Insect for crested geckos.

Hello guys, i try to feed my gecko insects at least one day a week, but at times that i'm ready to feed them, they are sleeping or don't want to be bothered. Therefore I dont want to leave crickets in there with them and stress them out. so instead can I put dusted mealworm inside of a container so that when theyre ready to eat they can go and have the insect that way? Is there any other insect that they can eat that I can leave for when theyre ready? Thanks guys.

I've never had a crestie take anything but a cricket and rarely from tongs as well. I would suggest changing your schedule and feeding a few hours after it "wakes up" by putting a few dusted/gutloaded crickets in the bottom of the enclosure. If you have enough leaves and cover it can be fun to watch, but sometimes it does take the crestie a bit to find all the insects, so give them the time - overnight is fine if they otherwise have a good feeding response. I can count on one hand the number of times a cricket has lived through the night and been left in the morning - but for us it isn't worth pulling it out as we have a very dense enclosures and if the cricket gets too close to one particular crestie it doesn't live through the day... actually that's about the only thing that wakes that girl up! Otherwise the cricket is usually eaten for "breakfast."

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Originally Posted by sleepygeckos

I've never had a crestie take anything but a cricket and rarely from tongs as well. I would suggest changing your schedule and feeding a few hours after it "wakes up" by putting a few dusted/gutloaded crickets in the bottom of the enclosure. If you have enough leaves and cover it can be fun to watch, but sometimes it does take the crestie a bit to find all the insects, so give them the time - overnight is fine if they otherwise have a good feeding response. I can count on one hand the number of times a cricket has lived through the night and been left in the morning - but for us it isn't worth pulling it out as we have a very dense enclosures and if the cricket gets too close to one particular crestie it doesn't live through the day... actually that's about the only thing that wakes that girl up! Otherwise the cricket is usually eaten for "breakfast."

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How many crickets do you usually feed one at any given time?

Obviously depends on the age of the gecko and size of the crickets. IMHO if you get the proper sized cricket for the gecko (I say slightly smaller than the head width to start) then we usually go 3 crickets instead of one serving of CGD. Right now we only have adults, so that's 3 of what most suppliers consider "large" crickets and then the 3rd day back to CGD - we feed insects to adults about 2x a month for psychological stimulation.

For a growing gecko, we feed insects more like once a week to once a week and a half. It really does help their growth and, at least in our opinion, has to be a little more natural than eating out of a bowl all the time. Smaller crickets, but we stick to an average of 3, like any geckos though, you will find yourself between cricket sizes and may end up feeding more. With the disclaimer that with a crestie, I wouldn't jump sizes as fast as I would for a growing leopard gecko for instance - mostly due to the difference in jaw pressure and ability to kill prey. (My other favorite "must always have" gecko.)

Hope this helps - if you give me a little bit more info on your gecko's age/size I could be more specific on my recommendations. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sleepygeckos

Obviously depends on the age of the gecko and size of the crickets. IMHO if you get the proper sized cricket for the gecko (I say slightly smaller than the head width to start) then we usually go 3 crickets instead of one serving of CGD. Right now we only have adults, so that's 3 of what most suppliers consider "large" crickets and then the 3rd day back to CGD - we feed insects to adults about 2x a month for psychological stimulation.

For a growing gecko, we feed insects more like once a week to once a week and a half. It really does help their growth and, at least in our opinion, has to be a little more natural than eating out of a bowl all the time. Smaller crickets, but we stick to an average of 3, like any geckos though, you will find yourself between cricket sizes and may end up feeding more. With the disclaimer that with a crestie, I wouldn't jump sizes as fast as I would for a growing leopard gecko for instance - mostly due to the difference in jaw pressure and ability to kill prey. (My other favorite "must always have" gecko.)

Hope this helps - if you give me a little bit more info on your gecko's age/size I could be more specific on my recommendations. :)

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Thanks for responce, appreciate it!

I can't stand crickets. They are the reason I told myself I would never keep another insect eater again. I then found dubia roaches. They are an amazing feeder that I'd recommend to anyone. Every last one of my geckos eats them like they are going out of style.

I dust a bunch of them at once and pour around 10 or more in little individual glass tea candle holders. It keeps them from crawling out and the geckos can still see the movement through the glass. If they do somehow get out they will not try to munch on your gecko like crickets do. They have been a life saver. I highly recommend them.

Mealworms have a hard exoskeleton, some people may be afraid of impaction from their hard shell, but I don't think cresties eat enough insects to be afraid of it. Still, why risk it?