Day geckos feed | Pet care.
Day geckos feed
There is a saying that the variety is life sauce, and this also applies to the maintenance of day geckos. Or, at least, in what regards its power. As we saw above, geckos (Phelsuma) have a very specialized in which, according to the species diet, including certain amounts of nectar of flowers or fruit juices. However, insects and other small arthropods constitute the most important part of their diet. Among the insects to feed these lizards we include crickets, wax moths and their larvae, the apterous drosophilids (for the young), and what is referred to as "herb plankton". The latter is not more than the set of small insects and Arachnids that they gather to spend a salabre on the vegetation of a garden or field, and is probably the best food for our animals. However, there is a risk of introducing some parasites and that collected insects have been able to be contaminated by insecticides. Diurnal geckos, whether they have been captured at source as if they were born in captivity, have no defenses against pests in a strange country for them, so it could be seriously ill or even dying from causes that only affect the local herpetofauna. The only way to be sure that the insects captured in the field are not harmful to our reptiles is to freeze them for a minimum of two weeks, but since the day geckos tend to pursue their prey and are the movements of those who excite them, they tend not to accept "frozen bugs". However, sometimes there are some specimens that do accept them. If you decide to give them "herb plankton" live, it must be a veterinarian to regularly inspect their droppings to try to detect the presence of possible parasites.
A food that should be completely avoided, or reserving it only for emergencies, are the mealworms. Meal worms (larvae of Coleoptera Tenebrio molitor) tend to cause two problems to diurnal geckos; the first is that these lizards can hardly digest their chitinous exosqueletos, and their accumulations cause them serious intestinal disorders. The second problem is that the mealworms are very fatty, and these fats tend to cause obesity in our lizards to absorb nutrients such as vitamins D and E.
Insects such as crickets and wax moth larvae are a perfect food, provided we complement them with adequate doses of minerals and multivitamins complex. In fact, vitamin and mineral supplements are another critical factor for health and reproduction of diurnal geckos. To keep them healthy is essential to administer a good polivitaminico complex, but also have to provide also a calcium supplement. Many breeders employ cuttlefish shell powder or dicalcium phosphate, but it is better to resort to commercial preparations for reptiles. Provided that we give to day geckos feed must be previously sprinkle food with calcium and vitamins. Some breeders concerned the possibility of overfeeding their pets with all these accessories, but for my part never I have seen symptoms of hypervitaminosis in any of the many diurnal geckos with whom I have worked. It is possible that ever providing an excess of calcium, but, again, I've never seen any disease caused by this reason. In fact, the lack of calcium is one of the most common problems in the day geckos. My recommendation is that, in addition to sprinkle food with calcium, be placed in the terrarium a small dish with the supplement of this mineral in the scope of the geckos. These tend to consume powder is offered, which is vital for females in breeding season.
In addition to insects, you must give your diurnal geckos any nectar or fruit. I have seen that they love all the Phelsuma "baby" baby peach, apricot or banana-based. A blend that gives very good results is as follows: to 30 grams of "jar" of fruit add a quarter teaspoon of powdered polivitaminico complex (0.25 cm3 whether it is liquid) and as much calcium powder, and stir until you get a homogenous porridge. Put a small amount of this porridge on a flat plate and place it in the terrarium. The geckos will soon discover it and eat with great avidity. It is likely that you have heard that diurnal geckos it suits them eating honey with vitamins and calcium, and there is no doubt they love honey. However, it is not recommended to always give honey because it contains an excessive amount of sugars and geckos would end up suffering from obesity. Geckos obese breed evil and their offspring is usually less strong to that which comes from more slender animals.
The adult must give insects twice a week, but children from six months will have to feed them daily. The rest of the fruit will be once a week, both adults as to juveniles.
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