I'm hoping he did shed as that could explain why he wouldn't eat. I've left him alone though. He won't be bothered by me until Monday when I'll try to feed him again. Hopefully he's hungry and will eat this time.

[xxohmycaptainxx]

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Tried feeding Desna again tonight, not interested at all. He just wanted to jump up my shirt and climb into my hair. He's still active and looking healthy. His belly isn't skinny but its wrinkly and not nice and plump like I'd prefer it to be. He hasn't eaten since the 31st. At what point should I be seriously worried and take him into a vet? Just like last time I left 3 live crickets in his tub just in case he decides he want them. I don't know what's wrong. The temps in his room during the day rarely get above 76 and at night they're around 70ish so his temps shouldn't be an issue. I mist his tub every evening and there's plenty of ventilation holes so that shouldn't be an issue. He ate so well during the first week. Ugh I'm sure its just him needing some time to settle but they don't have fat stores like leopard geckos do they? How long can he go like this? This is so damn stressful let me tell you I finally got my leopard gecko, Bonita, to eat and now I'm dealing with this again. I love reptiles but their habits of avoiding food when stressed makes me want to pull out my hair!