Crested geckos are omnivorous by nature; they enjoy mashed fruit items as well as live insect foods. Up until
recently, many crested gecko breeders swore by using fruit baby foods supplemented with necessary vitamins
and minerals. However, recently, Allen Repashy, a very reknown crested gecko breeder and researcher, has formulated
a diet which has taken all of the guesswork out of feeding crested geckos. Now available in a great variety of
flavors, these pre-balanced powdered diets (to which you add water) have worked out wonderfully for my geckos,
and they all seem to enjoy the food. Each of my adult geckos gets about a half tablespoon of this food every
other night. Also, twice a month for a treat, my geckos get about a half tablespoon of a "Super Mixture" recipe
which is from Sarah Milroy, AKA Crested Lady.
Crested geckos should never be given citrus fruits, or anything with a high citric acid content.
Some of my geckos just plain don't care for feeder insects - they won't look twice at a cricket or roach even
if it's crawling on their snout. But the ones who enjoy them receive about six appropriately-sized crickets once every week
or two. Feeder insects should be gutloaded with proper foods (I like using blended greens and carrots, with
crested gecko powder sprinkled in) and they can be dusted with a mineral supplement. A feeder insect
should not be wider or longer than the space between a gecko's eyes.
It is important to note that many vitamin/mineral dusting supplements available for reptile keepers contains the vitamin D3. D3 is used by the body to process calcium in the presence of sunlight/UVB, and because many ciliatus keepers do not use UVB lighting in their enclosures, it is possible to overload a crested gecko with D3. If you are making use of Repashy's Crested Gecko Diet or Superfood which already has a proper amount of D3 in it, it is important to stay away from excess D3 when dusting your feeder insects. Read the ingredients on your dusting supplements!
Catching your own feeder insects from outside is not recommended; outside bugs may have parasites, or they could have walked through or eaten insecticides or other chemicals which could potentially poison your gecko. Purchase your feeders from a trusted source, or raise your own from a trusted source's stock.
There is some debate as to whether the high chitin (hard outer "skin") levels in mealworms and their relatives make for poor feeding for crested geckos, due to concerns over intestinal impaction (which can lead to death). It is recommended by some that mealworms be avoided as a food item for cresties until more testing can be done.
Adult crested geckos should be misted thoroughly in the evening; the humidity will help with shedding, and they
will often drink water from available leaves. I also like to leave a shallow dish (often a peanut butter jar
lid or the like) of water in the enclosure for adult geckos, and a very shallow dish (lip-gloss-lid-sized
container) for very small geckos.