Feeding

I got my trio of cresties today. The breeder was feeding CGD diet 5 days a week and crickets once. I was wondering how I should feed the diet. Should I just place it in a small ceramic bowl on the floor of the cage. Will they naturally come down and find it. Also what about crickets should I put them on the cage bottom and they'll come down or should I put them up in the climbing structure.

put the food dish on the ground and they should find it on their own. they are pretty active at night and they can use their sense of smell to find the cgd as well. you can also just drop the crickets onto the cage floor--they should run right down and grab them up with no problem.

So with the CGD should just make some fresh every day or let it sit for 2 days unless its moldy. Also how do you make it right. I made some but its not geled.

i feed on approximately this schedule:
monday: cgd
tuesday: leftover cgd still in cage from monday
wednesday: crickets
thursday: no food
friday: cgd
saturday: leftover cgd from friday
sunday: crickets or no food

to make the cgd you mix 1 part cgd to 2 parts water. it is pretty runny but thickens up some after a while. i like to add a little bit of non-fat plain yogurt to mine in place of some of the water. that makes the consistency better and keeps it from drying out so quickly.

I made 2 batches so for of the CGD and both were really runny. For some reason I cant get it to gel right. I followed the directions. 1tsp CGD and 2 tsp of water. Also I cant tell if there even eating it. Is this normal. Could I make some and place a drop of it on there nose and let them lick it off.

if you want to you can put slightly less water in it and see how that does for you. you can put some on their noses and let them lick it off it you want--it is a good way to get them used to you. if the breeder you got them from says that they eat the cgd then most likely you should have no problems getting them to eat it for you, sometimes you just can't tell if they are eating it or not because they don't eat very much of it, especially when they are young.

Is there anyway to tell if there eating beside poop. Im just concerned since I've never seen one of them come down to the food.

you can mix just a little bit of the cgd and spread it very thiny into a shallow dish-something like a cap or lid. if you see dents in it you will know they have eaten some. they may not eat much for the first few days though while they are settling in and getting used to their new surroundings.

I still have yet to see any of them feed yet, is it too soon to start worrying. I did handle 2 of them today and put some of the CGD on there nose, One ate a little and the other didn't. The one that didn't though is starting to shed.

have you given them any crickets yet? you can try a few crickets to jump start their appetite if you want to. just keep putting the cgd on their noses too. eventually they'll get it. what are your temps? if it is significantly cooler in their new enclosure than in their old one they may slow down a little but they won't stop eating altogether.

I haven't tried crickets yet but will as soon as I can. The temps are about 4 degrees cooler than what the breeder had them at. Suppose if in a week I still dont see them eating then what.

most likely they are eating you just haven't seen them do it. they won't starve themselves. their stomachs just aren't very big so it doesn't take a whole lot to fill them up when they are little. when i introduce hatchlings to the cgd i put a little on their noses and when they start to lick it off i hold up a little baby sized spoon with more cgd in it. they will usually keep licking the cgd out of the spoon until they are full or until their gecko A.D.D. kicks in and it's time to move on to something else. :)

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Originally Posted by mlededee

...or until their gecko A.D.D. kicks in and it's time to move on to something else. :)

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Haha! These guys are just too cute!

I finally made some progress with one of them. The smallest one was sitting on a stick near the front so I took it out and offered some CGD off my finger it sat there for 30-45 secs licking my finger clean of it. I now have named it puppy. Now they all have names. Rosie, Grace, and Puppy.

good deal--i bet they will all lick some off of your fingers eventually. they just have to get used to you a little. cute names. :)

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Originally Posted by greenmonkey51

I finally made some progress with one of them. The smallest one was sitting on a stick near the front so I took it out and offered some CGD off my finger it sat there for 30-45 secs licking my finger clean of it. I now have named it puppy. Now they all have names. Rosie, Grace, and Puppy.

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Are they all eating now, or is Puppy the first? I'm glad that he's coming through for you, and if it's any consolation, I've read that it's really quite common for them to fast for a couple of days after a drastic move from one home to another (i.e. the pet store to your house) due simply to stress.

Sucess number 2 now. I was trying to get rosie to lick off my finger but she wasn't interested. So I put her back in the cage on the bottom and she jumped in and onto the food bowl. She then proceded to slurp up some new food I just made. Thats 2 that I have visual confirmation now for the third.

told ya they'd come around. :) the third is probably eating too, like i said you just haven't actually seen it.

I saw the little one late last night eating out of the bowl. I can now relax.

hurray! :banana:

I feed crickets today. They seemed to like them but grace and rosie were afraid to come down on the floor. They were interested but wouldn't come down. I finally put both of them down on the floor and they got to hunting. Puppy surprised me he was there so fast. The only problem was puppy took a few that were too large for him. I did forget to dust the crickets, I got remember that.

you can leave the crickets in the cage with the geckos for up to 24 hours if you need to. i bet that once the lights are out and they aren't being watched the other two will come down as well. glad to hear you did get them all to eat them though.

What about the smaller one taking the larger crickets.

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Originally Posted by greenmonkey51

What about the smaller one taking the larger crickets.

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He wouldn't have eaten it if it were too large for him :)

yeah he'll be fine. i wouldn't recommend consistantly feeding crickets that are too large, but they can take down a pretty big meal if they want to.

Is it normal after big meals for them to sit on the bottom of the cage.

it's hard to say. they do what they want. :) might be that they are still in hunt mode or sleeping. i think you might have a little new crested owner OCD. :P they are hardy little guys. :)