New crestie owner, questions.

[mhinkle]

I switched to paper towels. I will remove the lamp, does he not need any daylight lighting to know his day from night? I covered half the screen minus where the light is, but does he not need a flow of fresh air or can I really just wrap that off as well?

Like I said I give him high humidity in the morning hours roughly 80 - 90 for 2 to three hours, then the daytime stays around 50 - 70 but I have to mist every few hours or it will drop down to low 30s.

[OctagonGecko729]

As long as he is in a room with a window to the outside he is fine as far as light cycles go. If you want you could put a lamp on a timer to click on and off as well elswhere in the room.

I wouldn't cover the entire top of the enclosure. Should be ok with just removing the light you have. Your cage is only drying out because of that lamp, normally you only need to spray once nightly to achieve proper humidity so I can tell that the light is the main issue if you need to spray every few hours.

[Evenstar]

I switched to paper towels. I will remove the lamp, does he not need any daylight lighting to know his day from night? I covered half the screen minus where the light is, but does he not need a flow of fresh air or can I really just wrap that off as well? No, he doesn't need any extra lighting at all. The daylight coming in through the windows is enough. So unless he's in a closed room that is pitch dark 24/7, don't worry about it. He does need a little fresh air. Cover about 90% of the screen top. You only need a small "vent". Perhaps a 1" opening at either end would be a good choice so there is some circulation.

Like I said I give him high humidity in the morning hours roughly 80 - 90 for 2 to three hours, then the daytime stays around 50 - 70 but I have to mist every few hours or it will drop down to low 30s. As I said before, once a day is fine. You're going to be constantly misting all the time if you try to keep that up. It is fine for the humidity to drop as long as a once-a-day heavy mist is consistent. Humidity is often way over thought. Again, I would mist once at night instead of in the morning - geckos are more active at night and will drink better at that time. If you cover 90% of the screen top and add a couple of live plants, that will also help with the humidity very much. Misting will only go so far - cover the top and put in live plants and some sphagum moss to keep moist. You'll be all set.

[mhinkle]

The light is a 20 watt on a dimmer all the way turned down.. I really doubt that's drying his tank out. It puts out 0 heat. I'm not a novice as I have other reptiles just none that require a constant humidity.

[mhinkle]

Already have moss inside it as well.

[mhinkle]

Yeah I hide the food in his leaves and I finger feed him every couple of days.

[mhinkle]

[Evenstar]

First off, the moss is great. But you still need more plants and branches in there.

Also, it takes hardly any heat at all for the lamp to dry out the enclosure. The light combined with even a tiny amount of heat, plus the open area where the lamp sits, will SUCK humidity out of there almost faster than you can spay it. You are seeing that result first hand. If the humidity is falling so much that you're going from 80-90% down to 30% in 2 hours, then it's the lamp!! Take the lamp out and mostly cover the screen top, stick some live plants in there, and you will see almost instant results.

The light is a 20 watt on a dimmer all the way turned down.. I really doubt that's drying his tank out. It puts out 0 heat. I'm not a novice as I have other reptiles just none that require a constant humidity.

We never said you were a novice - I didn't get that impression. But cresties do NOT require constant humidiy. They really do need that drying out period. I am only answering the questions that you ask....

We aren't trying to be critical - we are just trying to help you have the best experience with your little guy that you can possibly have. Cresties are super easy to care for, but the babies can be delicate. We want you to have great success with your little one.

[mhinkle]

I wasn't saying you guys were being rude. Just some comments were repetitive.

I plan on getting him one of the tall tanks with the opening doors on the front once he gets a little older and larger. He has gained a noticeable bit of weight since I bought him, but I'm going on the assumption they weren't feeding him correctly.

As for now I keep the tank somewhat open so he can feed on crickets more easily.

Curious as to what are the best plants I can use for such a small enclosure?

[Orenshi]

Take the lamp out and mostly cover the screen top, stick some live plants in there, and you will see almost instant results.

Sorry to hijack the thread. Just want ask a quick question. If you put live plants in the enclosure, don't you need to keep a lamp/have UVB in there for the photo period? Even if a room has windows, is it really enough ambient light? What if its north facing? Doesn't get any direct sunlight? Has another house or tree or obstruction in the way? Lol