In the market for a crested gecko

[nebby3103]

How do you usually feed the crickets? That is, what is the best cricket food, gutload, etc.? I was planning on just using moist cotton balls for water...

[nebby3103]

Darn thing won't let me edit my previous post. I found a place that sells aquariums, terrariums and a whole lot more. They have some tanks similar the Exo-Terra that I'm interested in for much less money (www.glasscages.com). For 2-3 cresteds, could I get away with:

24x12.5x17H (20 tall)
20x10x25H (22 tall)
24x12.5x25H (30 tall)
30x12.5x25 (40 tall)

I would like to keep the footprint as small as possible seeing as horizontal space is a scarce in my tiny apartment.

[mlededee]

any of the cricket foods on this page are good: http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp...TS&Category=22. if you use the dry cricket diet (i use something similar) you will also need to use one of the quencher products as a source of water. the orange cubes are all-in-one food and water. i tried those for a while but i didn't like them as well as using the dry food and a quencher--they smelled funny and got a little ickier if not consumed in a certain amount of time. for just a small number of crickets though, either would be fine depending on your preference.

a 20 tall is good for two adults, i'd get one of the bigger ones for more than 2--probably the 30 tall.

[nebby3103]

If I were to buy two cresteds (unsexed) and hope with all my might that they were female, would they be? I'm kidding, of course. But I do want to buy two crested geckos, and the one's I'm looking at are too young to be sexed. If I accidentally buy two males and they group up together in the same enclosure, would it still be bad to keep them together? What if I buy a male and a female... am I in for eggs 100% (that I might be able to deal with)?

I also saw in another thread something about the pores. Can you sex a crested by looking at those? If not, what are those all about (ie why do they matter)?

[mlededee]

sometimes males that have been together from the time they are very young and that have never been introduced to a female can get along if they are housed in a large enough enclosure with lots of space to claim separate territories and lots of places to hide. it is somewhat seldom that this works, and i would not really recommend it. i have had males that were kept together from the time they hatched (i keep clutchmates together until they are old enough to be sexed or moved to a larger enclosure) and if i leave them together for too long they start to squabble. although it is nothing major at first, i do separate them immediately, realizing that they are still juveniles and as they mature it will likely turn into more aggressive fighting.

if you end up with a pair you will get eggs and most likely too soon--before the female is old enough and up to the correct weight. males and females should not be introduced until the female is at least one year old and 35 grams minimum, males should be close to one year and 30 grams minimum. if paired before they are ready the female is at great risk of calcium crash and egg binding, both of which are often fatal. after each breeding season males and females need to be separated in order to give them a break and for the females to rebuild their calcium stores, so keep in mind that even if you do get an adult breeding pair they will need to be separated for about 4-5 months out of the year.

males have pre-anal pores which can be seen under magnification (usually with a jewelers' loupe) as early as 3 months of age. as males get older the pores get larger and easier to see without a loupe. an experienced crested breeder should be able to loupe sex young cresteds (if they are 3-4+ months old), but this usually means that you will pay more as females are worth more.

[nebby3103]

I'm still looking. I held my first crested gecko at the pet store the other day (and politely told them the cage should be 10* cooler) and fell in love. These things are awesome, and now I want one (two) even more. So, I found a very nice orange tiger female online. I know a picture would help, and I'll get one for you if it's really necessary. But what's a good price range for that type of morph? I don't want to pay too much but I would like to be fair to the breeder as well.

[ECLARK]

There is always a great selection of Crested Geckos on Kingsnake.com, just be careful who you buy from.


It may be smarter to buy 1 sexed female than a couple unsexed babies.

[mlededee]

So, I found a very nice orange tiger female online. I know a picture would help, and I'll get one for you if it's really necessary. But what's a good price range for that type of morph? I don't want to pay too much but I would like to be fair to the breeder as well.

depends on her age, weight, and exactly how nice she is. i would price a juvie, 20 gram orange tiger female around $125-150 and an adult, 40 gram orange tiger female (more than 1 year old but less than 5 years old) around $200.

[nebby3103]

depends on her age, weight, and exactly how nice she is. i would price a juvie, 20 gram orange tiger female around $125-150 and an adult, 40 gram orange tiger female (more than 1 year old but less than 5 years old) around $200.

Funny, I really did mean to include that information. She is ~4 months and ~6 grams. That's my other question... is she healthy?

[mlededee]

i obviously can't tell you whether the animal looks healthy or not without a photo but that weight for that age crested is okay. mine are usually slightly bigger at 4 months old but that is also because of what i feed (cgd and crickets).

the biggest thing i'd be wary of is the sexing ability of the seller. is this a guaranteed female? 6 grams is pretty small for a female to be accurately sexed at unless it is done by a very reputable breeder (and there really are only a few crested breeders who do sex females that small and guarantee the sex to be accurate).