Baby Food / Worms

[maiden_canada]

hey im getting my first crestie in a couple days, im planning on feeding him mealies and baby food mostly, and alternate the two every other day. i am also going to put in some crickets, different types of worms like silk and butter and some fruits. something im wondering about is the baby food, i heard it only lasts 3 days once open? this is pretty confusing because he won't eat a whole can of baby food in 2 feedings right?

[Neo]

keep the baby food refrigerated and seal tight. it shouldnt go bad.. mine hasnt.

congrats on your decision bout getting the crestie! i got my first a few weeks ago u wont regret it

[eyespy]

Even when refrigerated, bacteria can grow to unacceptable levels after 48 hours in foods with no chemical preservatives added. But putting half the jar into the freezer to be thawed out later is always an option.

[CDN-Cresties]

If you read on the lid of a babyfood jar, it says that the babyfood will go bad after 3 days of being opened.

-Steve-

[Matt_K]

ice cube tray. That's what i do.. When i need some, just thaw a cube

[AnthonyC]

For one, baby food costs about 45 cents per jar, so I don't know that I'd go to the trouble of trying to preserve it. If you went through two jars per week, it's still only going to cost you about 90 cents per week.

Another thing to consider is that they aren't human babies. These geckos eat half rotten fruit in the wild all the time. If you've ever seen a crested gecko eat, you'll know that they aren't likely to walk up and take a bite out of a fresh piece of fruit. If there are bugs crawling around in it, guess what...they just added some protein to their diet.

Also, I don't know if I'd mess with the meal worms. I've heard that they can have trouble digesting anything but freshly molted meal worms. I just stick to crickets and baby food or crickets and Crested Gecko Diet. I feed mine a lot of crickets, but I still like to mix a little Crested Gecko Diet into the baby food, rather than just feeding straight baby food.

[Jazzey]

maidincanada did u get your crestie from a breeder or petstore?
Just wondering cuz your from Vic. as well.
Thanks,
Jazzey

[maiden_canada]

i am getting it tomorrow from clownfishie, i will be feeding it different types of worms, fruit, baby food and once or twice a month some crickets

[maiden_canada]

i can't have crickets as a staple because my parents are strongly against them since i had a beardie.

[AnthonyC]

That's understandable. You should definitely get some T-Rex Crested Gecko Diet to supplement the baby food.

[Jazzey]

I got the T-Rex stuff from Safari pets incase you want some.

[maiden_canada]

ok so i just got everything i need for him for the next wek or so, 60meal worms, and 3 cans of baby food. how much is the crestie diet and how long does it last for? i heard some people have good success with only using that

[eyespy]

You really can't compare in the wild tolerances to bacteria with how captive herps handle spoiled food. Since our captives don't get exposed to small amounts of rotting food on a regular basis to build up antibodies a sudden hit of bacteria-laden food is very likely to cause toxic shock and kidney disease.

Reptiles don't get any blood from their mothers and so have no antibodies passed down to them the way we mammals do. It's only through environmental exposure that they develop tolerances for high bacteria levels and even so many herps die in the wild before they build up decent immunity levels.

[AnthonyC]

That's a good point, but I wouldn't consider a 5 day old jar of baby food exactly bacteria laden. Back when I only had a few of them, my geckos got their share of 5 day old baby food and none of them are dead.

[eyespy]

Ever put baby food under a microscope? You might be very surprised at what you see. After just 2 days there can be as much as 10% bacteria count. 23% is the tolerancel level for human babies but lizards can't handle that high a percentage.

At the vet hospital where I used to work, food poisoned lizards are nearly a daily occurance. Most do survive but many have longterm kidney scarring and calcifications that shorten their lifespans.