Feeding Regimes

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colinmelsom

New member
Do you feed your Phelsuma livefood or premade dried food or a mixture of both?
I am interested to learn what commercially available foods are used and if anyone uses these solely as opposed to a treat once a week.
I have a feeling that some of the larger breeders use these soley to get the geckos to adulthood quickly and for ease of feeding.Does this have any detrimental effects in the long run?
It would be nice to hear from anyone who has studied them in the wild to learn how much of their diet is insect based and how much is sap/pollen or the like.
 
daggekko

daggekko

New member
Hey, I normally feed crickets 2 or 3 times a week and Repashy diets 2 or 3 times a week. Problem is I change things up regularly so I don't have a regular feeding schedule. I guess a better way to start is to list what types of things I use to feed my geckos

1. Crickets
2. Repashy Day Gecko MRP(Cherry/Fig)
3. Repashy Crested Gecko MRP(Mango)
4. Repashy Crested Gecko MRP(Peach)
5. Repashy Crested Gecko MRP(Fig)
6. Baby Food with Repashy Calcium Plus(I have not fed this stuff in a LOOOONNGG time though)
7. Passports Frugivorus Gecko Diet http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...ome-made-fruit-mix-frugivorus-gecko-diet.html
8. Fruit Flies(for the baby/young geckos)
9. Repashy Calcium Plus(for insect dusting)
10. And as soon as it arrives I am going to try the Clarks Gecko Diet Diet
11. And as soon as I can get them breeding I will start using dubia roaches as well!


The Repashy Gecko MRPs are supposed to be able to be used as a sole diet for the gecko and I don't doubt that they would work, but it is good for variety and exercise(enrichment) to give other things like live bugs.

As far as commercial breeders goes, I don't know for sure what they do but it seems like the people that are very seriously into Phelsuma do the variety over just trying to grow the geckos quickly. I personally have noticed that my baby geckos grow much faster once I switch them from fruit flies to crickets. It is an amazing difference. That being said, I firmly believe in feeding live bugs and the other diets so you can avoid deficiencies.

Another quick thought on the whole what you feed your gecko deal-If you raise up a gecko on only one type of food and then one day you can no longer get that food, what is your gecko going to do? Some animals will get set in their ways and when you switch their foods they won't try them. If you always use a variety the gecko will learn to eat different things, so if the company(like Repashy) ever stopped making the product it is no big deal
 
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colinmelsom

New member
Thanks for the reply Adam.I tend to feed mine on crickets two or three times per week with a basis banana or fig mash and honey once a week into which I put some multivitamins or calcium.
It seems to work in terms of breeding but then I believe that if you get conditions somewhere near right ithey will breed anyway.
Do you use ultraviolet light with your geckos or rely on supplementation?Do you consider the Repashy foods good or are they the only ones available in the States?They have only recently become available over here in Britain and some people ( especially those with Rhacodactylus)do lrave about them.
 
daggekko

daggekko

New member
I do not use UV lighting right now. I want to make the change but have to wait for a bit to have the funds to do that(I also might be seeing if I can weasel my way into a distributor to get much cheaper pricing!!!:biggrin:)

I actually really like the Repashy products. They smell wonderful and the geckos all like them a lot! I love the fact that even though they are all basically the same formula/ingredients, there are many flavors to add some variety for the sake of the geckos. I have seen some oddball stuff that is not available in the states from time to time. Mainly off brand diets or supplements. Unfortunately my area has suffered from the economy thing and the bigger reptile petstores have shut down. There are 2 but I have to drive 45 minutes to get to them. So I just order stuff online and have it shipped!
 
lauraleellbp

lauraleellbp

New member
What insects might be worth culturing besides crickets, dubias, and/or fruit flies for hatchlings?

I'm considering silk moths, though I've never tried my hand at them to date...
 
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Aerio

New member
Silk worms I think are tough im pretty sure you need a specific type of leaf for them to eat if im not mistaken.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
 
lauraleellbp

lauraleellbp

New member
LOL yeah I believe so, I was thinking they may be good for the adults though. The breeder I got my P. m. grandis from said that he feeds the worms and the moths to his adults.

They might be good for my fish, too, is another reason I am considering them... Guess I'll have to do some research on culturing them!
 
Sgvreptiles

Sgvreptiles

New member
I feed crickets once a week. usually add 20-30 crickets per tank. I feed on sat with crickets, and have seen them eating some on thursday as well. So dont think because I feed them crickets once a week they arnt getting fed. They still eat. I give repashy mrp once a week. usually on wensday. This is for my adults.
Hatchlings get fruit flys every day, and mrp once a week.
I also started culturing a month that I found in my oatmeal containers. Im going to see if I can keep them producing and feed them off. the moths are only about half inch as adults and larve are about the same size. Good for most phelsuma.
 
Sgvreptiles

Sgvreptiles

New member
I do. I use Repashy ICB on insects. the diet on occasion gets some yogert and maybe a extra splash of D3 for breeding females.
 
C

colinmelsom

New member
I have used butterworms on rare occasions,when females have laid eggs for example as they are very high in calcium.
What are the issues with Rhacodactylus?
 
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rhino43grr

New member
lauraleellbp said:
Several have died after eating them. Theory is that they don't do well with their acidic secretions?
Click to expand...

i knew that some had developed burn-like injuries after being fed butterworms, didn't realize any had died. i was just curious since the theory also revolved around rhacs having more sensitive skin and since phelsuma also have sensitive skin i thought maybe they might have experienced similar issues, but apparently the reaction has been limited to rhac species.

i'm not sure they ever figured out exactly what caused the injuries/deaths or not. it's enough to steer me away from feeding butterworms when i eventually get gargoyles. i have an order coming for my leopard gecko, but i can't foresee him having any issues with them since, from what i understand, most species of reptiles have had no ill-effects.
 
lauraleellbp

lauraleellbp

New member
I'd have to go back and hunt up threads again, but I'm pretty sure I remember at least one death and that was the only thing that Crestie owner could come up with, as the blisters showed up after being fed them, and same blisters were reported after other Cresties were fed butterworms. My own theory is that something in the butterworms triggers some sort of internal problem, a severe allergic reaction or maybe they develop internal lesions or something in addition to the external blisters? Something along those lines... so may not really have to do with their skin, and definitely could be unique to Cresties.

I don't remember hearing about the same issue with any other Rhac species, either?
 
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rhino43grr

New member
lauraleellbp said:
I'd have to go back and hunt up threads again, but I'm pretty sure I remember at least one death and that was the only thing that Crestie owner could come up with, as the blisters showed up after being fed them, and same blisters were reported after other Cresties were fed butterworms. My own theory is that something in the butterworms triggers some sort of internal problem, a severe allergic reaction or maybe they develop internal lesions or something in addition to the external blisters? Something along those lines... so may not really have to do with their skin, and definitely could be unique to Cresties.

I don't remember hearing about the same issue with any other Rhac species, either?
Click to expand...

gargoyles also had the same issue...

A Warning: Use Caution With Butterworms - The Pangea Forums - Crested Geckos & More

the OP says they crushed the butterworms' heads before feeding, which might have been the problem to begin with as it could have released the worms' stomach acid.

colinmelsom said:
Are Butterworms what are also called Tevo worms?
Click to expand...

yes. (i've also seen them referenced as trevo, trebo, tebo, chilean moth larvae etc.)
 
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rhino43grr

New member
daggekko said:
After reading that link I don't think I'll be trying butterworms ever
Click to expand...

it seems to be a relatively isolated incident, which makes me wonder how many people have/had fed butterworms to rhacodactylus species without issue and what percentage had a similar problem.
i think it probably had more to do with the worms being beheaded prior to feeding (the OP in the pangea thread said he crushed the butterworms' heads to remove any threat of them biting his geckos) than anything else as there was nothing to prevent the worm's stomach contents from squirting out when it was bitten.
imo the enzymes or stomach acid were most likely what caused the skin issues, but under normal circumstances i doubt they would be released until the worm was already being digested. rather than thinking "maybe i made the feeders more dangerous by trying to make them safer," the immediate reaction was "the butterworms did it!"
i'm not going to completely write off butterworms over it (especially since i just ordered 100 of them over the weekend). there are enough people scared of mealworms because they're convinced they're able to eat geckos from the inside that i'm always a little skeptical of any "[feeder insect] will kill your reptile" claims.
 
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