New crestie owner!

Hey guys,

My other half is getting a Crestie this coming Sunday. We have read tons of caresheets, spoken to the owners of the reptile shop the crestie is from and searched the net a lot. I just wanted to know, what are some tips that you have discovered over the years of owning them that have made taking care of them easier or to make the animal happier? Care sheets are all well and good but some info about your time with cresties could possibly come in handy.

Thank you.

1) When misting, how much water should be on the sides of the tank? Is it good to leave one side dry?

2) How crowded should the viv be in terms of plants and decoration? Can it end up too crowed?

3) Should you try to feed on the first day or is it advised to wait a few days?

Congrats on your new addition! I have 9 crested geckos. When I mist, I just make sure the fake plants end up catching some water, and sometimes I will spray a little near the gecko itself.


My enclosures are about 50/50 as far as decorations are concerned. Mine love to jump around in their enclosures, so I leave some empty space for them to play.


I don't see how it could hurt to offer food. Just keep on mind it might not eat for a while after you get it. At least the food will be there and they have that option!


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Welcome to another addicting animal. LoL

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Welcome to another addicting animal. LoL

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Tell me about it! I think this is the case with all reptiles haha! Do you own any cresties yourself?

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Originally Posted by missriss2012

Congrats on your new addition! I have 9 crested geckos. When I mist, I just make sure the fake plants end up catching some water, and sometimes I will spray a little near the gecko itself.


My enclosures are about 50/50 as far as decorations are concerned. Mine love to jump around in their enclosures, so I leave some empty space for them to play.


I don't see how it could hurt to offer food. Just keep on mind it might not eat for a while after you get it. At least the food will be there and they have that option!


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Seems like you have a nice little collection going on there :)

Thanks for the advice, when he was held in the shop he seemed to like a jump! Will remember to leave some space for him to jump about!

How big is your baby? When they are young they are very active! The definitely mellow out as they get older :)

As I was feeding and misting my geckos I realized I basically don't have pictures of anyone! I will work on taking pictures of everyone the next week or so :)


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Originally Posted by missriss2012

How big is your baby? When they are young they are very active! The definitely mellow out as they get older :)

As I was feeding and misting my geckos I realized I basically don't have pictures of anyone! I will work on taking pictures of everyone the next week or so :)


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I am actually unsure as to how old he is, he looked sub-aldult, my girlfriend will more than likely know. I will find out on sunday when I go to pick him up.

Make sure you post the pics when you get some!

1.) Spray down the entire enclosure so everything has drops on it.

2.) Don't crowd the vivarium too much, especially for larger animals as they like to jump quite a lot.

3.) Feeding on the first day is a good idea, it will cause no added stress if your feeding CGD or another powdered diet.

Here is a caresheet from us, we have been breeding and keeping cresteds for a few years now.

http://thelizardhorde.com/caresheets...tedgeckos.html

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Originally Posted by George1994

Tell me about it! I think this is the case with all reptiles haha! Do you own any cresties yourself?

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I have a dalmation male and a red female as eell as two little ones i held back from these two.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I have a dalmation male and a red female as eell as two little ones i held back from these two.

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Nice :) Do you know much about the genetics when it comes to breeding cresties? I've got it pretty much nailed down for Ball pythons, but haven't looked into it with cresties.

Yeah no...... LoL
balls yes, i just wanted a couple more cresties so i made them instead. ;)

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Yeah no...... LoL
balls yes, i just wanted a couple more cresties so i made them instead. ;)

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Fair enough :)
I am hoping to breed my way to a Lemonblast one day. I am in love with that morph! Seen a male Pastel in my local reptile shop that is gorgeous. Can't get another snake in my current situation unfortunately :(

Might have to get a Crestie myself and try to breed it with my missus'!
I am a complete novice at breeding anything, will take a good while to learn the ropes!

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Originally Posted by George1994

Nice :) Do you know much about the genetics when it comes to breeding cresties? I've got it pretty much nailed down for Ball pythons, but haven't looked into it with cresties.

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Cresteds are all polygenetic. This basically means that you need to breed animals that look similar to enhance the trait your after.

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Originally Posted by OctagonGecko729

Cresteds are all polygenetic. This basically means that you need to breed animals that look similar to enhance the trait your after.

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Right, so breeding a dalmation with a dalmation will produce better dalmations? Do I have that correct?

Some of the offspring might be better but not all. Some may not show spots at all. These two animals below produced a hatchling with no spots for us last year.

https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...10508344_o.jpg

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...69665358_n.jpg

Right! I am with you! How does it work in terms of colouration? Two oranges should produce all orange offspring?

Beautiful Geckos by the way :)

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http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psced88d77.jpg

Here are my first two....... well....... making the ones i sold and held back LoL

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...psced88d77.jpg

Here are my first two....... well....... making the ones i sold and held back LoL

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Haha good photo! How did the offspring turn out?

How hard did you find breeding them?

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The breeding was easy. I just didnt realize i was going to get almost a dozen eggs

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps80d87a2f.jpg

This is the first one that we kept. The other one is a light tan color.
All the other ones looked like this one.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...ps80d87a2f.jpg

This is the first one that we kept. The other one is a light tan color.
All the other ones looked like this one.

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Glad it went well :) That is quite a few eggs haha! Will have to do my research into breeding these, they are far too cute not to have little baby ones!

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Coloration will be the same as any other traits but generally the color is going to be a mix of the two parents. You usually arent going to produce reds if you put two cream colored together but it can happen. Also, their colors change as they get older. Most hatchlings come out brown/red but will change 2-3 times throughout their life until they get to be adults. Dalmatians also gain more spots the older they get, right around 25g they stop gaining spots.

Ahh okay. I get ya :) Thanks for the help!

Also, whilst I'm here, can someone explain flaring for me. I saw the Gecko (Archie) and he was sold as an orange. He looked to be a very pale orange. Will flaring make his colours more prominent? He is also young so I guess he will get brighter.

If by flaring you mean firing up then yeah, they will dull out when fired down but when fired up they will get brighter. Generally temperatures, humidity, UV light, and stress will cause firing up and down.