Quote Originally Posted by frankykeno
So just to focus my growing addiction to gecko's...what's the real difference between leopard gecko's and crested gecko's as far as housing, food types, size at maturity, ability to be handled, ability to be properly sexed, etc. Down the road I'd thought to get a couple of female leopard gecko's as they appeal to me but you all are so nuts about the cresties I'm sort of wondering if they are a better choice....comments?
crested geckos are arboreal whereas leos are terrestrial, so you will need a taller cage for cresteds and a wider/longer cage for leos. leos require a warm spot of about 88 degrees with a thermal gradient to the cool side (similar to bps) whereas cresteds do no require heat and are fine in temps ranging from 65-80 degrees. leos can be fed a staple diet of mealworms, supplemented with crickets, roaches, wax worms etc. cresteds can be fed solely on a diet of t-rex crested gecko diet supplemented with mashed fresh fruits if you wish. they can also be fed crickets, wax worms (occassionally as a treat), roaches and phoenix worms. at adult size cresteds range from 30-60 grams, leos from 45-80+ grams (some females get to be big mommas ). leos can be sexed at 1 month of age, male cresteds at 3-6 months of age, female cresteds at 8-12 months of age. some breeders can properly sex female cresteds earlier, but most will not guarantee the sex to be female until the gecko is at least 9 months old. both are easily handled, cresteds possibly being the harder of the two to handle because they jump and are generally faster moving than leos.

Quote Originally Posted by JLC
How "stinky" are cresties? I know my beardie can leave a gosh-awful smell sometimes, especially if he poops on his basking rock under the heat lamp. Whew!! If I had cresties, I'd want to keep them out in the living room in an attractive viv....but that wouldn't fly at all if they're stinky.
beardies can leave some serious STANK! cresteds are not stinky at all. the only reason you would notice a smell with them is if you leave cgd in the tank too long and it starts to mold or if you let their enclosure get too wet without a chance to dry out and it gets moldy. of course, if you put your head down into the tank and take a deep breath right after one of the geckos poops you are probably going to notice something but it is insanely minor compared to the smell that will fill the entire room after your beardie relieves himself. i have a half a room full of crested cages in an enclosed bedroom and the room doesn't stink a bit.