A Couple Mismatched Gecko Questions

[Silver]

Most of these little odd questions involve feeding, so I'll put it here.

Firstly, Felix has been happy and growing well on calcium-dusted gut-loaded crickets occasionally, and calcium and vitamin and sometimes CGD supplemented baby food, and every so often, fresh pureed fruit, and even less often, fresh fruit mashed by hand, so there's good fruit chunks in there. Everything is supplemented except the small amounts of fresh mashed fruit because A) it's a very small amount (like, say, half a mango cube), and B) I think Felix enjoys a little not-messed-with treat every so often.

But would something like Clark's Diet 100% of the time be better? Or can I add to that to the variety of things I feed? Is it true that if you don't feed things like CGD and Clarks Diet all the time, they're not as effective with calcium and nutrient levels?

If I were to get Clark's Diet, and it would not be harmful to feed as part of a varied diet, what size would be recommended for feeding 1-2 geckos occasionally? I am not sure how much powder reconstitutes to how much food to feed only occasionally, and don't want to end up with a huge jar of half spoiled powdered food. I would assume the smallest container would be best?

And here is the one non-food related question. When I was given my gecko, I was told that they liked to lay in water. I haven't seen this per se, but I am not up all night watching Felix inthe tank either. So if she does enjoy a midnight dip, it's lost on me. DO they enjoy lounging in water? I'm more curious than anything. =)

[Matthew Parks]

I would say that as part of a well rounded diet you could go ahead and feed all of the things you mentioned on some sort of a rotation as long as dusted insects are offered twice a week.

Clarks stays good for about a year in a sealed package and much longer if kept in the fridge. One or two geckos will not eat that much but you will save money buying the larger quantities and storing it in the fridge.

I think that calcium levels should be monitored on geckos regardless of what diet you are feeding them, particularly if you have females that are laying eggs.


I have never seen one laying in the water as you describe so I'd have to say no on that one!

[nashwdragons]

well it got around 32* - 34* degrees here in the last 4-5 dyas and one of my females did lay eggs in the water bowl.........personally i think it happened because the temperatures were too high and she must've felt that the lay box is too dry hot etc......and laid those eggs in the water bowl.......the water bowl wasnt full though and the eggs look like they are in perfect codition..............iam pretty sure these two eggs will hatch like the other eggs ive got.

on a diff note my buddy told me that he has seen his geckos enjoy jumping in water etc if u have a large enough water bowl......recently i tried that and ive noticed that they do like water and surely like to walk around in it.(i do maintain relatively high humidity in my tanks so it's not probable that conditions were too dry resulting them spending more time in the water)

thanx
nash

[Silver]

I guess I will leave her water bowl/swimming pool in the tank then. I guess it's not hurting anything, and hey, it could be helping my humidity. =)

I think I will add Clark's Diet to my little system- anything to make my gecko happier, and I know that "variety is the spice of life". =) And Felix is a female, but she's my only gecko (I'm only considering a second), and has never been bred. I have checked her calcium reserves recently, however, and they were in good shape!

[IndyCrestie]

I used to offer a water bowl large enough (though fairly shallow) for them to wade around in if they chose to do so, but never once saw it and I am frequently up late at night when they are most active. While it's possible they were going in it when I wasn't watching (I obviously can't watch them 24/7) I use natural habitats with eco-earth and sometimes different types of reptile barks. I never saw any evidence of them using the bowl in that manner in the way of bedding tracked in. Now, they get a small drinking dish and that's it.

JMHO

[gecko_newbie]

My water bowl is underneath a plant, and instead of walking around the water bowl, my crestie just walks directly into the water bowl and stays there for a little while. I guess it just depends on the crestie. if you do put a water bowl/swimming pool, make sure it is pretty shallow.

On a side note, my crestie doesnt drink water droplets off of the plants or glass, but I see her many times during the night drinking water from her bowl.

[Dark Helmet]

Same here, I never saw mine taking a dip but I've caught him licking some at night when he's thirsty. He used to drink the water from the walls when I first got him but since I don't mist (it's rather humid here) he has taken to drink directly from the bowl. Still, I make sure it doesn't get hot enough for him to need that dip so he could be diving if he feels really hot. But I'm watching against that.

[cml3.0]

I have recently noticed that my pair of cresties are constantly tracking in the bedding in to their water bowel. I don't know if this is from them swimming in it or just drinking from it, but I tend to lean in the direction that they were having some fun in the water.