# How long could a leopard gecko go without eating?



## Brendan

Same as title. My friend wants to know.

EDIT:

I have a question myself,

Could a crested gecko live on a staple diet of that commercial crested gecko diet for its entire life, without eating a single insect?


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## Mushroom Spore

How old/big is it, and how healthy? ie a big adult with a nice fat tail can go a lot longer than a little one, or an adult with a skinny tail.


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## Brendan

Mushroom Spore said:


> How old/big is it, and how healthy? ie a big adult with a nice fat tail can go a lot longer than a little one, or an adult with a skinny tail.


His is a healthy female, around 7-8 months old, with a nice fat tail.


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## Jer

If you are asking how long it could go without eating before it dies, probably a month to a month and a half, but don't try it. If you are asking how long it can go without feeding without any adverse effects, probably a week or 2 weeks at the most, again don't try it.

Yes, it could live its whole life on that leopard gecko food, thousands have and do, just like thousands of red eared sliders live their whole lives on nothing but turtle pellets, but that would be very greedy of you to offer nothing else.


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## Mushroom Spore

Jer said:


> Yes, it could live its whole life on that leopard gecko food, thousands have and do, just like thousands of red eared sliders live their whole lives on nothing but turtle pellets, but that would be very greedy of you to offer nothing else.


Crested gecko food.  I don't see what's "greedy" about it, if you're feeding a diet that really DOES meet an animal's nutritional needs (which a lot of turtle pellets and the like don't, so you do have to do your research on any given brand - but that even goes for dog and cat food too, a lot of which is terrible and has no nutritional value whatsoever).


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## Jer

Oh yeah. Well my reply is the same, just switch out "leopard" for "crested". And maybe switch out "greedy" for "shameful".


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## Takumaku

Yes, a crested gecko can live it's whole life on the MRP.  It was develop to eliminate the inconvenience of feeding live food + baby food (or soft fruit).  Nothing is greedy about it.  Some people still feed crickets, but more of a treat than anything else.


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## Mushroom Spore

Jer said:


> And maybe switch out "greedy" for "shameful".


Why? Like Taku said, the diets are specifically formulated to give the cresteds everything they need - proteins and the like included. The lizards are not suffering or sad because they're living on CGD. What's your grudge, man? :?


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## Jer

Mushroom Spore said:


> Why? Like Taku said, the diets are specifically formulated to give the cresteds everything they need - proteins and the like included. The lizards are not suffering or sad because they're living on CGD. What's your grudge, man? :?


No grudge, the information is just misleading. The same information says that feeding a red eared slider turtle pellets its whole life is fine, which everyone knows isn't the best. Sure the animal will live, but so would you if you ate at Burger King every single day. I mean if you are poor and you cannot afford to offer your pet anything else to eat, then ok, but if you at least have the means to toss in a gutloaded cricket or mealworm or some fruit, anything that it would possibly eat into the cage, then why would you not?


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## Mushroom Spore

Jer said:


> Sure the animal will live, but so would you if you ate at Burger King every single day. I mean if you are poor and you cannot afford to offer your pet anything else to eat, then ok


Except that MRP isn't Burger King, it's like the healthiest possible food science can create. As far as I know, it's MADE with fruit, bee pollen, spirulina, and enough vitamins and minerals and protein to drop a horse. You're implying that one might as well feed the poor suffering geckos wet cardboard all their lives ("shameful"?), when that's just not true.


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## Jer

Mushroom Spore said:


> Except that MRP isn't Burger King, it's like the healthiest possible food science can create. As far as I know, it's MADE with fruit, bee pollen, spirulina, and enough vitamins and minerals and protein to drop a horse. You're implying that one might as well feed the poor suffering geckos wet cardboard all their lives ("shameful"?), when that's just not true.


Those ingredients are in practically all types or fish food, and turtle pellets. And if they truly would "drop a horse" as you say, they would also drop a lizard. Give your head a shake. Everyone knows that feeding as many types of food as is possible to your animal is a far better practice than only offering them a single food source. Give your head another shake for the cardboard comment, that is the most irrelevant post I have read in a long time. After posting in a different thread with talk of trolls, mushroom spore, you are starting to fit the description more and more every post.


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## Mushroom Spore

Jer said:


> And if they truly would "drop a horse" as you say, they would also drop a lizard.


It was humorous exaggeration.  



Jer said:


> Everyone knows that feeding as many types of food as is possible to your animal is a far better practice than only offering them a single food source.


Feeding a healthy diet is the important part. If MRP is healthy, then it's healthy. Feeding many types of food isn't automatically great if the end result is not also a healthy, balanced diet.



Jer said:


> Give your head another shake for the cardboard comment, that is the most irrelevant post I have read in a long time.


It was a perfectly legit point. You are the one comparing a healthy, well-balanced diet to eating Burger King all the time and treating animals "shamefully."  You're outright SAYING that MRP has no nutritional value, and I'd love to know what you're basing this on besides "well it's just one thing, therefore it's bad." (When it is in fact already a combination of many things, such as assorted fruits and vitamins and protein sources that I imagine ARE insect-based.)



Jer said:


> After posting in a different thread with talk of trolls, mushroom spore, you are starting to fit the description more and more every post.


...I don't think you know what trolling is, but I'll help: disagreeing with you is not trolling.


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## Jer

Mushroom Spore said:


> It was a perfectly legit point. You are the one comparing a healthy, well-balanced diet to eating Burger King all the time and treating animals "shamefully."  You're outright SAYING that MRP has no nutritional value, and I'd love to know what you're basing this on besides "well it's just one thing, therefore it's bad." (When it is in fact already a combination of many things, such as assorted fruits and vitamins and protein sources that I imagine ARE insect-based.


No I am not outright saying that MRP has no nutritional value. You are the one that is outright saying that I am saying that it has no nutritional value. You are putting words that you want to hear because you are a troll into my mouth, and then arguing with me about them. Refer to my original post, where the thread creator asked if they could live their whole lives on this diet, note how I said "YES". Go eat some more mushrooms, you aren't going anywhere with this.


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## Mushroom Spore

Jer said:


> No I am not outright saying that MRP has no nutritional value. You are the one that is outright saying that I am saying that it has no nutritional value. You are putting words that you want to hear because you are a troll into my mouth





Jer said:


> Yes, it could live its whole life on that leopard gecko food, thousands have and do, just like thousands of red eared sliders live their whole lives on nothing but turtle pellets, but that would be very greedy of you to offer nothing else.





Jer said:


> maybe switch out "greedy" for "shameful".





Jer said:


> the information is just misleading. The same information says that feeding a red eared slider turtle pellets its whole life is fine, which everyone knows isn't the best. Sure the animal will live, but so would you if you ate at Burger King every single day. I mean if you are poor and you cannot afford to offer your pet anything else to eat, then ok


I don't have to put anything in your mouth, they were already there. :? But erm, go ahead and call me a troll again for calling you on declaring a healthy, well-balanced diet that results in happy and healthy geckos to be "shameful." And call me a troll for pointing out that you cannot compare a healthy, well-balanced diet to commercial diets which are NOT healthy, or to Burger King.

I'm not a troll. You're just _incorrect_. It happens sometimes.



Jer said:


> Go eat some more mushrooms, you aren't going anywhere with this.


Now okay, see this? This personal attack right here? THAT'S trolling. Just so you know.


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## Jer

I withdraw from feeding the troll. You aren't supposed to bite the hand that feeds you.


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## Mushroom Spore

Oookay then.  

Sorry about your thread, Brendan, I'm not sure what the heck just happened here.


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## Jer

Yeah Im sorry too Brendan. Mushroom Spore likes to quote me as much as possible, that's how much he likes me.


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## Nivek

Jer said:


> Yeah Im sorry too Brendan. Mushroom Spore likes to quote me as much as possible, that's how much he likes me.


Another good sign of a troll is someone who always has to have the last word, no matter what. Even if it means demonstrating ignorance and immaturity. ;P


And regarding the OP.

A couple weeks is about the max they can go and remain healthy, as someone else said. If it goes off eating, try switching the diet temporarily, leopards can be picky sometimes.

Yes, crested geckos can live a long, healthy diet on the crested gecko diet. In fact, most of the breeders swear by it religiously. It's really everything they could possibly need. Except maybe some fries and a shake. XD. Couldn't resist, sorry.


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## RoachGirlRen

I have to agree with those stating that a crested gecko can live a long, healthy life on CGD. It is better, IMO, to feed CGD as a staple and enrich with some fresh/live foods, but I see no problem with it being the bulk or even whole of the diet. In fact, because they are somewhat notorious for being on the finicky side and becoming deficient easily if the owner can not provide an adequately varied diet (by which I mean a whole lot more varied than baby food and crickets), I often hear breeders and experienced owners suggesting it over home-made diets. Ideally, a perfectly balanced fresh/live diet would of course be more enriching and healthier for the animal, but most people can't or won't achieve that. Sortof like how most people feed Fido dog chow when it technically healthier and more interesting for the animal to be fed a wide variety of well balanced fresh/raw meat, organs, bones, fruits, and vegetables. I have to wonder what those who are hardline against it think of pelleted/canned food for dogs and cats or lab blocks for rodents.


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