my crestie wont eat cgd

M

mmd66

New member
its a female about 5.5" and appears healthy and not thin
she is in a 29 gall tank with a snake plant and cork bark and no substrate.
till i see eating then it will be planted branches added and high humidity
crickets are eaten but baby food and cgd are not
i want her on solely gcd
if i put gcd or baby food on my finger by her face she eats but not from the saucer in the tank floor.
had her a week and the store had her for a while and fed solely crickets
your thoughts???
 
MsShlee

MsShlee

New member
It will probably take a while to switch her to cgd

how big is the dish you are leaving the cgd in ? you might want to try something smaller

maybe you simply just cant tell she is eating it because often they eat so little of it that it is hard to tell
 
Z

ziggi

New member
They don't leave big marks when they eat it, and don't expect they eat a lot of it either.
It takes a while until you can notice it. What I do is place the CGD in a small water bottle cap or pepsi cap w/e you have. That way it's in a small container, place it always in the same area and she will eventually get around to it.
If you want to add flavoring to your CGD you can buy mixes that are mixed in with the CGD with a variety of fruit flavors...I find my cresties like apricot and mixed berries a lot.
Low citrus fruits are good.
Give that a try if she still doesn't come around to eating the CGD, but give her time to get used to the new home.
 
M

mmd66

New member
still no noticable divets etc, im mixing 25% rapashy w/75% peach baby food tonight as he will lick the babyfood off my finger,,later i will start a thread showing the vivarium
 
MsShlee

MsShlee

New member
why are you using baby food ?
the cgd is a complete diet and does not need anything added to it besides water.

Try using a water bottle lid as a dish for the cgd

have u tried getting him to lick the cgd off your finger

Are you handling her alot?
Sometimes you need to leave them alone for the most part for the first little while in their new home so they get comfortable
 
M

mmd66

New member
1) i am feeding it in a little plastic/ceramic cup that held tarter sauce at a liocal restaraunt as my daughter packed it away with her meal (bottom diameted a tad larger than a quarter.
20 im mixing in baby food due to fact she wont eat cgd i thought if i mixed in baby food it would be more appealing and then slowwly decrease baby food in the mix
 
M

mmd66

New member
ok today i noticed a few divots like on a golf ball.
how much do these guys eat, im used to lizards that chow down crickets ans superworms like candy, ive read about cresties and have a book but no one really notes how much they eat a day, the size of a pencil eraser or an entire cup lid ?
 
MsShlee

MsShlee

New member
they really dont eat that much at all
depending on their size

and if you have been feeding crickets as well it probably wont eat very much cgd as it's probably full


But regardless, they have tiny tummys and dont need very much to fill them up
 
seonage

seonage

New member
cgd it´s all that a rhaco need... but if you don´t have it or your rhaco don´t eat it you can prove a lot of good foods:

- babyfood (without citric it will be bether...)
- honey
- polen
- natural jam
- seeds such as sweet blueberries, strawberries etc ...
- chopped fruit (pear, mango, apple etc...)

and like they said, crikets once a week... Rhacos have a slow metabolism and don´t need eat every day...

good luck...
 
Dyesub Dave

Dyesub Dave

New member
I make fruit smoothies by blending various fruits together ( NO CITRUS FRUITS ) and freeze the mixture in an ice cube tray. I thaw out the smoothie cubes and can then add supplements if desired. I currently feed CGD, Repsashy 2-part, fruit smoothie and crickets to give them a varied diet. Sometimes I will mix some of the smoothie with the CGD or 2-part ... especially if I have a bit left over from the previous night that I've kept in the fridge. I also have bee pollen that I put in the mixture on occasion.

Although many say that the CGD is a complete diet I personally like to vary their diet. I certainly wouldn't want to eat the same thing every day for years and in nature they would have access to different fruits and insects giving them a wide range of vitamins and nutrients.

And while I've read that crickets can be dusted in the CGD (and I've tried it before) I've also heard it suggested that it may not be good for the gecko to do this. As the CGD is designed to absorb moisture it would seem logical that it would also do this inside your gecko. I prefer to dust with calcium and/or multi-vitamin powder so as not to take any chances.

As previously mentioned your gecko will eventually get accustomed to the CGD and will eat it when it's hungry enough. If you're seeing small divets in the food then that's a good sign that it's already started to eat it.

Good luck with your crestie!!

Dyesub Dave. :biggrin:
 
G

geckomama03

New member
If you are wanting to feed your crestie just the cgd try mixing bananas or pears or even mango instead of peaches as I have found that my cresties don't really like the peaches and would raither have something else. The raspy diet is nice to cause they have many flavors that you can add to the cgd that are natural and can be found in nature where they live. My personal opinion with raising cresties is to change up the diet and not feed the same flavor of food ever time. Mine go from mango, to crickets, to rose, to meal worms and so on never giving them the same stuff twice in a row and mixing it up for them. They seem to like it. They eat better too.
 
M

mmd66

New member
i have 2 cups in there tonight one bannans baby food w/a touch of cgd the other apple/mango/kiwi baby food w/cgd, if no luck i will add mealworms this week to get her back to eating again
 
MsShlee

MsShlee

New member
Tasha said:
Mine won't eat it if I mix it with water...I mix it with an apricot baby food, he loves it.
Click to expand...


you have to mix it with water to get the actual nutritional benefits as far as I am told. You should add the stuff afterwards
 
M

mmd66

New member
well no luck with cgd or baby food
she has been chowing down mealworms.
sunday i will try gcd mixed with some honey
 
Saille

Saille

New member
If you cut back on the crickets and mealworms (I don't feed mealworms to Cresties because the high Chitin content) to every two weeks or less, your gecko will get hungrier in the mean time and eat the CGD. Don't even bother with the babyfood, especially if your Crestie isnt eating it. You will mess with the nutritional balance of the CGD and long term could be jeopardizing your gecko's health. Its like cutting your meal with junk food instead of healthy vegetables.
Over time, the effects will show.

Also, with picky eaters, I would dunk crickets (that had been gutloaded with CGD) in the wet CGD, adn tong feed them. That way the geckos get a taste for the CGD as well. It totally worked with my picky female, she now pounds down a capful of CGD a night no problem.
 
Dyesub Dave

Dyesub Dave

New member
What a great idea about dipping the crickets in the already mixed CGD ... I never thought of that. And I also didn't realize that the crix will eat the CGD. Maybe I could get them to eat the repashy 2-part food as well. :idea:

However I've always wondered why baby food is considered JUNK food? I don't feed it to my cresties because I've read this so many times. However on the label of the food it just says Pureed (whatever flavour it is) along with ascorbic acid. So I don't see what the difference is between baby food and the fruit smoothies that we make ... except for the ascorbic acid.

Dyesub Dave. :biggrin:
 
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