Really Thinking about getting a Crestie

I have been looking for an alternate herp instead of a snake.

I have found the Crested Gecko. This is a herp my mom actually approves which is a HUGE breakthrough for me.

Here is what I have so far.

Temp-Mid 60s to 78 degrees. Very important from what I have read that the temperature does not go over 82 degrees.

Humidity- I haven't found a exact humidty ,but I have read that misting 1-4 times a day (depending on humidity of your area) works. Any numbers out there on humidity. I am guessing some where around 70%-80%.

Diet-T-Rex Crested Gecko diet works well from what I have read. Mix 1 part CRD and 2 parts water. Let it sit and it should gell up. Offer food 3-5 times a week

Handling- Be careful of tails falling off. Use a hand in front of hand motion. If they are going to leap give them a landing pad (you hand)

Cage-Tall aboreal cages work well. What are good dimensions for Baby/ Juvie and what are good dimensions for Adult

Ventilation-Lots of ventilation needed




So please point out anything I have missed.

I really hope to get some Cresties!

Looks good. They like things to climb on.. egg crates work great. I give mine a little dish of calcium powder to eat at will.. and I feed insects/baby food. They like bugs, even with CGD it's nice to offer once in awhile. I try to feed 6x a week.

So 4-6 times is good for them?

I guess I will give them bugs every once awhile. I also read that they accept fresh fruit such as peaches, apricots , and other soft fruits.

I also have some questions as to how to handle a Crestie? Like how do you approach them and pick them up to handle them. Basically what can you do to avoid them from detaching their tail.

in case you haven't already make sure to check out this caresheet: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....ewarticle&id=6.

as far as humidity, 60-70% is good.

you don't have to offer insects but mine really enjoy crickets and they are good protein so i do offer them along with cgd. any mashed fresh fruit is good except for anything citrus. citrus fruits have too much ascorbic acid which is not good for cresteds.

i feed on a schedule something like this:
monday: cgd
tuesday: leftover cgd still in cage from monday
wednesday: crickets
thursday: no food
friday: cgd
saturday: leftover cgd from friday
sunday: crickets or no food

as long as the cgd doesn't get moldy you can leave it in the enclosure for 48 hours.

cresteds are pretty tough little guys but jumpy. i pick mine up either by scooping under them, chin first and nudging them into my hand, or by grabbing them kind of under the arm pits and lifting them up. just don't grab them by the tail and you'll be fine. :)

Okay thanks! I came up with a feeding schedule like this
Monday:CGD
Tuesday: Whatever is leftover (BTW how much do you put in on Monday becuase if I put in a ton there obviously will be leftovers and vise versa)

Wednesday:Fruit Day!
Thursday: No food
Friday:cgd
saturday:leftovers
sunday:some fruit or maybe crickets.

Basically the same schedule ,but with fruit. Also how do you go about being away from you Cresties?

Also is the tail thing really as bad as I have heard. Do you have to grab the tail for it to come off?

BTW- I found a nice site that will ship a unsexed (too young) crestie to my house for 62 dollars. You get to pick exactly which you get aswell!

Oh and the 62 dollars includes shipping and taxes.($50-Gecko,$7-Shipping,$5-tax)

Do you need to have plants in the cage? I was thinking of using dowels to climb on ,but I was wondering if they need plantation.

Thanks for everything so far. I am very excited that I may finally get a herp!

If your going to use CGD you might as well use it exclusively with crickets. There real no need for baby food or fruit. I used dowels for my guys and its fine. I also just wrapped a couple fake vines around the dowels and it works well. Have you looked around for local breeders or good petstores. A breeder is the best way to go if possible.

baby food isn't good for crested geckos because it contains a lot of sugar but fresh fruit is great for them and many really like it. fruit in conjunction with cgd is a very good diet. your plan looks good, i would just say that if you don't do fruit on wednesday for whatever reason go ahead and give cgd that day. you will have to experiment a little to see how much your gecko will eat. a very young gecko won't eat much while an adult can eat a pretty good amount. start out with about 1/2 teaspoon per feeding and see how that goes. if it dries up too fast you can make more than that or add a bit of plain fat free yogurt in place of some of the water.

you don't have to have plants but you need enough for them to climb on and hide in. i use fake plants in most of my enclosures along with eggcrates, and bamboo perches. i also put a paper towel roll on the bottom of adult enclosures as they seem to really like to hide in those.

i'd be careful getting a gecko shipped to you if the cost is only $7. generally shipping costs more in the range of $30-60. make absolutely sure that you get overnight delivery. the gecko should be shipped in an insulated box with heat packs in it. ups or fed ex is the carrier that should be used. i would advise that you ask a lot of questions about the shipping method, and be VERY wary if they tell you that they ship via usps.

The reason the shipping is 7 dollars is that the person is very near me ( We are both in Cali) and that they only need ground shipping. They also will only ship if the temps in both cities are 40-85 for saftey of Herps. Here is the website. http://www.reptiledepot.com/

Man I can't edit. Anywho I checked and shipping is 30 bucks. 7 dollars was for item shipping, not animals.

good deal. i have purchased supplies and things from reptile depot before but never animals, although someone recommended them to me once for red eyed tree frogs. did you pick one of the cresteds from their site?

I haven't bought any cresteds yet..... I am still preparing a cage for one. I might just pick it up though instead of getting it through shipping. Oh and I have decided that I will get Gecko #3 or #4

cool. i like the contrast on #4 and it looks like it has a few nice big dalmation spots, but then #3 looks like it has some nice partial pinstriping and might turn out nice and bright. post a pic if/when you get one. :)

#4 rocks, so does #1,5, and 6 ! lol it's hard to only pick one!!! when chosing cresties i like to look at their bellies too if possible. the ones that have alot of color or pattern stick out to me.


vaughn

I got a Crestie! I didn't get them from Reptile Depot though. I searched through the reptile bussiness cards I got from teh San Jose reptile show and I found Pet'acular exotics. They were very helpful and had a complete package for one gecko. The cage was big enough to house two and my brother held one and really like it. So we go two. We got a Cage,Calcium dust for crickets, cricket food (to gutload),water bowl, water sanitizer,substrate,fake plant (we had to trim it though) and at least 30 2 week old crickets. Oh and for free we also got the new Crested Gecko Manual!

Here is a pic mine is the one on the top. His name is Geico, my brothers is Ratchet ( he might change it to Stickey Fingers). My brothers is on the ground.

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/4695/gecko6tb.jpg

I know it seems I over sprayed ,but that water isn't from humidity ,I kinda missed when I misted so it got in the sides. It also kinda messes the picture up ,but you can still see the Cresties!

I will be mostly feeding crickets as I found them readily available.

Okay I have some questions? During the middle of the day or in the late morning should they be moving alot or not? Becuase my brothers was moving only a little and mine hasn't really moved at all. Eventually they moved though. My temp is around 67.8 degrees ,but I just misted so temps are alittle down.

Is there anything I could improve on? Also I was wondering if this cage will be suitable to keep just one of them when they are adults. The cage is 11'x8"x6". I plan to seperate them wheter male or female when they mature.

petacular exotics is great! i go down there to get feeder rats every week.

cresteds are nocturnal so they sleep during the day. they may get up and move around a little but mostly they will stay in one place and rest.

the temp sounds fine. anything over 62 and under 83 is ok for cresteds.

the cage size you have is fine for juvies but too small i think for adults. i recommend something with a minimum size of a 10 gallon aquarium turned vertically for a single adult.

Would the cage size 14 1/2" x 8 3/4" x 9 3/4" work for a single Adult.

If not would
15 7/8" x 9 3/8" x 12 1/2" work?

I also fed them crickets today! They each ate exactly five crickets. They were apropiately sized. (not longer than width of the head). The crickets are all about 2 weeks old. Oh and I remebered to Gutload.

So is everything overall good?

yes i think those cage sizes would work. it is better if they are taller than wide since cresteds are arboreal but just make sure that they do have some climbing space. if on the second cage size the 12 1/2" is the height i think i'd go with that one just because it is taller.

and yes, everything sounds good so far. :)

WooHoo! I got everything good!

Anywho how often should I handle them?

Will they calm down with handling and age?

I am handled them for about 5 min (or so) each on Sunday ,but I didn't get to them today.


Also are there any tips on bringing them on travels. I will be able to keep the temps right in the car and I will be able to transport everything that is needed.

Any do's or dont's. Should I bring them at all? We won't be traveling the whole time. We will have a place to lodge. It is ok to bring them too , I checked.

you can handle them for short periods every day if you want to. they will calm down with handling and with age.

i think you should be able to take them with you traveling as long as you have a secure transportable enclosure for them. something like a kritter keeper would work well. just use common sense--don't leave them in the car for any amount of time alone if it is too hot or too cold or in direct sunlight, etc. you might want to cover the enclosure with a blanket or something during the ride so they don't get stressed out by all the movement and people in close quarters.

I have something like a critter keeper. It is a herp haven. It is pretty tranportable from what I see. It has handles and doesn't come apart. I will definetely never every leave them in the car alone. I will also try to reduce their stress in the car.

Thanks for your help.

My brothers Yellow crestie was calm today when I handled him/her. I have yet to handle my fire crestie.

Okay Update as of Thanksgiving Day!

First of all Happy Thanksgiving!

Both Geckos are calming down nicely. They handled the trip nicely and are resting at the house we are staying at.

I was able to go visit prehistoric pets and they were awesome! Very cool animals. I was able to see a Rectic yawn. It was really amazing! Overall cool place.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HelicopterPilot

I was able to go visit prehistoric pets and they were awesome! Very cool animals. I was able to see a Rectic yawn. It was really amazing! Overall cool place.

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I didn't quite word that right. I would say that they have nice reptiles ,but the conditions weren't so hot. I mean yeah the rectic was cool and so was the bloods and everything ,but I think that the conditions leaves some space to be desired (always room for improvement!).

So yeah don't think of them as perfect.