New Giant Day Gecko Owner - Feeding Questions

[skoram]

Hi all. I am new to geckos and this forum. I just received a pair of Giant Day Geckos yesterday and they are being housed in an Exo Terra 60x450x60 (Medium Tall) enclosure with some rudimentary decorations. I plan to "rescape" the vivarium with more vertical perches and add a layered substrate and many live plants soon. Heating and UVB is provided by a 125W Sparkzoo Mercury Vapor combination UVA, UVB and heat lamp. I also purchased a bottle of Exo Terra Calcium + D3 supplement, Repashy's Crested Gecko Classic MRP and 50 feeder crickets.

I spent a good deal of time researching Giant Day Gecko requirements but am still uncertain about a *specific* feeding regime. I did plenty of searches (on this forum on others) on feeding schedules, how often to feed, etc. and the most detailed replies were something like "Repashy's two times a week and insects two times a week."

If possible, what I would like to know is - *how many* insects for each "insect day" and, how much Repashy's per feeding (i.e. 2 tablespoons). If you guys have any other comments regarding feeding schedules they would also be very appreciated. I'd also like to confirm again that most keepers only feed their geckos 4 or 5 days a week.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Nathanb]

OK - I'd say 4-5 days a week is way too much, all of my day geckos get fed twice a week - usually Weds and Sun. I generally chuck in about 20 crickets per gecko and let them 'hunt' for them in amongst the plants - you have to remember in their natural habitat food doesn't appear on a plate - they have to go looking for it. If you feed that often you'll end up with fat, lazy geckos very quickly. Repashy wise (I normally use Pangea) they get a small pot half full about twice a week. I can't see a water station in that tank anywhere - have they got one? also how are you misting them and what temp is the basking spot - I can't see a thermometer or hygrometer inside the tank anywhere?

You also need to sort out the re-scaping of the tank pretty quickly - they're arboreal, so they like being high up - you need to put in vertical and horizontal climbing perches. so they can shuttle in and out of the basking spot and the UVB and just sit and 'soak up the rays', best thing to use is bamboo. A setup something like the photo below is ideal. All day geckos do best in a well planted, bioactive terrarium - all of mine are set up, 2" or so of clay ball substrate, mesh layer, forest substrate teaming with worms, springtails and woodlice and then heavily planted. I would also consider taking the polystyrene back out - its very easy for one of them to get stuck behind and for crickets to hide back there where the geckos can't easily get to them. Tomorrow I have the joys of catching all of my neon day geckos as they're getting a 'home upgrade' if you want me to photo and document how I put it together as I go so you can see how I'm setting it up let me know
Cheers
Nathan

 

[skoram]

Thanks so much for the detailed reply! Is that your tank in the photo? It looks fantastic - much better than most of the other day gecko vivs I've seen on the internet. I have to admit though, I'm not a fan of the bamboo because I like things to look as natural as possible. My tank has undergone a huge change since my original post - I'll attach some updated photos below. I'm still thinking about adding some more plants and an additional hollow perch on the right side. It has also been setup as a "bioactive" vivarium with springtails. I'd like to add some sowbugs but I can't find anyone in my area who sells them so springtails will have to do for now.

So you feed 40 crickets per Gecko per week? In total volume that's actually far more than what I've been feeding and what I've read that others feed. I found that others feed their geckos something like 4-5 crickets twice a week (so 8-10 total crickets) and then Repashy's CGD on 2 other days (sometimes just 1 day). I'm curious why you feed so much in just two days? I don't know about reptiles, but I know that it's much healthier for humans to eat more often but smaller servings. If gaps between meals are too long (as short as 8 hours), our bodies also store more of what we eat as fat. Likewise, i can't imagine that it would be healthier for geckos to eat 20 crickets a day for 2 days and nothing the other 5 days, versus say, 10 crickets a day for 4 days. general physiology would also dictate that this would be better for their metabolisms too. However, I am making some big assumptions and could be totally, totally wrong. It, as you say, may actually be healthier for reptiles to eat huge meals on a very low frequency.

With that said, there is no way that geckos that are fed 4 crickets twice a week and about a teaspoon of Repashy's twice a week are going to be fatter than geckos that are fed 20 crickets twice a week due to the laws of physics.

 

[skoram]

P.S. I definitely definitely would absolutely love to see your neon day gecko setup!

 

[Nathanb]

Looking really really good

I'd give the plants a chance to grow for 3-4 months before adding any more you'll be amazed how quickly they'll grow with the geckos poop as fertiliser and the warm humid environment. How old are the geckos out of interest - it was difficult to tell from the photos.

Sorry - that should have been 20 crickets for each pair of geckos, so 10 each twice a week! I also only feed them small crickets (admittedly everything I keep is a lot smaller than madagascans, but they can all take medium), I've found that smaller crickets are the most bouncy and active - make them work harder for their food as they have to chase it around ;-) , so I work on the theory it evens itself up with the size difference. Plus the smaller crickets hide in the tank and the geckos have to then hunt around for them as well.

Bamboo is the easiest material to work with I've found - it's clean, cheap and easy to get hold of, they all like it and for things like the neons its perfect as they live in bamboo plantations in Madagascar. I've got so many day geckos now I just need to keep things as simple as possible - I've just worked out 37 adults (not including juries/babies - which is more than I realised!) The lights have just gone out on the tanks for the night but will take a couple of photos for you tomorrow of the new setup - it wasn't fun catching 8 smaller very fast geckos I can tell you! :-S (only lost 1 and that's back already albeit minutes its tail!).

There is a very good book on reptile nutrition 'The Arcadia guide to Reptile and Amphibian Nutrition'. Where abouts in the world are you based? I'm in the UK.

The other things that you can add to the bioactive setup that go well and bog standard earth worms and woodlice.

Is that another tank next to your Madagascans - what's in there?

 

[skoram]

Thank you Nathan 37 geckos?? wow, that's a fantasy for me. I live in Seoul, South Korea (originally from the US) where the houses are all generally very tiny. Our apartment price is nearly half a million dollars yet the total space is perhaps a little bigger than the living room of the house where I grew up near Chicago. My "tank room" is about 3 square meters. I originally started keeping only fish here partly because of the low maintenance and space requirements and partly because my wife does not like reptiles. In addition to this vivarium I have 5 other tanks in the room: 1 riparium housing Ivanacara adoketa (a SA dwarf cichlid), one terrarium with Geosesarma dennerle "vampire" crabs, 2 planted tanks with various fish species and 1 quarantine tank. After showing my wife multiple youtube videos of "cute" giant day geckos, she finally gave in. I have become really enamored with "bioactive" vivariums and love the fact that I don't have to worry about water changes, pH, conductivity, algae, nitrates, etc. with them. In exchange I now have to raise live insects. I am thinking about adding another vivarium for crested geckos, mourning geckos or dart frogs.

I am not 100% sure about the geckos' age. The owner merely said to me that they were less than a year old. He did not seem to be very knowledgeable about geckos (the shop specializes in turtles) but it was the only place I could find in Korea that sold giant day geckos. Beggars can't be choosers.

The tank next to my vivarium is a "regular" aquarium that houses mostly marbled hatchet fish, some Apistogramma erythrura and Corydoras sterbai. As I mentioned earlier, I tried to find woodlice (I believe sowbugs are another name for woodlice) but can't find any place that sells them in Korea. I've even asked some reptile shopkeepers and they were surprised to hear that they were sold in other countries. I am thinking about catching some wild woodlice and adding them to the viv but am wary about other pests and pathogens that might also be transferred.

Going back to my original question - what do you think about feeding them 4 or 5 crickets a day for 4 days of the week? the total ends up being the same, 20 crickets, but spread over a longer time period. I feel like this should be a healthier approach but again, I have no idea how reptile metabolisms work.

 

[skoram]

I noticed today that my geckos have been using one of the Sansevieria plants as a toilet. The photo below was actually taken after I tried to spray some of the feces out. I was reminded of your comment about gecko poop as fertilizer. Sadly, this is one of the few plants in the vivarium that I don't want to grow, since the height is limited and the plant is already somewhat tall.

 

[Nathanb]

4 or 5 crickets a day for 4 days will give the same effect - they may not eat them all immediately is your only problem they might just look at them and ignore them for a while! To give them some variety as they get a bit bigger you can also try them on some Super worms (also call Morios in some places) and some meal worms.

You can't control where they poop unfortunately! You're probably either going to have to live with it, take the plant out or just prune it back every so often. I personally opt for the pruning method normally with the exception of orchids - they don't get pruned

 

[skoram]

4 or 5 crickets a day for 4 days will give the same effect - they may not eat them all immediately is your only problem they might just look at them and ignore them for a while! To give them some variety as they get a bit bigger you can also try them on some Super worms (also call Morios in some places) and some meal worms.

You can't control where they poop unfortunately! You're probably either going to have to live with it, take the plant out or just prune it back every so often. I personally opt for the pruning method normally with the exception of orchids - they don't get pruned

Thus far I've been feeding my geckos 4-5 crickets three times per week and they've gobbled them up voraciously every time. I am sure there would be no difference if I added a few more crickets. I also feed them mealworms and of course Repashy's CGD once per week. I considered superworms, but I read a few horror stories about worms causing serious harm to geckos and decided I didn't want to take the risk.

I really don't mind them pooping on plants but unfortunately sansevierias can't be pruned (to my knowledge) aside from removing entire leaves.

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

P.S. I definitely definitely would absolutely love to see your neon day gecko setup!

I'm enjoying watching your vision unfold. :banana:

Maybe consider sansevieria that don't grow so tall?

 

[Hypancistrus]

Your viv looks fantastic! Can you post a picture of your planted aquariums? I keep fish, too, and I am hoping to get some giant day geckos this year. It's a lot of fun to plan and design bioactive tanks, much like designing an aquarium.

Re: feeding, I've found that my day geckos, when compared to my crested geckos, seem to like more insects in their diet. I feed small crickets 1-2 times per week (mine are P. laticauda, smaller than grandis), just a handful, and they seem to enjoy them. I also feed Pangea CGD twice a week, like Nathan usually Sunday and Wednesday for all my geckos.

Re: wood lice... catch some and keep them with some damp leaves and soil for a couple of weeks. If they are still alive after that, they should be safe to add to the viv.

Re: poop! I spray off my umbrella plant and for the most part over time the poop and urates dissolve and wash away. It's actually much easier to keep the live plants clean than the fake ones, I think! But my female really loves those ExoTerra suction cup vine plants. So I still keep them in there, on the sides.

Here's my laticauda viv.

I've added a few more vines on the sides since I took this photo. I am considering using a ZooMed Skyscraper (18x18x36) for giant day geckos, perhaps this fall. I've been raising crested geckos for many years but these day geckos are so much fun-- bright, colorful and diurnal, it's really very addicting.

 

[skoram]

Your viv looks fantastic! Can you post a picture of your planted aquariums? I keep fish, too, and I am hoping to get some giant day geckos this year. It's a lot of fun to plan and design bioactive tanks, much like designing an aquarium.

Re: feeding, I've found that my day geckos, when compared to my crested geckos, seem to like more insects in their diet. I feed small crickets 1-2 times per week (mine are P. laticauda, smaller than grandis), just a handful, and they seem to enjoy them. I also feed Pangea CGD twice a week, like Nathan usually Sunday and Wednesday for all my geckos.

Re: wood lice... catch some and keep them with some damp leaves and soil for a couple of weeks. If they are still alive after that, they should be safe to add to the viv.

Re: poop! I spray off my umbrella plant and for the most part over time the poop and urates dissolve and wash away. It's actually much easier to keep the live plants clean than the fake ones, I think! But my female really loves those ExoTerra suction cup vine plants. So I still keep them in there, on the sides.

Here's my laticauda viv.

I've added a few more vines on the sides since I took this photo. I am considering using a ZooMed Skyscraper (18x18x36) for giant day geckos, perhaps this fall. I've been raising crested geckos for many years but these day geckos are so much fun-- bright, colorful and diurnal, it's really very addicting.

Your viv is really beautiful and I think very appropriate for an arboreal species. I wish my viv were taller so that I could get more vertical structure. Thank you for the tips about feeding and cleaning

 

[aquaplantae]

Hi skoram.

I usually fed my adult pair 4-5 crickets/individual every 2 days. While babies and juvies will get 2-3 small/medium crickets every day (cricket size will follow the phelsuma size).

Btw, what a nice setup you got there. ^_^

 

[skoram]

Your viv looks fantastic! Can you post a picture of your planted aquariums? I keep fish, too, and I am hoping to get some giant day geckos this year. It's a lot of fun to plan and design bioactive tanks, much like designing an aquarium.

Thanks for the kind words! As requested, here are a few photos of my fish tanks:

50 gallon riparium which houses a pair of wild Ivanacara adoketa:

A closeup of the male adoketa:

Below the riparium is 30 gallon vivarium which houses vampire crabs:

2 of my other 30 gallon tanks side by side:

A closeup of an Apistogramma nijsseni in the tank on the right:

Your P. lauticada viv looks fantastic and, as I mentioned above, I think much more appropriate for arboreal geckos than mine. I got most of my information and inspiration from Dendroboard and I belatedly realized that the end result is something which much more closely resembles a dart frog vivarium. I've already made many changes to the tank to make it more Day Gecko friendly.

I also realized why there is so much poop in my Sansevierias - because the geckos spend a lot of time climbing on them. I spray the leaves regularly but since the Sansevieria leaves form a closed axil, like bromeliads, all the poop and urea collects in the "cup." I occasionally dump large amounts of water to flush the axil, but I need to be cautious about overwatering. At any rate, the snake plants seem to be doing fine so far.

 

[skoram]

Hi skoram.

I usually fed my adult pair 4-5 crickets/individual every 2 days. While babies and juvies will get 2-3 small/medium crickets every day (cricket size will follow the phelsuma size).

Btw, what a nice setup you got there. ^_^

Thanks for the kind words After gathering all the advice and information from various members of this board, I've decided on a final regimen of feeding about 8-10 crickets/mealworms (in total, not 8-10 of both) two times per week and Repashy's CGD two times per week. Hopefully this provides a decent enough variety with enough nutrients and time to rest between meals.