unwitting new rhacodactylus owner

[wwmjkd]

I hadn't really planned on it, but I took in a crested gecko recently and wanted to make sure I can provide adequate care. at the moment he's housed in a smaller critter keeper with paper towel substrate, a shallow water dish, and a few things to climb on. he's taken crickets (dusted and gut-loaded) but I'm trying to switch to repashy mrp exclusively. my first question is whether there is a difference between or an advantage to repashy vs. t-rex? I have yet to see him eat, but he must be since he's still defecating. he was quite the runt and still doesn't have much size, so any tips that I can do to help him build a little mass would be appreciated.

second, I'd like to move him to a larger enclosure that keeps humidity better. since I've also been eyeing a g. pulchripes for months now, tarantula caging has been on my mind. I'm wondering if a vertical enclosure such as this (http://tarantulahomes.com/ver_large.html) would be good. I'm planning on using eco-earth, but any substrate recommendations would be welcome.

lastly, I had no idea how damn endearing these little geckos can be, so I'll probably pick up a few more when finances realign. I've also found myself wandering over to care pages for leachies, but I wanted to find out whether they can be tamed down or if it's best to leave the big ones alone.

any input is appreciated, especially on the caging idea. thanks in advance.

[cmz1234]

I have 3 cresties. My adult male is housed in a long and tall aquarium and my juvies are housed in a small 20 gallon plastic bin; wish I would have known about tarantula cages. Those look perfect. I don't know anything about leachies, but I thought about getting one myself.

I feed my cresties Repashy and dusted crickets. They eat both, but I only offer crickets once a week. I'm not sure if repashy is better than t-rex, but I prefer repashy.

I used to use cypress for my adult but switched to newspaper/ paper towels. For juvies you must use newspaper or paper towels because they'll eat the cypress and possibly die. I use caps from Gatorade bottles for my adult CGD and water and I use water bottle caps for my juvies for their CGD and water.

Also I went to the hobby store and bought some vines for them to climb and hide in, they are always on them.

What kind of crestie did you get? Pics?

[djansen]

That cage would work just fine. I personally used T-rex diet over repashy (they like repashy better though) but I never go off crickets completely.
And I have never herd of them drinking from a dish on the ground (maybe higher up) so I just misted a couple times a day.
coco substrate works for bedding but paper towels work the best IMO.
overall they are really easy to care for so I think you will do just fine.
good luck!

[guambomb832]

I have had cresteds for 1.5 years so far and I have a leachianus on the way. There really is no difference between T-rex CGD and Repashy, they're made by the same guy, just distributed differently. If you want the gecko to feed on cgd exclusively, stop feeding crickets and only offer cgd. If they're pooping they're eating.

But if you want him to grow faster, the best way to do that is offer cgd WITH dusted/gut-loaded crickets 1-2 times per week. According to Anthony from AC Reptiles, geckos that eat crickets w/cgd grow 1/3 to 1/2 times faster than geckos that eat cgd exclusively and reach breedable size in about 1 year to 1.5 years, while cgd exclusive geckos take 2-2.5 years to reach breedable size. Despite this, each gecko grows at different rates, so it all depends on the individual gecko.

[mainbutter]

I personally used T-rex diet over repashy

Isn't T-Rex diet just an older formulation of Allen Repashy's that he sold or distributed through them?

[mainbutter]

And I have never herd of them drinking from a dish on the ground

I have seen most of my cresties drink from their dishes, they are all on the ground. The problem is most owners don't watch 'em for extended periods of time with moon lights/red lights turned down low to observe nighttime activity.

I used to watch my cresties regularly for up to an hour at a time right after all the lights (except night viewing lights) go out. They get pretty darn interesting!

That said, I still mist regularly, though if I miss a day, they do have and will use their access to water dishes.

[guambomb832]

Isn't T-Rex diet just an older formulation of Allen Repashy's that he sold or distributed through them?

Yup. There is literally NO difference.

[wwmjkd]

thanks for the input everyone. I think I'll order that cage next week.

as for what kind of crested he is, I have no idea. a friend of mine picked him up at a show, perhaps as an impulse buy. she was worried about the temperatures in her apartment dropping below 60 during the winter and observed that my racks and cages give off a slight amount of ambient heat...and well now I have a crested gecko. if I had to guess I think he's a partial pinstripe, but I'm new to this. he is a uniformly beige color but does 'fire up' pretty red at times. pictures will have to wait until I get a new phone since I dropped my current one on the pavement like a fool.