Gargoyle Gecko help

jet228 · #1 07-19-2011, 11:43 AM

Hey guys,

I have had my Gargoyle for almost a year now. He is fantastic, friendly and seems very healthy.

I made some feeding errors with him over the past year. I did not realize how much fruit he was supposed to eat. Instead of mostly fruit with calcium/ vitamins added, I have been mainly feeding him live crickets with the occasional calcium dusting and fruit (usually baby food) on the occasion.

Once I realized I might be not giving him what he needs, I have tried to get him back to a proper diet for the past few days. I've tried: jarred peaches in water with no sugar, mashed up with vitamins and calcium, fresh nectarine, fresh cherries, and fresh banana all prepared the same way. I have not fed him crickets since Friday.

I don't believe he has eaten any of it, and I am starting to worry. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on this? Any help will be muchly appreciated.

P.S. he loves crickets. He will eat them all day and all night. I'm just worried he should be getting more nutrients from fruit etc.

Sporonicle · #2 07-19-2011, 12:16 PM

If you can, find Repashy's Crested Gecko Diet and feed him that. There are a few companies in Canada that distribute it. It contains all of the vital nutrients he needs to be healthy. Never feed him baby food. The high sugar content can have your gecko become addicted to the stuff, and they won't eat anything else after.

Hannibal · #3 07-19-2011, 07:34 PM

His primary diet should be Crested Gecko Diet (CGD), it is made by Rapashy, Clarke's, TRex, ect. The best one to get is Rapashy and the 2nd best is Clarke's, try to stay away from TRex or other brands as they are not as complete as Rapashy or Clarke's. Rapashy & Clarke's are complete diets with proper vitamins/nutrition balance. The CGD is really cheap compared to the cost of fruit, baby food or crickets.

When you start him on the CGD, you need to go cold turkey and only feed the CGD...no fruit, no baby food, & no crickets. He may go 7-14 days without eating (it's ok, he will not starve himself), but he will then realize that this is the only food he's going to get and will start to eat it. Once he is eating the CGD for at least 2 months, you can then start adding a couple crickets a month into his diet, then up to once a week feeding of crickets. Anytime you feed insects, you should dust them with the calcium.

acpart · #4 07-19-2011, 10:29 PM

Here's another suggestion: I"ve had a garg for a year and though I offered CGD 3x/wk, I rarely saw it disappearing. Last month I started smearing some of it on her nose when I put the bowl in the cage and now it's disappearing regularly.

Aliza

jet228 · #5 07-20-2011, 11:28 AM

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much... I was really starting to get worried. I've grown super attached to him and wanted him to be healthy.

Just one more question. I've seen care sheets that say he should be fed every second day, and some that say every day. What is the best schedule?

Hannibal · #6 07-20-2011, 07:03 PM

We use to feed ours every other night, but after a year we found out that they actually prefer their dinner every 3rd night. Some prefer fresh CGD and some prefer it 1-2 days old. I would suggest feeding according to how he responds to the CGD.

acpart · #7 07-20-2011, 09:53 PM

Here's my feeding schedule I've been using for my crestie for about 5 years and my garg for 1 year: Mon,Wed,Fri CGD; Sun and/or Tues crickets.

Aliza

pakinjak · #8 07-21-2011, 07:48 AM

I'm a little more laissez faire in my approach to feeding my rhacs. I feed... whenever. Sometimes I feed them every other night, sometimes I feed them every third or fourth night.

Why, you may ask? Well, it's partly because I'm just wired that way, but partly because their natural habitat isn't regulated by a clock or calendar, so I don't mind mirroring it. But the main thing is that I have a sneaking suspicion that they may actually eat better when the food comes at different intervals.

I don't think I'd wait past the fourth day, even though they can certainly last that long without food.

Rob D'heu · #9 07-21-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

I'm a little more laissez faire in my approach to feeding my rhacs. I feed... whenever. Sometimes I feed them every other night, sometimes I feed them every third or fourth night.

Why, you may ask? Well, it's partly because I'm just wired that way, but partly because their natural habitat isn't regulated by a clock or calendar, so I don't mind mirroring it. But the main thing is that I have a sneaking suspicion that they may actually eat better when the food comes at different intervals.

I don't think I'd wait past the fourth day, even though they can certainly last that long without food.

I can only agree .
I even feed my auriculatus more crickets than cgd . I give them fresh fruit , babyfood , cgd and all sorts of insects