CGD VS Fresh Fruit

[JTB]

So in just over a month I should be getting a crested gecko (yay!) and I am wondering about what to feed it. I already have Repashy CGD, although I am not sure on what version because it has the picture that is on their website (purple writing with the gecko looking forwards but different ingredients (starts with banana instead of what ever it is that it starts with the on the website). This is going to be the main part of the diet, alongside locusts and crickets once or twice a week. I also plan to use the Exo Terra food when I go on holiday because that is easier for someone to give when I'm away.

Any ways, I was just reading through the care page on this site and it says not to use CGD as you don't know that the ingredients are exactly what the gecko needs and instead to make a blend of your own fruits.


Now as that page was written in 2012, I'm quite sure that it's a bit outdated; he even says to offer baby food which I know is now heavily advised against. So in this respect I am definitely sticking to the CGD. My only issue is that the place where I am possibly getting the gecko from uses that kind of diet: mashed banana, jelly pots, fruit baby food and dusted insects. If I do get the gecko from here, which is highly likely seeing as my only other option is Pets at Home and they won't be selling reptiles as of 2017, then I am worried that it won't want to eat the CGD.

If it doesn't, what can I do? Would mixing mashed fruit in with the powder be good to wean it over, or would sticking to its normal diet (minus the baby food) be better? Thanks!

 

[KattsKritters]

Never ever feed cresties baby food ... the Repashy is the best (or pangea) as it covers all their needs. If you want to do fruit, do it as a treat and be sure it is very very nearly over-ripe even ... mangoes seem best ..

I use a mix of Repashy Super Mango Blend and the Repashy Grubs & Fruit powder ... dump both 12oz containers into a bigger container .. .shake ... use ... covers all their needs perfectly. I give crickets as a treat once a week or so ...

I have tried both the ExoTerra and National Geographic foods ... and not one of my zoo would touch it ...

As forgetting reptiles, lots of places and people and breeders would help you with that ...

 

[Aimless]

Herve wrote that caresheet, and it's excellent as it stands. he's an old-school gecko guy who's been keeping for literally decades. it's perfectly fine to feed baby food, IF YOU ARE 100% CERTAIN that you are properly balancing your supplements. in fact, diets based on supplemented baby food let to development of MRPs as a more convenient alternative.

my cresties seem largely unimpressed with most berries, though strawberries are well-received. they like sweet mango, peaches, pears, and bananas. the don't care for apples. this is in general though; they have individual preferences as well

good luck with your gecko.

 

[JTB]

Ok thanks, so if it does refuse the CGD I can just mix in a little bit of mashed mango or strawberry and cross my fingers?

 

[Aimless]

sure. or just give him a few weeks; sometimes it takes a bit for a new gecko to eat well. he'll get hungry.

 

[JTB]

Ok thank you. I don't suppose it'd take very long for it to get hungry, I held one of them on Saturday and it was so tiny!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Ok thank you. I don't suppose it'd take very long for it to get hungry, I held one of them on Saturday and it was so tiny!

It sounds like you're getting excited to have your own little guy. :biggrin:

My crestie loves his Pangea Complete Diet with Insects! I suggest that in addition to the Repashy CGD you have. My crestie alternates between Pangea and crickets.

Here's another Crestie Caresheet: http://www.geckosunlimited.com/comm...o-caresheet-summary-tips-february-2015-a.html

 

[JTB]

I certainly am excited!

I've heard good things about the Pangea with Insects, I was going to try and source some but in England I can only find it off of one website and I don't particularly want to have to set up another account for something because I already have thousands of passwords to remember! I'd of course do it if the crestie would not eat the Repashy though, horses first and all that

I have just been looking at Swell Reptiles and it seems they're stocking a brand new CGD I haven't heard of before by HabiStat. It comes in banana, mango, strawberry, banana and crickets, mango and crickets and strawberry and crickets; quite a lot of combinations! I'm curious as to see how people rate it, if it's a big hit for other owners then when I get my gecko I'll probably give it a go! Not sure if it's sold in the US though.

I'll have a look at that care sheet, thank you!

 

[JTB]

Just had my first of probably many reads of that care sheet and I have to say that some of what I believe myself was confirmed in it - most notably on housing babies! It's never scanned with me how something that has unlimited space in nature can be afraid of large areas in captivity if it's provided with enough hiding areas. I got told the same with my corn snake - 'keep him in a small viv when he's a hatching, then in a year and a half to two years you can upgrade'. After six months, he was so active he got his bigger set up! I believe this to be down to me giving him three hides, which filled up most of his little cage, so he felt that wherever he went he could retreat quickly. For the crestie I already have a 45X45X60cm Exo Terra, but a plethora of plastic plants (3 large suction cup ones, 190cm ivy vine, 2 upright plants and three boston ferns, not including the massive log!) so it can hide anywhere!

Of course if there was an issue I'd downgrade, but after my snake experience and reading that section of the care sheet I think that my theory could well be correct! We shall see

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Immediately following the main page of my crestie caresheet, scroll to post 8 (left side numbers). There you'll discover some links to Hilde's huge communal crestie nursery and juvenile tanks.

Have you checked those out?

 

[JTB]

Yep! That's kind of what I was referring to.

Rather than start another thread I now have another question I'd like to ask. I've been monitoring room temperatures and, in places of the house away from any source of heat, it seems to be at a constant 17.6 degrees centigrade/ 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just under the recommended temps for crested geckos. I had intended to keep it without a heat source, but now I'm worried this is too cold. I will have a 2% UVB bulb that'll run for 13 hours a day, which I actually got to provide a gentle heat more than anything (I have a 7% UVB bulb for my leopard gecko and it makes things 30cm away from it about 2 degrees C hotter). At night this will obviously go off and I am somewhat worried that it will get too cold.

I'm going to run the setup for about two days before I get the gecko to check everything and if it is getting too cold what should I do to heat it up? I was thinking an Exo Terra Night Heat Lamp would be a good option for night time heat? I can get 15w ones from a pet shop near me no trouble but I can also order higher wattage ones from online. Some people say that these disturb their animals at night, have you experienced this? Thanks

 

[Revasius]

Plastic Kritter Keeper-style cages turned upright work really well for babies and juveniles. Make sure babies have plenty of hiding places, plants, cork etc, and it never hurts to provide a small water bowl (I use bottle caps for both water bowls and feeding dishes because you can throw them out when they get gross.)

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Yep! That's kind of what I was referring to.

Rather than start another thread I now have another question I'd like to ask. I've been monitoring room temperatures and, in places of the house away from any source of heat, it seems to be at a constant 17.6 degrees centigrade/ 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just under the recommended temps for crested geckos. I had intended to keep it without a heat source, but now I'm worried this is too cold. I will have a 2% UVB bulb that'll run for 13 hours a day, which I actually got to provide a gentle heat more than anything (I have a 7% UVB bulb for my leopard gecko and it makes things 30cm away from it about 2 degrees C hotter). At night this will obviously go off and I am somewhat worried that it will get too cold.

I'm going to run the setup for about two days before I get the gecko to check everything and if it is getting too cold what should I do to heat it up? I was thinking an Exo Terra Night Heat Lamp would be a good option for night time heat? I can get 15w ones from a pet shop near me no trouble but I can also order higher wattage ones from online. Some people say that these disturb their animals at night, have you experienced this? Thanks

Research has shown that lights of any color disturb sleep.

The temps you mention are a bit cool for night lows and definitely too cool for daytime temps.

Use a ceramic heat emitter to provide supplemental heat for your 18 x 18 x 24 inch/45 x 45 x 60 cm vivarium. CHEs produce heat but no light. They will not disturb sleep rhythms. Zoo Med has a new product called Nano CHEs in 25 and 40 watt sizes. I don't know why one of the box photos shows a very long bulb??? I'll link them here as a visual. Perhaps they're available in the UK.

Click: Wholesale Reptile Ceramic Heat Emitters - Reptile Supply Company

Get a dome fixture with a porcelain socket and as wide a base as possible. Fluker's makes clamp lamps in 8.5 inches and 10 inches in diameter.

 

[JTB]

I already have a spare CHE actually! It's 150w, AKA complete overkill, but the wattage wouldn't matter as long as I put it on a thermostat. I doubt that I could get the smallerones by ZooMed - I've not seen them on any of my usual reptile-shopping sites and with ZooMed being a US brand I doubt that they'll be around any time soon.

The only reason I am slightly against the CHE is that I'd put it in one of the wire cages with it being such a high wattage (Exo Terra : Wire Light / Porcelain Wire Lamp) and I'm pretty sure that it would ending wasting a lot of the heat given out.

Could I use a heat mat? That way it would heat from the bottom of the enclosure which more closely replicates nature - the ground stores the heat of the sun and releases it throughout the night. This could also help immensely with humidity as the heat causes the water to evaporate. I do have a 7w heat mat spare so I'd just need a thermostat for it, but is 7w enough?

Thanks!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I already have a spare CHE actually! It's 150w, AKA complete overkill, but the wattage wouldn't matter as long as I put it on a thermostat. I doubt that I could get the smallerones by ZooMed - I've not seen them on any of my usual reptile-shopping sites and with ZooMed being a US brand I doubt that they'll be around any time soon.

The only reason I am slightly against the CHE is that I'd put it in one of the wire cages with it being such a high wattage (Exo Terra : Wire Light / Porcelain Wire Lamp) and I'm pretty sure that it would ending wasting a lot of the heat given out.

Could I use a heat mat? That way it would heat from the bottom of the enclosure which more closely replicates nature - the ground stores the heat of the sun and releases it throughout the night. This could also help immensely with humidity as the heat causes the water to evaporate. I do have a 7w heat mat spare so I'd just need a thermostat for it, but is 7w enough?

Thanks!

I think a heat mat would dry out the substrate too quickly after you spray. A potted sansevieria will add humidity to your vivarium.

Placing a 150 watt CHE in a wire cage is definitely NOT thermally efficient and potentially dangerous for a crestie! I'd get a 60 watt CHE in a clamp lamp/dome and place that on a thermostat.

I use an All Living Things brand CHE for my leo. I had poor luck with Exo Terra CHEs: one bulb underheated and one did not work at all.

 

[JTB]

I have never heard of All Living Things before. The go-to brand of CHEs in England seems to be White Python which is the brand of my 150w model. These do come in 40w I think.

I don't see how it could be dangerous for the crestie - the cage would be above the enclosure, not inside it, so it's not like the gecko could get near the bulb.

As for drying out the substrate, I could always tape the heat mat to the side or even just give a really thorough soak if things start to get too dry. If 7 watts can do the job, we have the technology to keep it damp!

 

[JTB]

I've been searching around and I think the mat I've got would do the trick, I'd just need a thermostat for it.

So if I go for this, where'd I ought to put it? At the bottom or on one side? I think the side would be better because it is such a tall terrarium, but might as well ask!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I have never heard of All Living Things before. The go-to brand of CHEs in England seems to be White Python which is the brand of my 150w model. These do come in 40w I think.

I don't see how it could be dangerous for the crestie - the cage would be above the enclosure, not inside it, so it's not like the gecko could get near the bulb.

As for drying out the substrate, I could always tape the heat mat to the side or even just give a really thorough soak if things start to get too dry. If 7 watts can do the job, we have the technology to keep it damp!

All Living Things is a USA Petsmart store brand. I'd get a 40 watt White Python brand CHE.

Using a 150 watt on a 45 x 45 x 60 cm crestie vivarium is overkill. If the thermostat clonked out, all that heat could be deadly.

Heat rises; heat does not travel much sideways. I really don't understand how mounting a heat pad on the side helps much at all. It's important for the enclosure to dry out during the day. A soggy substrate will not dry out enough. A soggy substrate is prone to mold.

 

[JTB]

Attaching the heat mat to the side relies on conduction as opposed to convection. The glass touched by the heat source also heats up and this heat travels into the cage. Lots of heat could be lost via convection on the outside, but if you were to place tin foil or polystyrene over the mat you virtually direct all of the heat into the enclosure.

I had not thought about the thermostat breaking, that's a very valid point. However, I still think a 40w at full power could kill a crested gecko - I've measured the 7w heat mat without a thermostat before and it reached 35 degrees with a piece of plastic and a 2 cm air gap between the mat and the thermometer! A CHE of nearly six times that wattage with full power is definitely going to be a killer. I do believe that most thermostats are supposed to switch off power supply if they have an internal fault (or at least they SHOULD be, I know for a fact that the awful MicroClimate ones aren't).

I've been reading temperatures again around where the gecko will go with different thermometers. One read 18.2*C, another read 17.3*C and I think the other one read 18*C also. I actually think that the one that reads 17 odd degrees must be wrong - I actually had forgotten this but I remember I used it when my corn snake was a baby and put it into storage because it read things wrong. That explains why it has a different result. After looking at this and scouring I'm starting to think I've no reason to worry because 18 C is just under 65 F and according to multiple sites they're okay down into the low 60s or even 50s, as long as things heat up in the day, which will happen in my case as I do have a source of day time heat so it will reach about 23*C I think. I'll probably play it by ear and measure temps when everything is set up, then I can actually know the temps. I'm probably worrying too much!

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

I do believe that most thermostats are supposed to switch off power supply if they have an internal fault (or at least they SHOULD be, I know for a fact that the awful MicroClimate ones aren't).

The advantage of thermostats over rheostats is that they are supposed to shut off the power supply once the set temperature is reached.

I keep my room lows @ 72*F (22.2*C) 24/7. The room temps drop to 21.1*C depending upon where the digital thermometers are. Because of all the bulbs on other vivs, this room is often 23.9 ish *C during the day. Even then I find my crestie hanging out on his basking bar right underneath his 25 watt overhead bulb.