Crested geckos can eat both plants and insects.
Crickets are a staple food for many species of geckos. These feeder insects are easy to get, cheap, and packed with a lot of protein.
But, can you feed crested gecko crickets? Here’s everything you need to know about feeding your crested gecko crickets and more.
Can Crested Geckos Eat Crickets?
Yes, crested geckos can eat crickets. It’s one of the common feeder insects given to pet geckos because of their high nutritional value.
Are Crickets Good For Crested Geckos?
Crickets are excellent insects for feeding a crested gecko.
Crickets are high in protein and have little to no fat. Protein is an essential nutrient for all reptiles, but especially for egg-laying females.
Furthermore, crickets are low in carbohydrates and fat.
This means that they are low in sugar and starch. That is why they are an excellent food source for diabetic reptiles.
One more benefit of feeding crickets to your gecko is that they are easy to find and inexpensive.
They are easy to find, inexpensive, nutritious, and sustainable as a food source.
Are Crickets Safe For Crested Geckos?
Yes, crickets are perfectly safe for your crested gecko.
However, feeding too many crickets to your crested gecko might cause nutrient deficiency.
It’s paramount to add other nutrient-rich food to your crested gecko’s diet.
How To Prepare Crickets To Be Fed
Before feeding crickets to your crested gecko. You need to properly ‘prepare’ i.e., boost their nutritional value. Here are two ways to do that.
Gut Loading
Gut loading is done by feeding the crickets nutrient-dense food to eat. This is done a few hours (8-20 hours) before feeding them to your crested gecko.
This boosts the nutritional value of the cricket making it a more nutritious meal for your pet. Vegetables are a good food to gut load crickets on.
Dusting
Dusting is covering the crickets with powdered supplements right before feeding them to your pet.
Crickets are rich in phosphorous but low in calcium. Dusting increases the calcium amount which prevents metabolic bone syndrome in your pet.
Dusting is done by putting the crickets in a container filled with the supplement and shaking it.
This covers the crickets well with the supplements
How To Feed Crickets To Your Crested Gecko?
First things first. You need to get the right crickets for your crested gecko.
There are several types of crickets but the common ones fed to geckos are the common brown and banded cricket.
Crickets should be well-fed before feeding them to your gecko.
You can also choose to feed them alive or dead. Blending and freezing them is the best way to feed them dead.
Here’s how to feed crickets to your pet:
- Gut load or dust the crickets.
- Crickets can be blended into a paste or fed live using tweezers or kept in a container.
- Blend crickets with other types of insects or plants and feed to your crestie.
- Use tweezers to feed them live or place crickets in a container in the enclosure.
- Crickets can be left in the enclosure for the gecko to feed on during the night.
How Many Crickets Can A Crested Gecko Eat?
An adult crested gecko can eat 8-10 fully grown crickets in a feeding. Hatchling and juvenile crested geckos eat less about 3-6 in a feeding.
Feeding too many crickets might cause a nutrient deficiency in your pet. The best way to avoid that is to have a balanced diet.
What Size Crickets Can You Feed To Your Crested Gecko?
You can feed crickets that are up to 2 inches to your crested geckos.
Crickets come in many different sizes. Smaller crickets will be much easier for your gecko to digest than larger ones.
Feeder crickets that are less than 2 inches in length make a great choice for your crested gecko.
These crickets are small enough to eat, but they’re still big enough to provide your gecko with plenty of nutrition.
Furthermore, crested geckos can devour insects almost the same size as their head.
How Often Can You Feed Crickets To Your Crested Gecko?
Crickets should be fed once or twice every two weeks. Feeding crickets often to your crested gecko won’t give it a balanced diet.
Can Hatchlings And Juvenile Crested Geckos Eat Crickets?
Yes, hatchlings and juvenile geckos can eat crickets. Keep in mind that crickets need to be small enough to be eaten by hatchlings.
There’s also the option of blending the crickets for easy feeding and digestion.
Also, you don’t need to worry about crickets evading hatchlings.
Summary
Crickets are a staple diet when it comes to crested geckos.
They are cheap, easy to get, and nutritious. Also, If prepared correctly before being fed to your pet the nutritional value is greatly boosted.
In summary, crested geckos can eat crickets and it’s a good idea to feed them to your pet.
