i know feeding has been talked about b4 but...

[dunderpate]

I know, i know, but i cant find anything about this in particular so im going to lay out my case. My two cresties arent jumping on the CGD bandwagon as easily as i thought they would. I think i have to blame the breeder for that. I never got them as babies and he told me that he was feeding them CGD mixed with babyfood since they were born. So naturally i did the same thing when they became mine. One of my cresties is about 8 months, the other about 8 weeks, ive had them for a month and i have no idea how much they weigh. Ive stopped the whole baby food thing compleatly after many discussions about it and the grief, as well as outside info ive read about the issues. In all its ok for a treat once and a while but not as a staple. So i bought real fruit, such as bannanas, mangos, peaches and nectarines. Fruit I already eat but can share with my geckos. Niether of my cresties will eat CGD on its own, totally refuse it. Like others before me have tried. I guess my point to this blabber is, can real fruit like what i said above and for the meantime, be mashed up with some premixed CGD on a regular basis if they just wont eat the CGD on its own? Everyone says you want to ween them off what they were accustomed to before, and only put them on CGD, but what if after youve tried that to no avail? Can you stick with just real fruit mixed with CGD? Im thinking you can, i mashed up bannana tonight and mixed in a teaspoon of premixed CGD, too sweet? too much potassium? too yummy? Should you let the fruit age longer? i want to hear from others who know for sure. THANKS!

 

[tap1974]

It may take alittle time to ween them but I think cgd will be best without the fruit all the time, it has everything they need in it. I know it is hard when you don't see them eat it but alot of the time they are eating at night in small amounts. Trust me they eat if they are hungery. Also try Clark's diet, mine love it. That said fresh fruit is better than babyfood any day. Whatever you do just keep an eye on them and make sure they look healthy and are not lossing much weight.

 

[Babylon]

You could try not going cold turkey on the baby food. Even the Repashy bag says to wean them off a small amount at a time until they are on full Repashy without baby food mixed in. You could always switch to organic baby food the remainder of the time you're trying to work them off of it. I got some to mix with Repashy today as a treat (The organic kind) Which has no sweeteners. Only two ingredients so I'm not feeling too bad about it.

 

[Wind Dancer]

what if you made your own baby food with only fresh fruit to mix just a bit in? my mom made her own baby food, and i watched her when Em was little. just throw the fruit in a food processor and puree it. then you can freeze it in ice cub trays and thaw a bit at a time to use

 

[brian547]

im pretty much in the same boat. well, except crickets are involved. i give my gargoyles pure cgd and there fine with it. they've been eating it for months strait. but i got a crested baby, that was probably to young to have been sold when i got it. he was quite friendly at first. now, i cant even clean his cage without getting bit every time. i have been giving him dusted crix daily b/c he wont eat cgd. well i think that every time he sees something move, he assumes its food. so anytime i go into his cage, he attacks my fingers. it doesnt hurt being that hes so small, but it will when he starts getting bigger. i think tonight im going to put cgd back in his cage and no longer offer crix. i dont know how else to calm him down.

 

[Valley Reptiles]

Babies tend to be very jumpy and you will also not notice any of the food gone until it gets bigger. Usually about 90% of the time when a new gecko owner buys a baby they think it's not eating because they eat very little but they usually are. As long as you see poop every week then it is eating.
My cresteds get cgd out of the egg until about 2 months old and I have never seen one baby eat but they always grow.

The best success I have had with switching is going pure cgd and not offering anything else for at least 2 weeks or as long as it takes before they start eating it reguarly. If they are reluctant to switch then they will start eating it when they get hungry if it is the only thing available. If there are other items available like crickets or fruit then they will hold out until the other food is offered. After a few months they learn to like it and they will start eating almost all of it.

Most of the time if they are on a cgd/baby food mix then it is easy to get tome switched over.

 

[WftRight]

I tend to agree with the advice here about switching them to CGD, but I see no reason why you couldn't mash some real fruit into a mush and mix a little CGD into the fruit. In the wild, they eat fruit and insects without anyone giving them CGD, so real fruit shouldn't hurt them.