You want my Rhac fruit 'n' yogurt recipe? That top secret recipe that so far I've only divulged to
several thousand people?
I posted the recipe in this forum back in the fall, but that's when I still added CGD to the mix
once in a while. I don't bother with that anymore. It was mostly for a change in flavour and any
extra nutrients it might add, but I found that a lot of geckos didn't like it, so there was quite a
bit of it wasted (well, not wasted exactly, but by morning I'd take it out and let my dog, a glutton
of a MinPin, eat it
I'm somewhat lazy today, so I'm going to copy/paste what I posted somewhere else in cyberspace
instead of typing it up fresh.
My typical recipe makes roughly 6 ice cube trays, but it can vary depending on the type of tray
you're using. Since I have at least 20 fruit-eating adult Rhacs at any time and who knows how many
babies, it's worth making a big batch at once. You can use less of everything if you don't have a
lot of Rhacs (yet, but you will soon ) and the mix freezes well so don't worry about making too
much. Since the ingredients are also human food grade, you can eat some of it yourself if you don't
add the CGD, it's great slightly frozen, reminds me of a milkshake.
I've used this recipe since I first got Rhacs back in '96. I start with 1 large can (approx. 800 g./
28 oz.) of unsweetened mango pulp (plain mango will do since it all goes into the blender later), 1
small to medium very ripe banana, 1 or 2 soft pears, 3-4 figs, and one or two other fruits
in season. They love peach, mango, pear, banana, dates, figs, grapes and berries - especially
strawberries. Just about any fruit will do, but try not to use citrus fruit. All the fruit is
blended until smooth and then poured into a mixing bowl. I then add low fat or fat-free yogurt,
strawberry, mixed berries or peach. They have no problems digesting the lactose since the bacteria
in the yogurt culture convert it to a safe form for them. A one serving size container of yogurt is
added to the fruit mix and stirred until blended. Pour it all into ice cube trays and freeze.
Each batch is a bit different since I use whatever fruit is in season, so they get different
flavours throughout the year. I try to have 2 different batches going at a time and alternate with
each feeding. To give them a change every once in a while, I add something to the thawed cubes
before feeding. I'll sprinkle some pollen over the top, mix in a different blended fruit from the
other batch in the freezer, maybe add a bit of different yogurt flavour or some finely chopped figs.
Some batches also get a half a jar of CGD added while still in the blender, but that also means
adding a bit of water to keep it at a lickable consistency. Don't add too much CGD or it will be too
thick, and they might not bother eating it if they have to bite and chew it. This is one of my
least favourite variations, mostly because not all of my Rhacs will eat the CGD. I think I've pretty
well eliminated this version in favour of just feeding plain CGD to those who will touch it.
Feedings alternate with crickets/bugs of some kind 2 or sometimes 3 times a week, this fruit mix 2-3
times a week, some don't even bother with bugs much once they get to liking the fruit mix. Mix the
supplement (like Miner-all ) in when feeding if you can, that way you have more control over who
gets how much and when. It can be added before freezing, I just prefer to add it before serving.
Breeding females need more than lone males, babies need more than lone males etc. That's why I add
the Miner-all and vitamins when I feed the mix. Also, not every fruit/yogurt feeding gets
supplements. I skip one here and there, just feed it plain.
For cresties (and other Rhacs) who eat mostly the yogurt/fruit mix and barely touch crickets, I
don't dust the crickets and other bugs. They get their supplements in the fruit. Since they almost
always eat every drop of fruit, I know how much they've gotten. For those who eat bugs as easily as
fruit, I alternate, sometimes I go long stretches of supplements in fruit only, no dusted bugs.
Other times I'll do the dusted bugs, nothing in the fruit. All told, they do get supplements, but
not in and on every food item. The batches of fruit with CGD never had supplements added at all, I
just dusted the bugs when I used them. However, I don't do the mix with CGD anymore, or at least
don't have any intentions to use it since most of my adults didn't like it as much, and the
acceptance rate with all Rhacs in general wasn't as good.