# Lizards > Rhacodactylus Geckos >  Finally, photos of Scooby Doo!

## Marla

Well, Waldo was hiding as usual, but Scooby actually made an appearance this morning in daylight to have his photo made.  I'm constantly worrying that one of these tiny guys has escaped, but last night I got to see both at the same time again and actually touched Waldo briefly.

Here's a photo to show how big Scooby is, in comparison with Jessica's finger and the 1/4" hardware cloth (Waldo is just slightly smaller):


Here's a pic of his cute little head:


Here he is drinking off the side of the box:


And here's a closeup of him drinking:

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## emroul

What a CUTIE!  :Smile:

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Very cute! 

One question though.....are you housing them in a screen or wire cage? They aren't the best caging for high-humdity herps like Cresteds......even a screen top glass tank isn't the easiest way to keep them.

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## iceman25

I love that color  :Very Happy:

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## Marla

Thanks, Jennifer and Raj.   :Smile: 

David, yes, I am housing them in a wire cage that I made and posted about in the caging forum before getting the cresties.  I read numerous care sheets ahead of time and there was no consensus on whether it was best to go with high ventilation as with chameleons or with high humidity, so I followed the advice of the best-written care sheets and made a high-ventilation enclosure and mist them 3x daily and use a substrate which retains moisture well (peat moss).  So far they seem very happy with the setup.

The entire enclosure is pvc and hardware cloth painted over with rust-o-leum, with newspaper covering the bottom and a cat litter pan filled with peat moss on top of that, then 3 fake plants attached to the back wall and one attached to the ceiling for hiding spots and a half-dozen or so sticks going every which way for them to climb on and reach the bottom with.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for bad sheds and adjusting husbandry accordingly.  However, if I go along with Jessica's suggestion (which I am leaning toward doing), I'll be getting a pair or trio of adults and housing them in this and moving the babies to a spare rubbermaid with spare hardware cloth melted into the top.

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## JLC

Cute cute cute!

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I've never heard of anyone using a wire cage for geckos.....its bad not only with humidity but also for thier little toes.....they can get stuck or smashed easily. IMO, it'd be a good idea to just get some rubbermaids and house them that way.....trust me, its going to be impossible to keep the humidity up in a wire cage.

The only herps that are really suited for a wire cage are Chameleons.

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## Marla

I can believe that climbing on the wire a lot could be bad for their little toes.  These guys rarely touch the wire, though.  They love the kitty litter pan and each has a favorite plant to hide in.  I also see them sometimes on the peat moss or newspaper or in the food dish.  I'm going to be adding a hygrometer to their setup to check min and max humidity, but with summer coming and ambient humidity of 80%-90% pretty normal around here, I don't think it'll be a big issue for several months yet.

And as I said, these guys will likely be moving to a spare rubbermaid with more ventilation than usual in anticipation of adult cresteds moving into this one.  If I have problems with shedding or toes or anything, I'll re-evaluate use of the cage.  I certainly don't want to cause them any problems, but I'm not convinced the cage will be a problem yet.

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Why more ventilation than usual? You can over-ventilate much easier than you can under-ventilate. All of the Rhac keepers I've ever known of kept their geckos rubbermaids or custom cages (such as BARRs, etc.). All you need to do for ventilation is drill or solder a few holes in the sides of the rubbermaid. Too little humidity will do much more harm than too much.....remember that these guys come from a temperate rainforest climate.

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## Marla

I do know that they come from a temperate rainforest climate, but it's high humidity in cycles rather than constantly, according to what I've read.  Also, I read from several sources that ventialtion is important.

Examples:



> Screen cage them if possible. The ventilation, from our research, improves productivity and general activity, especially in groups of 1.3 - 1.5





> If you do choose Rubbermaid containers, make sure enough ventilation is provided to prevent any medical problems that could arise from a damp and stuffy cage. Please do a little more research on housing these animals, they may be easy to keep but they still have basic requirements that have to be met.





> The maintenance temperature for this species should be between 74.3 F (23.5 C) to 84 F (28.8 C) which corresponds to the night / day temperatures experienced in the wild. A period of cooler night temperatures can be instigated in winter 60-66 F (16-19 C). Humidity levels at 74% to 84% can be maintained by simply spraying through the screen tops or sides of their cage. Good ventilation is essential for these animals and mesh cages such as RepCage aluminium screen cages have proven to be excellent for this purpose.





> Good ventilation is important for Crested Geckos, and a screen top glass enclosure should be a minimum set up. Better yet, because Crested Geckos are primarily arboreal, is an all screen enclosure that is taller than it is long (for example 18w x 18d x 24h).





> All Crested Geckos should be lightly misted with water once every evening as they will do best with moderate humidity.





> A screen enclosure measuring 18L x 18W x 24H inches or a screen tubular cage or "tube" cage measuring 24H x 18 diameter inches  can house a pair or 1.2 (one male and two females) comfortably. [...] Glass aquariums with screen tops have been used successfully. A 20-gallon tall glass terrarium can comfortably house 1.2 specimens. The bottom should be lined with moss substrate to avoid snout injury when catching preys.  Dry branches and live plants should be added. The only drawback of glass terrariums is poor ventilation.


I didn't just decide to put them in a screen cage without considering it, David.  I will monitor them and adjust husbandry as needed.  I take as good care of my guys as I am capable of doing.

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What sources are you citing there? The info you are citing is news to me....I've never heard anyone recommend screen tops let alone whole screen cages.

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## Marla

Well, Allen Repashy's article for Reptiles magazine is one of my sources.  Another source is Captive Science, and the rest are lesser known breeders and keepers.  Basically, the point is that there is still contention on this point, with worthwhile sources on both sides of the debate and I had to go with one or the other or just not get cresteds.  So I went with Repashy and the others and am aware that the other option may have been preferable or that they are equally as good choices and that it's an adaptable species.  Only time will tell.

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Hmmm.....this is new to me, lol. I am definitely not trying to refute the info, just probing so I can understand it better. I have kept Cresteds in rubbermaid enclosures similar to the ones I house my ATBs in and they thrived. I suppose theres more than one way to skin a cat, lol.

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## iceman25

> I suppose theres more than one way to skin a cat, lol.


You mean Rat :lol:

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## Marla

I suspect that these guys are just pretty forgiving in terms of husbandry, as long as you don't make it too far outside their optimum.  Which would mean an adequately ventilated rubbermaid would work, as would a screen-topped aquarium or a screen cage, as long as there's good airflow and regular periods of 80%-100% humidity or constant 50%-70% humidity.  If it turns out that I have problems with this type of enclosure, rest assured I will let you and the forum know so that other people won't make the same mistake.  I can also let you know if they seem to be doing well and having good sheds.

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## JamminJonah

by the way that close up of the licking is totally cute - that guy is cool looking Scooby is a very appropriate name!

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## Marla

Thanks Jonah!  I think that's my favorite shot so far of him.  He is so cute and fun to watch, and so is his bashful cagemate, Waldo.  They're named for how "easy" they are to find in the enclosure.   :Wink: 

Here's another fun shot of somebody else who really likes to watch the geckos, doing just that:

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## JLC

Hehe...that's a pretty cat!  Hope he doesn't try to "reach out and touch someone" though!   :shock:

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## Marla

She's not quite the hunter that Dobby is, so I doubt she'll try.  I'm more worried that Dobby is going to jump on top of the cage and knock it off the sideboard because it's pretty light, so I'm blocking it from falling with a chair every night before i go to bed.   :Smile:   She is pretty, though, isn't she?  And as a full-grown adult only weighs about 4.5#.

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## JLC

Yup....she's very pretty.  I love cats.  Would love to see some pics of Dobby, too...with or without the bandages. LOL

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## Mike

just a little something to add:
the real worry with wire cages is that the nails/toeas of the geckos will get caught where the wires overlap. but it looks like what your using is galvanized so that wont matter.
and, of course that gecko is a cutie. and so tiny.

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## Marla

Your wish is my command!  Here's His Highness, injured tail and all.  This was taken the day he was injured.

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## Marla

Thanks, Mike.  If you'd seen the thread in the caging section you'd have seen the part about how it's galvanized and coated with rust-o-leum, so if the overlap is the issue their little toes should be in good shape.  That's good info to know.  And he is quite the cutie, isn't he?

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## JLC

Thanks, Marla.  LOL...He looks a tad indignant about getting a picture taken while having a Bad-Tail-Day!  He's a gorgeous cat, too.  A nice combo with the black and white!   

How is his tail recovering, btw?

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## Marla

He does look a bit indignant, doesn't he?   :Wink:   He does that very well.  We tend to go for black and white, for some reason.  Buddha is a dark blue chow, as you saw, and Max is a mostly white mutt.  Before Dobby we had Dobb's mama, who was mostly white, and before that we had Loosefur, who was all black.

Dobby is recovering nicely, but a bit ticked off over his restriction to indoors.  When I went to feed the legless kids last night, Dobby jumped into their "dining room" looking for mice as he's been doing off and on ever since he caught the extra mouse.  I had to shut him out of the room so the snakes could eat.  Then Bo Peep struck at Buddha twice and me three times, so I had to put Buddha out of the room too.

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## freakoverdose1

i like him

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## Marla

Thanks!  i do too.   :Smile:

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## JLC

You've got quite the fledgling zoo there, Marla!

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## Marla

Yep, I sure do!  I'm glad I was able to say no to the free bunnies I was offered recently.   :Very Happy:

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