Crested Questions.

[blackcrystal22]

So I fell in. I got my crested gecko. And (hopefully she) is a beautiful Harlequin Crested. She has some amazing contrast.
And now, I want to find her a cage mate.. I want a double blonde, or a lighter crested morph. If she turns out to be male, because there are currently no pores present, then I will give breeding a go in the future.

However. I have a couple questions. A lot has been covered and I have my shopping list down.
I remember hearing somewhere that they can drown? So if I do have standing water, it has to be very shallow right?

Any breeders suggested that could have a lighter morph available?

Also, I have been unable to find any information on substrate. Is there any substrate that is BAD for cresteds? I have aspen right now, and will be switching to a cypress mulch.

Thanks!
(I'll post pictures soon, as well as of my new rescue bp!)

[mainbutter]

stay away from the same stuff you would stay away from for ball pythons(anything toxic)

young geckos are pretty susceptible to impaction due to eating substrate(from what I've read), usually as a result from attacking crickets on the ground. If you feed your geckos CGD or use the glass jar trick for feeding crix you probably don't need to worry about impaction. Adults are supposedly better at either passing substrate or digging it out of their mouth if they accidently get a mouthful.

Regardless, I use paper towels to line the bottom of my crestie cage just to be safe. They don't need any fancy substrate, as they really only use it to poop on. The only reason I would ever use anything other than paper towels is just to make it look pretty, or if I were setting up a vivarium with live plants in dirt, rather than the fake plants I have right now. If I did use dirt, I would only feed crickets in an open top glass jar(the geckos can climb in and out to eat, but the crickets can't jump out, so no mouthfulls of dirt for the geckos)

As far as drowning geckos, I've heard it mentioned before, I think from something with a waterfall that had a deep bottom pool. My water dish is way too shallow for my geckos to drown in. It probably is about an inch deep, also the dish isn't very wide. Both my geckos are longer than the dish is deep or wide so there is no way they could drown in it.

I have only had my geckos since just before halloween, so I'm very new to 'em, so take my advice knowing that I'm no expert, just repeating what I've read I hope I helped answer your questions a bit though!

[blackcrystal22]

stay away from the same stuff you would stay away from for ball pythons(anything toxic)

young geckos are pretty susceptible to impaction due to eating substrate(from what I've read), usually as a result from attacking crickets on the ground. If you feed your geckos CGD or use the glass jar trick for feeding crix you probably don't need to worry about impaction. Adults are supposedly better at either passing substrate or digging it out of their mouth if they accidently get a mouthful.

Regardless, I use paper towels to line the bottom of my crestie cage just to be safe. They don't need any fancy substrate, as they really only use it to poop on. The only reason I would ever use anything other than paper towels is just to make it look pretty, or if I were setting up a vivarium with live plants in dirt, rather than the fake plants I have right now. If I did use dirt, I would only feed crickets in an open top glass jar(the geckos can climb in and out to eat, but the crickets can't jump out, so no mouthfulls of dirt for the geckos)

As far as drowning geckos, I've heard it mentioned before, I think from something with a waterfall that had a deep bottom pool. My water dish is way too shallow for my geckos to drown in. It probably is about an inch deep, also the dish isn't very wide. Both my geckos are longer than the dish is deep or wide so there is no way they could drown in it.

I have only had my geckos since just before halloween, so I'm very new to 'em, so take my advice knowing that I'm no expert, just repeating what I've read I hope I helped answer your questions a bit though!

Thank you! I appreciate it.
I'm just a little worried about substrate, because he had a piece of aspen stuck to one of his feet today.. which worried me a bit if it would rip off his toes.

I feed powder water mix. :]

Also, does anyone have a good reason as to why mine is not sticking very well to glass?

[blackcrystal22]

bump...

[tigerlily]

It sounds like your humidity may be too low, or the little one may even be due to shed soon. Either case can lend to them be less sticky.

I also use paper towels as substrate. I've never had any problems with it. If you want to check out more crestie morphs, I'd contact Emily (mlededee / www.cookreptiles.com ). She's the crestie queen!

[blackcrystal22]

It sounds like your humidity may be too low, or the little one may even be due to shed soon. Either case can lend to them be less sticky.

I also use paper towels as substrate. I've never had any problems with it. If you want to check out more crestie morphs, I'd contact Emily (mlededee / www.cookreptiles.com ). She's the crestie queen!

Thanks!
She seems about out though. Trust me I looked. I'll message her though.

He's one of the few tanks that I do want as a show tank. :[ So I just want to make sure cypress is ok.
I spray his tank multiple times a day.. so I don't know if he's going to be shedding or not.

[mainbutter]

i've read that low humidity causes problems sticking to glass.. I have a screen cage and mist heavy 2-3 times a day, but have a glass terrarrium on the xmas wish list so if I get it I'll be able to try that out..

Maybe put more "stuff" in the cage so your geckos climb on that instead of trying to climb on the glass? I know mine love hiding in their gobs of fake leafy vines I picked up from wal-mart that I have suspended throughout various heights in their home.

[mlededee]

Definitely get rid of the aspen substrate. I would recommend either paper towels or coconut coir type bedding like bed-a-beast.

For the most part the risk of drowning is with babies. They can easily drown in a water dish that they cannot get out of if the water is too deep. Just make sure that you keep water dishes very shallow for younger geckos. For subadults and adults I use a 1oz deli cup which works fine because they can't really get into it.

This has already been covered, but your gecko will definitely not be very sticky if the humidity is too low. You can measure the humidity with a digital accurite thermostat/hydrometer. You should aim for around 60% humidity in the enclosure. You can also make a humid hide out of a small gladware type container with a hole cut in the top. I use moist bed-a-beast mixed with sphagnum moss for my humid hides but you can also use moist paper towels.

[sweetcheeks]

hi

i know this is late but I wanted something that looked nice but resourceful as my setup is in my living room. I am using the kitchen shelf liner that is brown in color in the bottom of my tank. I take it out once a week and wash with dawn dishwashing liquid and clean up poo during the week.

Its inexpensive when you think about it, you rewash instead of using and throwing away and it doesnt hold bacteria like reptile carpets either.