Crested Geckos?

I went to a reptile expo today and just by holding one of these little guys I think I'm hooked...I'm more of a snake girl but now I'd really like to learn about these geckos and maybe own one once I have an enclosure set up. Anyone want to give me the low down on these sweet little guys? Just like what they eat, special care needs, temps, humidity, and appropriate tank size? Thanks :D

They eat Repashy Crested Gecko Diet (http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/c...ecko-diet.html) and you can supplement this with insects if you choose. Insects are not required, but they do help young geckos grow faster. You can feed crickets, phoenix worms, silkworms or feeder roaches to cresteds. In addition to food you should provide a shallow dish of water (not too deep or babies can drown).

Temps should be between 68-78 degrees. You can go slightly higher or lower for short periods of time, but you want to keep them at 80 or below or they can become stressed and actually die if exposed to temperatures that are too warm. Temperatures down to 65 for the winter are okay for adults, but I don't generally like to let younger cresteds get quite that cold as they will become very sedentary and not eat much which will slow their growth.

Humidity should be around the 60% range. This can be achieved by misting the enclosure twice per day (or more if needed in dry months). You can also provide a humid hide if necessary. Just make sure that your enclosure has time to dry out in between mistings or you will get mold growth.

You can start a hatchling in a small or medium kritter keeper. Adults can be kept in screen caging, vertically oriented enclosures or Exo Terra enclosures. You can also get cages that are part screen and part pvc (http://www.sandfiredragonranch.com/i...roducts_id=87) -- I prefer these to all screen caging because they hold in humidity better and when you mist it is contained within the enclosure and doesn't spray straight through the screen. You can keep 2-3 adults in that size cage. Also check out this thread for a DIY crested gecko enclosure: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?t=116109.

As far as special needs, babies should be kept in smaller enclosures and moved up as they grow (they tend to thrive better when started in smaller enclosures). Males should not be kept together as they will fight and pairs should only be kept together if you intend to breed as they can be quite prolific. If you do want to keep a pair together, the male should be at least 30 grams and the female 35-40 grams before they are placed together in order to avoid egg binding, calcium crashes, and other issues that arise from a female being bred to early.

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Originally Posted by Carlene16

I went to a reptile expo today and just by holding one of these little guys I think I'm hooked...I'm more of a snake girl but now I'd really like to learn about these geckos and maybe own one once I have an enclosure set up. Anyone want to give me the low down on these sweet little guys? Just like what they eat, special care needs, temps, humidity, and appropriate tank size? Thanks :D

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I use sterilite bins for most of my rhac species geckos, I find them to be lighter, easier to clean, and much more inexpensive than tanks. I keep babies in about 3-4 gal bins and adults get about 10g for each animal. :)

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Originally Posted by mlededee

They eat Repashy Crested Gecko Diet (http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/c...ecko-diet.html) and you can supplement this with insects if you choose. Insects are not required, but they do help young geckos grow faster. You can feed crickets, phoenix worms, silkworms or feeder roaches to cresteds. In addition to food you should provide a shallow dish of water (not too deep or babies can drown).

Temps should be between 68-78 degrees. You can go slightly higher or lower for short periods of time, but you want to keep them at 80 or below or they can become stressed and actually die if exposed to temperatures that are too warm. Temperatures down to 65 for the winter are okay for adults, but I don't generally like to let younger cresteds get quite that cold as they will become very sedentary and not eat much which will slow their growth.

Humidity should be around the 60% range. This can be achieved by misting the enclosure twice per day (or more if needed in dry months). You can also provide a humid hide if necessary. Just make sure that your enclosure has time to dry out in between mistings or you will get mold growth.

You can start a hatchling in a small or medium kritter keeper. Adults can be kept in screen caging, vertically oriented enclosures or Exo Terra enclosures. You can also get cages that are part screen and part pvc (http://www.sandfiredragonranch.com/i...roducts_id=87) -- I prefer these to all screen caging because they hold in humidity better and when you mist it is contained within the enclosure and doesn't spray straight through the screen. You can keep 2-3 adults in that size cage. Also check out this thread for a DIY crested gecko enclosure: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...d.php?t=116109.

As far as special needs, babies should be kept in smaller enclosures and moved up as they grow (they tend to thrive better when started in smaller enclosures). Males should not be kept together as they will fight and pairs should only be kept together if you intend to breed as they can be quite prolific. If you do want to keep a pair together, the male should be at least 30 grams and the female 35-40 grams before they are placed together in order to avoid egg binding, calcium crashes, and other issues that arise from a female being bred to early.

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Just listen to emily :) I think she knows what she is talking about :) :gj: