Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes Safely? Everything You Need To Know

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

When owning a Crested gecko, providing them with a well-balanced diet is essential to their health. Their diet in the wild includes fruits but should that also be included in their diet when kept as pet?

You might be surprised to find out that not all fruits are safe to add to your gecko’s diet. What about grapes? Can Crested geckos eat grapes? Yes, but only as an occasional treat.

People consume grapes in various forms all the time because of their health benefits and delicious taste. But what about Crested geckos, is this a safe fruit for them? And can grapes be included in their staple diet?

Unfortunately, grapes can’t be part of their daily diet. In this article, you will find out the reason for that and can Crested geckos eat grapes safely at all.

Some of the topics, we’ll be looking into are:

  • Crested gecko’s diet in the wild vs captivity
  • What makes a fruit safe for Crested gecko to eat
  • Benefits and negatives of feeding your Crested gecko grapes
  • Can Crested geckos eat grapes – Conclusion
  • How often and how many grapes can you feed a Crested gecko

And much more…

Crested Gecko Diet – In The Wild vs In Captivity

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

Before exploring can Crested geckos eat grapes and what are the benefits and negatives, you need to be familiar with your gecko’s diet in the wild vs when kept as pets.

In their natural habitat, on the island of New Caledonia, the Crested gecko’s diet consist of the following foods:

  • Insects 49.6%
  • Fruits 11.7%
  • Fruit nectars 7.52%
  • Seeds 1.8%
  • Pollen 10.3%

In the wild, fruits and fruit nectar are part of the Crested gecko’s diet. However, when kept as pets, most fruits should only be fed in moderation and some fruits should be avoided all together.

The reason for that is – if your Crested gecko is on a commercial diet, they will be getting all the nutrient they need from that main food source and won’t need any fruits added to their diet from a nutritious point of view.

However, if fruits are only served as an occasional treat, that won’t have a negative effect on your gecko’s health.

What Makes A Fruit Safe For A Crested Gecko

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

Although, fruits are part of the Crested gecko’s diet in the wild, some fruits are more beneficial than others and some are even dangerous to your gecko’s health.

Any Crested gecko owner needs to have an understanding of the factors that make a fruit safe to feed to your gecko. This information is especially important to know as some fruits can even damage your Crested gecko’s health and should be avoided all together.

If you’re thinking of feeding your Crested gecko apples but are not sure if they are safe, click here to find out Can Crested Geckos Eat Apples – Everything You Need To Know

The following is what you should be looking for in a healthy fruit for your Crested gecko’s diet:

  • Good calcium to phosphorus ratio (Ca:P)
  • Low oxalic acid

Calcium to phosphorus ratio (Ca:P)

Calcium is an important component to Crested geckos’ health. This is because your gecko needs calcium to maintain healthy bones and avoid developing metabolic bone disease.

Calcium is especially important for:

  • Pregnant females (gravid females) – Female geckos need the additional calcium for the formation of the eggs
  • Hatchlings and juveniles – this is the period when they are growing and forming and calcium is what helps with their bone development

Calcium and phosphorus cancel each other out in a way. When calcium raises the phosphate levels are lowered and vice versa – when the phosphate rise, the calcium levels lower.

But what is considered a good calcium to phosphorus ratio?

Foods with a calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 (or better) are considered good for your Crested gecko.

Oxalic acid

In people, the consumption of additional oxalic acid can lead to stone formation in the urinary tract. Similarly, Crested geckos should avoid eating foods with a medium to high levels of oxalic acid.

Foods with low oxalic acid are recommended for your Crested gecko’s diet.

Conclusion

As most fruits don’t have a desirable Ca:P ratio, they can’t be included to your Crested gecko’s staple diet.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t feed your Crested gecko any fruits. Depending on the fruit’s nutrition and type, it can be either:

  • Fed to your gecko more often than once a month
  • Served only as an occasional treat once a month
  • Never fed to your gecko as it can be dangerous to their health

But where does the grape stand in terms of Ca:P and oxalic acid and can Crested geckos eat grapes often, only once a month or not at all?

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

Before adding grapes to your Crested gecko’s diet, you should first understand the benefits and negatives of feeding your gecko grapes.

Benefits Of Feeding Your Crested Gecko Grapes

  • Low oxalic acid. Seedless grapes (red and green) have a low level of oxalic acid which is good for your Crested gecko. The only type of grapes that contains high levels of oxalic acids and shouldn’t be given to your gecko is the Concord grape
  • Vitamins and Minerals. Grapes contain small traces of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron

Negatives Of Feeding Your Crested Gecko Grapes

The main negative of feeding your Crested geckos grapes is:

  • Bad calcium to phosphorus ratio (Ca:P) – The ratio of grapes is 1.4:1, which is considered a bad ratio for your Crested gecko

However, this doesn’t mean that grapes are dangerous, they are just not as beneficial as some other fruits such as papayas and figs.

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes – Conclusion

A healthy fruit to feed to your Crested gecko has a good calcium to potassium ratio Ca:P and low in oxalic acid.

So, can Crested geckos eat grapes? After looking at positives and negatives, we have come to the following  conclusion:

Seedless grapes have a low oxalic acid which is good but a bad Ca:P ratio of 1.4:1.

This means that grapes should only be given as an occasional treat, once a month.

With that said, let’s look at how you can feed grapes to your Crested gecko.

How Often Can I Feed Grapes To My Crested Gecko

As mentioned earlier it’s not recommended to feed your Crested gecko grapes too often because of the bad calcium-phosphorus ratio.

Therefore, you should only feed your Crested gecko grapes once a month as a treat.

How To Feed Grapes To My Crested Gecko

  • Whole. As grapes are a soft fruit and are jelly like, they can be fed to your gecko as they come. However, you must ensure the grapes are seedless and you need to remove the skin first
  • Sliced. If the gecko is struggling to bite on the grape, you can cut the grape in thin slices to help with digestion
  • Mash. Another option is to mash the grapes and feed to your gecko as a puree

How Many Grapes Can I Feed To My Crested Gecko

Regardless if you feed your Crested gecko grapes that are whole, sliced or mashed, you shouldn’t feed them anymore than one grape per sitting.

Is There A Substitute For Grapes

In case you are too worried about the bad Ca:P ratio of grapes and you don’t want to take any risks, there are other fruits to choose from.

Fruits you can pick from to feed you gecko, that also have a good Calcium to potassium ratio are:

  • Papaya – Ca:P is 4.5:1
  • Figs – Ca:P is 2.5:1

Another option is choosing commercial fruit powder. The Pangea Fruit Mix offers flavours of:

  • Watermelon, mango, banana & apple
  • Apricot
  • Fig
  • Papaya

The positives of choosing a commercial powder with a fruit flavour is that your Crested gecko will be getting all the nutrients they need from the commercial food.

Final Thoughts

Can Crested Geckos Eat Grapes

Crested gecko’s diet in the wild consists of insects, plants and fruits. But when kept as pets, most owners will put their gecko on a commercial powder diet.

This is not only the easiest but also the best option as your gecko will be receiving a well-balanced diet and will be getting all the nutrients they need to stay healthy.

But what about fruits? Can fruits be part of the Crested gecko’s diet when kept as pets? Yes Crested geckos can eat fruits in captivity.

However, some fruits can be fed more often. Whereas, other fruits can only be given as an occasional treat and some fruits should never be fed to your gecko as they are dangerous.

This depends on the nutrient value of the fruits, their Ca:P ratio and oxalic acid levels.

Good foods for Crested geckos contain:

  • High to moderate Ca:P
  • Low levels of oxalic acid

And what about grapes? Can Crested geckos eat grapes? Yes, Crested geckos can eat grapes but only as a treat. The reason for that is the bad Ca:P ratio.

In terms of how you can serve grapes to your Crested gecko, there are a few options:

  • Mash – on its own or mixed with other fruits that have a higher Ca:P ratio
  • Sliced
  • Whole grape

And don’t forget to remove the skin off the grape!

As grapes don’t have the best nutritional value, you should only feed your Crested gecko one grape per sitting.

Related Topics

Fruits with a high Ca:P ratio

There aren’t many fruits with a high Ca:P ratio.

However, the following fruits have high to moderato ratio and are safe to feed to your Crested gecko:

  • Papaya
  • Fig
  • Prickly pear also known as tuna (fruit), sabra, nopal
  • Raspberries
  • Mango

Fruits with a low Ca:P ratio

The following fruits have a low Ca:P ratio. Therefore, they should only be fed to your Crested gecko as an occasional treat once a month.

  • Watermelon
  • Grapes
  • Cranberries
  • Apricots
  • Kiwi
  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Peach
  • Plum
  • Banana

unusualpetsguide

My name is Iliyana and I'm a passionate animal lover and pet owner. As there is significantly less information online about unusual and exotic pets, I decided to found this website and recruit expert writers to help pet owners.

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