CGD - Can you do this?

[Olimpia]

The first time I bought CGD for my gecko I tried mixing half the bottle at once just to have ready. Then I could just pour it into her little bowl. But either I should have used more water, or maybe you just shouldn't do that, because it was suuuper dense (like melted cheese thick) and it had a very blue liquid layer ontop of the whole thick mess after a few days.

So I'm wondering several things. First off, was this stupid to do? lol Secondly, does anyone successfully keep a tupperware thing of it ready? If so how? And what do you do with it, do you refrigerate it?

Thanks!

Let me add that I didn't give my gecko blue gunky CGD lol

 

[yellermelon]

I mix abunch in a cup poor into plastic ciontainers and freeze. You could just as easilly pour it into ice trays then freeze

 

[gekko.gurl]

I agree with yellermelon. That worked for me. I never had issues with it turning blue though.

 

[ElapidSVT]

i like the idea of freezing portions
ty

 

[DarthGekko]

It turns blue after a couple of days. Usually means its time to change it. Also it turns blue more often when its too watery when mixed. For every cup of CGD use 2 cups of water and for best results get a good blender

 

[Olimpia]

It turns blue after a couple of days. Usually means its time to change it. Also it turns blue more often when its too watery when mixed. For every cup of CGD use 2 cups of water and for best results get a good blender

How do you keep and use it? Some people are saying to freeze it, but do you refrigerate what you're using, or just thaw it beforehand? And what if you use that proportion of water but it still ends up super thick? Is that normal?
Thanks!

 

[gaparicio]

It's super thick because you didn't use enough water. I have never measured the amount of powder to water. If it's too thick, add water. CGD always gets thicker after a minute or so. If it's too thin, add CGD. Mine has turned blue on occasion but it's not because it's old. My cresties lick it up with no problems.

Freeze what you don't need and thaw what you do need one day in advance in the fridge.:main_thumbsup:

 

[Olimpia]

It's super thick because you didn't use enough water. I have never measured the amount of powder to water. If it's too thick, add water. CGD always gets thicker after a minute or so. If it's too thin, add CGD. Mine has turned blue on occasion but it's not because it's old. My cresties lick it up with no problems.

Freeze what you don't need and thaw what you do need one day in advance in the fridge.:main_thumbsup:

Ok, thanks!

 

[Chewbecca]

I have found that with summer here and humidity levels higher, the CGD in my rhacs' cages gets a layer of blue over it much faster.
And I change it out every other day!

I use a condiment bottle for my CGD.
I bought it at walmart for 97 cents.
Very similar to this except mine has a cap that you can put on it so that the little opening isn't always being exposed to the air in the fridge.
http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=29855

 

[snowgyre]

Yeah, mine turns blue after a while too. Sometimes even freshly made I can see the blue tint.

One of the problems I've had with CGD is that it dries to the consistency of cement, making it a time consuming process to let all my feeding dishes soak until I can get all of it out. I found out that if I mix a tablespoon or so of apricot baby food in with the CGD that it dries to the consistency of a fruit rollup and just peels right off. I only make as much as I need at a time though, so I probably have 2/3rds CGD and 1/3 apricot baby food to get the consistency right. My food dries out so quickly with the air conditioner on that I always keep it a bit wet. In a couple of hours (aka, by the time I'm in bed and my crested geckos are awake), it's at the perfect consistency.

I don't use condiment bottles, mainly because my geckos like knocking them over. Instead, I've found that gatoraide bottlecaps are the perfect size, and they have a nifty plastic bottom that the CGD doesn't stick to as well. Anything that makes cleaning easier!

 

[Chewbecca]

Wait.

I pre-mix my CGD by putting it into a condiment bottle. I pour some powder in, add water and use a butter knife to stir it and that lets me know the consistency pretty quickly. Then I add more water to it if I need to.
Then once I fill all the dishes with CGD, I put the left overs in the fridge.

I don't feed out of condiment bottles. I feed out of either gatorade caps or pop bottle caps.

 

[Chewbecca]

oh, and you shouldn't add baby food to your CGD. It throws the nutrient balance off in it as it is perfectly balanced to meet your geckos' needs.

The only time you should do that is if you're trying to wean your gecko off of baby food.

 

[Olimpia]

Ok thanks! I went out and got the same 97 cent thing from walmart, so I'll try mixing some CGD tonight.

I'm using a tiny bit of baby food right now to wean my gecko onto CGD. I guess no one ever gave her any at the petstore she came from so she's never been attracted to it. But if it smells a little more like exotic fruit she's more interested in it. I'm slowly putting less and less in, so it's not a permanent thing. Luckily my hatchlings came pre-hooked to it, so I don't have to worry about them.

 

[darkridder]

CGD has a premade shelf life if stored in the fridge for about 7days, after that you will want to dispose of it.

The condiments bottles is something like you would think to store mustard in or something, it is for easier use to dispurse food thoughout many cages, and if you are someone like me with...uh I think I have about 28 now? It makes life alot easier.

And since CGD is a complete food, you dont want to mess with the formula by adding things like baby food to it, you throw off the proper nutritional value of the food. If you want to try adding things to it, if you go to www.pangeareptiles.com Matt has a nectar you can add to the food that will not throw off the nutritional balance like baby food will.

Also I have found that keeping extra lids around makes things more handy. I use pop caps or gatoraid lids in my baby and male tanks, as I have several females in several tanks I use small dishes. I take small animal bowls from the pet store and use 2oz deli cups for food. When I then do is have extras of them all so every other night I can change them out for fresh ones and let the other ones soak making cleaning alot easier. I also try to scrap some of the dried CGD for the crickets and roaches to eat, good food source for them too!