Can Crested Geckos Eat Baby Food? Types, Feeding, and Cautions

If you have a crested gecko at home, you might sometimes feel worried about your gecko growing bored with its diet. Since they enjoy fruit and veggies, many people consider feeding their pet baby food. However, you must do so carefully so your gecko still has a balanced diet.

There’s a lot more to learn about offering your geckos baby food. Make sure you keep reading if you plan on feeding this to your pet in the future.

Will They Eat It?

Most crested geckos love baby food! It’s sweet and fruity, plus it’s easy to lap up, so they enjoy it. You’ll probably find that your pet loves one particular flavor of baby food more than others. It reminds them of nectar too, so getting them to eat it is not hard.

That said, just because your gecko will eat the baby food doesn’t mean it should. You still need to make sure you offer them plenty of nutrition. Most types of baby food have an incorrect ratio of calcium and phosphorus, which can quickly lead to Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)— a severe disease in these reptiles.

MBD occurs when your gecko doesn’t get enough calcium or vitamin D3 in their diet. It can also happen when they consume too much phosphorus since this nutrient makes it harder for them to absorb calcium. This disease is reversible with help from your vet, so make sure to reach out to them if you suspect your crestie has it.

In short, you can feed your gecko baby food from time to time, but you need to ensure they get enough nutrients from the rest of their diet. Your gecko should never be surviving solely on baby food.

What Kind To Give Them

If you’re planning on giving your crested gecko baby food, you’ll want to provide them with a high-quality fruit puree that doesn’t contain added sugar and preservatives. Then, check the label on the food before serving it. If the baby food has a lot of phosphorus and low calcium, it’s not safe for your pet to eat.

Next, you should only choose baby food made from safe ingredients for crested geckos. These fruits are good choices:

• Mangos
• Apricots
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Pears
• Nectarines

You must avoid giving them citrus fruits such as oranges, limes, and lemons, plus any other fruits low in calcium. You should stick with the above list to keep your pet healthy.

How Often Should They Eat It

You should never consider baby food the central part of your crestie’s diet. Instead, consider it a dessert— something your pet should only have occasionally. It’s also better to offer them fresh food instead of processed, jarred fruit.

For an adult gecko, you should offer them a small scoop of baby food, about the size of a grape or ice cube, once per week. If you give them more than this, the baby food could have too much sugar for the gecko to process its snack healthily.

It’s also worth noting that you shouldn’t give baby food to baby geckos. Their developing bodies can’t handle the sugar and preservatives. Plus, you want their diet to be rich in insects, with a dusting of calcium powder.

Raw or Cooked Baby Food?

When you open a fresh jar of baby food for the first time, you don’t need to cook it. Your gecko will enjoy the puree at room temperature. However, you may want to heat leftovers in the microwave to remove any bacteria that started to form there.

If you warm the leftover baby food, let it cool down before serving it to your pet. You don’t want the crestie to get burned on it! Lastly, it’s essential to track how old the food is so you don’t give them something that’s expired.

Overall, raw baby food from an unopened jar should be safe for them to eat. The food and jar need to be clean and fresh for the companies to sell it.

Should You Give Them Baby Food if They Are Pregnant?

Crested geckos lay eggs so that they won’t be pregnant. When a gecko prepares to lay eggs, you’ll want to ensure you offer them a nutritious diet that includes mostly insects and some fruit. Fresh fruit would be best for your gecko in these situations.

Once the babies hatch, they usually won’t eat for a few days. When they’re ready to eat, you can combine turkey and fruit baby food, then offer them a tiny amount. Mixing these two different purees should offer the baby cresties plenty of nutrition. 

If you’re unsure what to feed your nesting or baby crested geckos, always go over their diet with your vet. You want to ensure it’s as nutritionally complete as possible.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, crested geckos can eat baby food occasionally. You don’t want to make baby food the main part of their diet. Instead, offer an ice cube-sized amount once per week as a treat.

If you give your crestie too much baby food and not enough insects and fresh fruit, they could suffer from MBD. So, it’s always essential to keep your pet’s diet in mind to keep them healthy and happy!