My first Crestie!

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3446a745.jpg


This is my first ever Crested Gecko, or reptile in general, but don't worry, I've done my research :). I don't know if its a boy or a girl yet, still too young, and yes the image is a bit blurry. It was pretty active as I took it out of the little transport tub to put it in the enclosure so I had to be quick, my phone didn't quite focus on the right object.

It's home is a 12" 12" 18" terrarium that I set up in an hour with real wood+fake plants and hydro balls/coco husk substrate. Since I walk home, there is only so much I can carry so I couldn't get real plants ;-; not yet, but I will in the future, my grandma has an orchard plant she's willing to give me, I'l have to look up if thats a safe plant (and I know they like humid places hence why most people put them in the bathroom so it should LOVE it in there). However i've hit a snag...

I can't get the humidity up to the 80% it needs to be in the morning so it can slink down as the day goes on. I soaked the balls and the husk, so those were damp when I put them in the tank, and I mist in the morning before leaving for school and when i come home before bed... but I can't seem to get the humidity past 60% and I don't know why o___0' I don't want to be constantly drenching the tank since that will cause mold/bacteria, but i set it up last night AND misted it and this morning is was 30% or below (can't remember exact number) and it shouldn't be dropping below 50% ;-; I've stuck plastic wrap over the mesh top (except for about an inche in the back to allow SOME humidity out) and weighed it down with a rag this morning, so hopefully when I come home toay it'll be over 60% or at least not below 50% I don't know... is there anything else I can do to fix this issue if the plastic doesn't work?

anywho, i know the image is crappy but anyone got an idea of what morph? someone said it COULD be a brindle, and now that i look at it again, I do see it. (I know you can't see it in the picture, but he has cute white lips :3)

Still a very nice animal and sorry I couldn't contribute to anything about a crestie as I like them but don't own any. Thanks for sharing though.

You don't need to keep the cage above 60% at all. Misting at night it should read 70+% after you've sprayed and it can dry out to 30-40% during the day. You shouldn't need to spray again in the morning. Keeping it above 60% is going to lead to mold and shedding problems. Also plastic wrapping the top can lead to bacterial infections because of the damp trapped air. Adding live plants will help with humidity but maintaining proper ventilation is very important.

Also, what are you using to measure humidity? Often times those cheap hygrometers are off, its rare to find one that is correct from my experience.

Oh really? I thought you had to get it up to 80% then let it air out over the day and bring it back. I read on another forum about someone who has having humidity issues and a person recommended the plastic wrap, but I guess if the 60% is fine then I'll remove it as I achieved 60% without the wrap anyways and it didn't seem to be doing anything this morning. I'm using a 11$ thermo/hydro meter combo (the 2-in-1 thing) from Petsmart, it looks cheap but it was the 'best' one they had aside from the electronic ones I think. I wasn't really looking. What brand of meter it is though... I'm not sure.

Unless you have a heater of some kind drying out the room you should only need to mist once each night. Just make sure you reach 70-100% right after you've sprayed and your good, even if it dries out to 30% during the day.

I never get the humidity above 60% after misting... The first misting I did was yesterday at 6AM and the meter wiggled up to 60% and an hour later before I left for classes... it's was still just barely past 60% and this morning the meter read at about 50% if just a bit under, so I did about 3-4 mist squirts before I left.

Yeah... I can't get the humidity above 60%.... i can get it AT 60% but above? Nope... when i set the tank up Tuesday I got it at 65% but... I've never seen it go higher... think my meter's a dud? it's sitting in the coco husk by the water facing the glass so I can read it.... could it be the placement? I had it stuck on the glass the first night at the top of the tank and that was when it was at 65%.... I just don't know... I'm kind of worried....

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7c19a579.jpg
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A better picture of Gecko... I was rearranging a few things a bit yesterday and he sat pretty long enough for me to snap some good pics :) He looks okay...

oh and this is the meter I use:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...AvailInUS%2FNo

Hmm, are you misting at night or in the morning? You should mist just before the lights go out at night (7-8pm). Just mist so that water droplets are on all surfaces. Sometimes new cages need to be "broken in" with the humidity cycle. The meter may be bad, they aren't supposed to get real wet so that can mess them up. Honestly though, we dont even keep hygrometers in our collection at all anymore. We just mist once nightly and they all have good sheds.

I mist at night test before I go to bed. But I have need misting just slightly in the mmorpg's before leaving Cus of the humidity issue. Not a lot though. 3 squirts usually. An ill look to see what meters they have. Cus I know the meter did get a bit damp but I mean it's a hydrometer... They're going to be in damp places. Dumb ppl making meters are dumb. Lol.

So I'm trying something suggested by a friend of mine who's kept other types of geckos. She said to drape a damp rag over the top so it keep in the humidity but still let's air flow. I came home today an humidity was at 30%. And at 8 it was dipping below 20%. So even though I'm not going to bed yet I'd figure I'd dose it back up for the next day. I want to monitor it a bit though. It got back up to 60% after I misted but now it's not moving. Well see if the rag helps. I've also moved the meter up into the glass with the suction cups and the temp is about 65. I went ou and bought a 20$ 4x6 heating pad today.

but I don't know where to put it. I don't want it user the tank Cus it says not to put it where it gets wet... And the side glass walls are always wet too when I mist... I thought about puttin it on the back wall... But I have that foam 3d background in there that came with the tank.... Will it be okay to put the pad back there without causing foam issues?

Sorry for the double post but I can't edit now.

But
Oh! So I wend an bought a peach for him today and smooshed it up. I took him out and surprisingly he sat calmly on my hand( once my cat stopped snooping around my legs) and licked peach off my finger! I melted in joy. I'm surprised he's warming up so fast just yesterday he would barely let me touch him. Let alone pick him up.

Hmm, do you have a heater or fireplaces anywhere in your house currently? The heat pad will keep the cage a bit warmer but it will also dry it out and you have to be careful that it doesn't overheat the enclosure. Also, you are not supposed to just use heat pads that are unregulated by a thermostat. Those heatpads can get so hot that they begin to melt. Damp rags can help for sure but you are restricting ventilation as well, just not as much as the plastic.

Could you toss up some pictures of the room and enclosure?

Just always keep in mind that ventilation and heat are the enemies of humidity in a cage.

By the way, you may want to read over this caresheet I made, some of the information you have isn't the best advice out there.

http://www.thelizardhorde.com/caresh...tedgeckos.html

well i went out and bought a duel dome light with a day and night bulb today. Just hooked it up. I just hooked it up an hour ago but I'm out of the house at the moment, sitting in the club house so i can access the wifi to do homework and stuff.

and No i don't have any fireplace or heater in my apartment, I have a heater vent but it's not on (still too hot to use that) so there's ntohing sucking anything out. I removed the rag, it wasn't doing anything at all. So we'll see if the light does anything later today when I mist tonight. I have it hanging from my ceiling instead of resting on the screen lid because there is plastic rimming on it, and I don't want it to melt. it's hanging about... 4-6 inches from the top of the cage, I can lower it if it's too high. P: they're 60W bulbs (they didnt have any lower ones but they aren't suppose to make the cage hotter than the mid to high 80s, but thats why I have the lights hovering more than 2-3 inches from the top cus I'm unsure of the temperature it'll reach yet)

I'l take a picture of the area he sits in when I get back to my apartment and post it up later. P:

So here's the pictures of the setup and the room such as where he places. I live in a studio apartment so it's all pretty tight.

http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...pscf1d5882.jpg

And another one. Closer up since for some reason it's not letting me put 2 images in one post on my phone...
http://i1278.photobucket.com/albums/...ps24cb444b.jpg

Oh and sorry that earlie number I have on how hot the lights get things its suppose to me LOW to MID 80s. Idk why I said mid to high.

Sooo even with the light I can't get the humidity past 50. And the degree in the tank is only 70. The therm/hydro is sitting about in the middle of the tank too. Idk what to do......

An update. I fixed the problem. Switched from a dial meter to a digital..... Wow was that dial off. I've also decided to name my gecko Sita. He/she weighs 7g ATM (digital scale no more dials for me) and based on size and weight I have a rough estimate of about 4-5 months. The store said they e had him for about 2. P: fed him crickets as a sorry present Sunday so I guess ill be feeding him every Sunday unless he needs a bit more weight on him. I'm letting his cage dry out since when I misted last night at 40% he ran all the way to the top of the tank a close to the screen as he could get. Which is telling me by reaction alone that he doesn't care much for the humidity ATM. So ill be letting his cage dry out a bit more (to about 30% probably) before misting. Since I'm sure with that damned dial meter I've been over misting him :(.

His reaction was just because they don't like to be sprayed. Sometimes they will run to the top of the cage even when you just open the doors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M8D

Sooo even with the light I can't get the humidity past 50. And the degree in the tank is only 70. The therm/hydro is sitting about in the middle of the tank too. Idk what to do......

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Hey...Idk where you got your info but Temperature for Cresties should be in the mid 70s...Don't go to 80 or above!!!!

Congrats on your new crestie, i'm glad you got rid of that POS dial thermo/hygrometer you would probably be more accurate guessing yourself. you'll have a easier time with the humidity once you got the live plants in there, I keep mine in the plastic pots they come in then stuff the inside with damp sphagnum moss at the base of the plant. Do you have a set temp in you place or know about where it fluctuates? like it was stated above, 80 and above is not recommended for these guys.