Getting my first crested tonight.

Skits · 12-02-12, 02:14 PM

Today I got an email, asking me to take in a crested gecko. Since I already have a general idea on their care, I agreed to take the little one in. I read a couple of caresheets as well, but would love to have more updated care tips, and more of an insight from people on this forum. I already have an idea on the ideal enclosure for them, I know their temperature needs, and somewhat about humidity.

So for questions..

How many times should I mist the enclosure?
What does everyone feed for diet?
How deep should the substrate be?
Does anyone have a gecko that has a preference in a certain tank accessory? (examples: a vine, a certain type of plant, certain substrate, etc)

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated, also if anyone would like, post pictures of your enclosures

I'd like to get an idea on decorating.

Charis · 12-02-12, 02:39 PM

Congrats on your new addition! As to diet, the overwhelming opinion of most keepers is that one of the complete diets should be used as the staple. There are several brands but the one most recommended and the only one I have experience with is the Repashy powder crested gecko diet, or CGD that you add water to.
How much you'll need to mist will depend on a lot of factors. Mainly you'll want a cycle, say get it up to 80% or 90% in the morning and let it dry out to as low as 50/60% through the day, that will keep the cage from developing mold. Most people mist heavily once in the morning and then a lot of the time will mist lightly before bed.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-02-12, 02:41 PM

1) Misting should be done as often as is required to keep the humidity levels where they should be. But misting only very briefly raises humidity, so it's ideal to find other ways to bring up humidity (live plants, moisture-holding substrates like coconut fiber, a water bowl, etc.).
2) Crested Gecko Diet by Repashy is the most widely used and pretty much agreed to be the best. Of course you can give them some crickets sometimes too, but that's the best staple. Don't feed baby food.
3) Doesn't need to be deep. They won't spend much time on it.
4) I don't own a crestie, so I can't help you with that one. The more the better, though. I like bromeliads because I think they're really pretty, but vines and branches are good.

For decorating, you can do a quick Google search for "crested gecko habitat/terrarium/setup." You'll find lots of great ideas.

~Maggot

Charis · 12-02-12, 02:47 PM

I usually keep babies on paper towel for the first few months but like something like Eco Earth after that as it holds humidity better. The paper towels are good for monitoring baby or new geckos though. I only use about an inch of substrate. I know a lot of keepers use only paper towel for all of theirs and others use deeper substrate than I do. It's up to you and whatever works best for you.

beardeds4life · 12-02-12, 02:50 PM

Once it is an adult (I dont know how old it is know) you should look into bioactive substrate. It is basically "living" substrate that kinda takes care of itself.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-02-12, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

Once it is an adult (I dont know how old it is know) you should look into bioactive substrate. It is basically "living" substrate that kinda takes care of itself.

I'm not sure that would hold humidity as well though. Bioactive substrates are more for ground-dwelling reptiles, from what I understand.

~Maggot

beardeds4life · 12-02-12, 06:19 PM

With live plants basically a whole little eco system it will be one of the best crested gecko enclosures and will maintain humidity fine.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-02-12, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

With live plants basically a whole little eco system it will be one of the best crested gecko enclosures and will maintain humidity fine.

Are you well-versed on the moisture-holding abilities of coconut fiber verses the particular components of bioactive substrate from the OP's area? And you don't need bioactive substrate for live plants. I've actually had better luck using a coco fiber/organic soil mixture with live plants than bioactive because of the ground in my area. I mean, it might work fine, but coco fiber is easier and proven for cresties.

~Maggot

beardeds4life · 12-02-12, 08:42 PM

You dont have to have wild soil for a bio active vivarium. You can buy normal soil and add insects to it. That is what I am referring to. There are different ways to accomplish bio active soil. All it is is soil that cleans out the poop and stuff.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-02-12, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

You dont have to have wild soil for a bio active vivarium. You can buy normal soil and add insects to it. That is what I am referring to. There are different ways to accomplish bio active soil. All it is is soil that cleans out the poop and stuff.

There's more than just some insects in bioactive soil.

~Maggot

beardeds4life · 12-02-12, 09:13 PM

Yes but you can accomplish a rough interpretation of it with eco earth. You can even buy pre made little cultures to add.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-02-12, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beardeds4life

Yes but you can accomplish a rough interpretation of it with eco earth. You can even buy pre made little cultures to add.

You said buy soil and add insects to it, and now you're saying buy coconut fiber and add "cultures" (of what?), so I'm not really sure what you're suggesting the OP do. But, meh, guess it doesn't matter. Just seems like unnecessary effort here.

~Maggot

Danimal · 12-03-12, 11:41 AM

I mist heavily in the morning and in the early evening. I feed Repashy and occasionally a few crickets. I only have small babies right now so they are in tubs with paper towels, a small piece of a paper towel roll and a piece of fake ivy garland. I will probably keep some in tubs.

I intend to take a couple of females and put in a planted display viv but as of right now I am not planning on adding insects to the sub. I do that in my monitors cage and they do a really good job of keeping it clean, I am a fan. I definitely think that would be a plus but until I am sure that the cresties will eat the fortified diet, I am going to hold off. The only think I pay close attention to is the temps because of where I am. Humidity is not much of an issue, temps can be.

Skits · 12-03-12, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the replies

I went to pick him up yesterday, he was in a 10 gallon tank, so I laid it upwards to make an arboreal enclosure for him. I'll be getting him a larger tank as soon as I could. I gave him a vine, a branch, and lots of plants. The top of the tank was screen, so I covered it in plastic wrap and it's been keeping the humidity in a lot better. I've added coconut fiber in the tank, and it's helping keep the humidity as well.

I'll look into having real plants in there once I get him his bigger tank. What kind of plants are safe for them, and where do I buy them?

Also does repashy sell in petstores? I have a reptile store downtown so the next time I'll go there, I'll have a look if it isn't at my local petstore. I noticed online, they had some for leopard geckos as well. Does anything have experience with feeding leopard geckos repashy food? My crested was being fed flukers crested gecko food, is that bad for them? She said that he never touched the food.

Here's my little guy

I've named him Spock.

He's really tame, but pretty quick, haha.

Charis · 12-03-12, 04:43 PM

He looks great! Nice head structure! Can't say for about Canada but they do carry the Repashy CGD in most Pet stores here but it is usually cheaper online, or at least much easier to find larger containers of it. The ones sold in stores are usually very small. But with one crested, they should be enough to last you two to three months. I don't know if links to other forums are allowed, so I'm just going to copy and paste the plant list from one of the Rhac forums on here, it's a bit long.