Cricket size

[Brian Jay]

So, a few weeks ago i got a new gecko named Vladislov. He was super tiny, and he's growing quite a bit. He ate 1 mealworm, and never touched them again so i switched him to crickets which he just eats up. I'm feeding him quite a bit, because I want him to grow and get bigger aha, so he was eating on average about 8 crickets every night. I was getting the small/medium sized crickets from +++++, since he is only about 5 or 5 1/2 inches long. Today I went to my local rep shop and wasnt sure on what size to get so i showed them about the length of my thumb nail, and when they brought the crickets out they were huge! Not all the way to adult cricket size yet, but they were much bigger than the little baby ones i was feeding before. I asked if the had any smaller ones, but the smaller ones were baby baby pinheads, and they assured me he would do fine with these crickets. I put 3 in his cage and he ate one just fine, and then for the biggest one and managed to choke it down. He ate them, but is this okay? Could it cause problems or will it just make him grow bigger? Btw, crickets stink. Lol.

 

[SC Geckos]

It is possible for him to choke if the food item is to big. Also it is harder to digest very large insects. IMO it is better to feed multiple smaller feeders than it is to feed a single large feeder.
Are you gut loading these feeders? This is very important along with using good calcium & vitamin supplements. Doing these to things will help the gecko put on good weight. I would not recommend feeding ANY insects to your gecko without gutloading them for 24- 48hours.

 

[Brian Jay]

The crickets have an abundance of food aha. I feed them 2-3 small orange flukers cricket diet things a day, and then also fill a food bowl with my own mixture of calcium and vitamin powder, tomato, spinach, peas, romaine lettuce, and more orange squares all squished up into a mash, and dust them twice a week. He ate two crickets again pretty well today, he didnt seem to have much trouble swallowing them, but i'm watching him to make sure he poops. I dont know what to do with all these bigger crickets now if it doesnt work out.

 

[SC Geckos]

The crickets have an abundance of food aha. I feed them 2-3 small orange flukers cricket diet things a day, and then also fill a food bowl with my own mixture of calcium and vitamin powder, tomato, spinach, peas, romaine lettuce, and more orange squares all squished up into a mash, and dust them twice a week. He ate two crickets again pretty well today, he didnt seem to have much trouble swallowing them, but i'm watching him to make sure he poops. I dont know what to do with all these bigger crickets now if it doesnt work out.

Good. Just thought I would mention the gutloading just in case.
As long as he is not having any trouble with that size crickets then it should be fine.
I would suggest keeping a small bowl of calcium and vitamin powder mixed in the enclosure at all times. This way if the gecko needs more supplements than just the dusted feeders twice a week he has access to it. This will ensure he is getting all the supplements he needs.

 

[Brian Jay]

He also has that ^^ and he pooped! Quite a large one at that lol, so i guess all is good?

 

[Paula Marez]

I had the same question, and my little guy seems to be eating them just fine. Pooping easily too. Sometimes I'll find a too-big cricket in with my "mediums" and I just throw it outside (to be eaten by something bigger!).

The itty bitty crickets just seem SOOO small! They hide so easily in the cage!

As long as the gecko eats them without trouble and he's pooping, are we safe?