For all you Crestie owners out there...

[emroul]

And anyone who knows about them for that matter. Do you know of any real reputable care sheets on them? I am VERY interested in the little goobers. They are SO cute. But I want to make sure that I don't judge the book by its cover. I want to ask a couple of questions if anyone feels like answering them:

1. How big do they get, and how big are they when first born?
2. Do they change colors throughout their life?
3. What do they eat?
4. Are they easy to handle? I mean, do they bite? Are they fast?
5. What are some of the major health problems that they can have?
6. Can you house them together? I mean, do they enjoy to live in colonies, or are they like most other reptiles that like their privacy?
7. Do they adapt well to captivity? AND how long do they live?

Thanks guys. If you don't feel like answering my questions, could you guide me to a good care sheet or two? Thanks!

Jennifer

I've kept these before, so I'll help you out as best I can, Jen.

1. They can get up to 10 or so inches I believe. They are the 2nd largest of the Rhacs. They are pretty small when first born....but I've never bred them.
2. Cresteds do have the ability to change their colors....not to the extent of chameleons, but they can manually change every now and then.
3. As babies, they are primarily insectivorious. Gut-loaded feeder crickets, roaches, waxworms are a MUST. They need the extra protein as babies in order to grow big and strong. Once they are juvies/adults you can start offering the Crested Gecko Diet powder mixed into some non-citrus fruit-flavored baby food. They LOVE this stuff.
4. They can be jumpy as babies, but most calm down easily.
5. The most problem people run into with these (and most Rhac species) is keeping them too WARM. They do not tolerate temps over 80 very well, babies especially.
6. They are best kept seperate unless you are trying to breed them.
7. They make great captives......and all of the ones out there are CBB because they are so easy to breed and are quickly gaining in popularity. Nobody really knows how long they live because they were thought to be extinct until 1994 I think.

For more info, here is a link to a good caresheet:

From CrestedGecko.com

Crested Gecko Care

[Marla]

I was just reading about these guys today. I found these useful:
link 1
link 2

I've been thinking about getting a gecko species for my breeder-wannabe daughter and was thinking about leos but now I'm considering cresties as well.