The
best thing for your new crested gecko (no matter what age it is) is
to leave it alone to settle in for the first 10-14 days in it's new
home. Put the gecko in it's enclosure and only open the door to feed
it, change the water and spot clean any messes. The gecko needs this
time to get used to you, as well as the new smells and sounds of your
home. It will be hard to not pick him up and take him out of the
enclosure, but you will be rewarded with a calmer and happier gecko
than if you had handled him from the beginning.
Your
new crested gecko may not eat for the first 7-10 days and that's ok.
It is getting used to it's new environment and making sure it is
safe. Within 7-10 days you should see a poop in the tank (easy to
spot with paper towel substrate) and that is your indication that
s/he is eating.
Food:
- Our crested geckos eat primarily Pangea Fruit Mix Complete, with the occasional insect as a treat
- A favorite insect to feed them is crickets (dusted in a calcium powder to help meet their calcium requirements and prevent Metabolic Bone Disease)
- You can feed your crested gecko every other day, so 3-4 times a week. We usually feed on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Cresteds also love the occasional fresh fruit treat. Please don't give bananas too often, although they like them, bananas deplete their calcium and are harmful. Cresteds love mashed up mangoes, papaya, figs, dates, strawberries, peaches and watermelon.
- Do not feed baby food to your crested gecko.
- They don't eat much, all we use for a food bowl is a pop bottle lid. They eat so little that for juveniles and sub adults you may not notice any food missing from their bowl. If s/he is pooping, it is eating.
- We keep a water dish in each enclosure. Not all of them drink from it, but it helps with humidity ... it doesn't have to be a large dish, just a small and shallow bowl or lid.
Housing:
- Crested geckos are arboreal reptiles, so they do better with a taller enclosure as opposed to a longer enclosure.
- Our hatchlings each live in their own small, clear, plastic 11” x 10” x 10” tub (with air holes drilled in the sides and top).
- At about 10 grams, we move them up into a 10 gallon tank or clear plastic tub (with air holes drilled in the sides and top). 20” x 10” x 12” is an average 10 gallon aquarium.
- At 20 grams, they then move into their own permanent 20 gallon, or larger enclosure (can be a clear plastic tub with air holes or a glass terrarium). A good terrarium size is the 18” cube or and 18” x 18” x 24”. We also like using an aquarium, with a secure mesh lid, tipped on it's side so the mesh lid becomes the front. An average 20 gallon size is about 24” x 12” x 16” or 30” x 12” x 12”. 25 gallon (24” x 12” x 20”) and 29 gallon (30” x 12” x 18”) tanks are wonderful sizes as well.
- If you move your crested up to a larger tank and find that s/he isn't eating, or is losing weight, move them back down in size for a month or two. Sometimes they can't find their food in a larger tank and just need to grow a bit more before they move up. Also, try putting a couple of bowls of food in the tank so it is easier to find the food.
- We use paper towels as substrate in all of our enclosures, it's easy to clean. Eco Earth, or a fine reptile friendly dirt is fine too, but please do not use sand (they are not desert reptiles), or anything with large pieces that can get stuck if they accidentally eat it.
- Cresteds thrive in room temperature (18-24 degrees Celsius) and do not need any heat lamps.
- Cresteds are nocturnal and do not need any UVA/UVB lights, living in a room with natural light is enough for them.
- They are arboreal and love to have plants hanging from the sides of their tank to climb on and hide in. They also like a branch, vine or piece of bamboo to climb on. We get all of our plants and bamboo from the Dollar Tree and Dollarama and just attach a suction cup to the vine to hang it from the wall. We like to have at least 3 plants hanging from the walls, a branch to climb, a high sleeping ledge (a plastic soap dish that has suction cups already it from a dollar store works beautifully) or hammock and at least one hide on the ground in each enclosure.
- You will need a hygrometer and thermometer inside each tank to monitor the humidity and temperature as it will be different inside the tank than outside.
Other
care:
- Crested geckos are from a humid tropical island and need a regular humidity cycle.
- We mist with a spray bottle every evening, just until we can see droplets on the sides of the tank and on the leaves. You want the humidity to get up to the 90% zone, but you do not want standing water on the floor of the tank. Do not over spray, this can cause respiratory problems and may lead to death.
- Over misting can result in mold growth, so please monitor the humidity levels.
- Let it dry out throughout the day to 55-65%, if the enclosure gets below 55%, you will want to give a light misting in the morning too. If the tank is not getting down to 55-65% daily, you are spraying too much.
- Crested geckos need this humidity for a couple of reasons. Licking the water droplets is their main source of water, so they need them there to drink. Cresteds shed approximately once a month and if they are too dry and dehydrated, the shed will not come off smoothly. It can become stuck resulting in lost toes and tips of tails, stuck shed can also cause them to lose their grip on the side of the tank and fall, causing death. Keeping humidity in the acceptable range is important.
- There are a variety of opinions on what kind of water can be used in the water bowls and mister. Some use tap water with a reptile water treatment added, some use distilled, some use reverse osmosis, some just leave their tap water out for a night or two get rid of the chlorine. We use City of Saskatoon water straight from the tap with no problems.
- Once a female crested gecko gets to about 20 grams she may start to lay eggs. If you use paper towel as substrate, you will want to have a moist hide available for her to lay eggs in. Not all females lay infertile eggs, but many will even if they haven't been with a male. If she is ready to lay, she will look for a moist patch of dirt and can become egg bound, holding the eggs inside, until she finds such a place. Egg impaction can kill her. All you need for a moist hide is a small plastic container (that is big enough for her to fit in) with a lid and some moist Eco Earth and/or sphagnum moss. Cut a small hole in the lid, big enough for her to fit in. Fill the container with the Eco Earth and/or sphagnum moss (we mix the 2) until it's about 2 inches from the rim, put the lid on it and put it in the enclosure. Every female needs a moist hide / lay box.
- We recommend a moist hide for all crested geckos. This gives them somewhere cool to go when they are warm and helps maintain humidity if you use a paper towel substrate.
thecrestedcastle@gmail.com
Crested
Gecko Supply List
Congratulations
on the purchase of your new crested gecko. You will also be receiving
a Crested Gecko Care Sheet that we will be referencing a lot in this
list. We wanted to keep this as straight forward as possible and
leave the Care Sheet to explain the “whys”.
What
you will need to bring your crested gecko home:
- An enclosure of some kind. Glass terrariums or aquariums are popular choices, as are clear plastic tubs with holes drilled in the sides. Please see the Care Sheet for sizes, and dimensions as those vary with the size of your gecko.
- Food. Please see the Care Sheet for specifics and suggestions.
- Food dish. We use pop bottle caps.
- Water dish. Small, shallow plastic lid is perfect.
- Hanging plants. Cheap and easy to find at a variety of dollar stores.
- Something to climb. A vine or piece of bamboo is great.
- A ledge or hammock to hang out on. A plastic soap dish with suction cups from a dollar works well
- A ground hide. Can purchase one at a pet store, or use a plastic plant pot turned upside down with an entry hole cut in the side.
- Substrate for the enclosure. We use paper towel.
- A mister. We use a dollar store spray bottle.
- A moist hide for a female who is 20 grams or more. See Care Sheet for details and suggestions.
- Thermometer for inside the enclosure.
- Hygrometer for inside the enclosure.
Some
optional things you might want to get:
- A moist hide for all geckos over 10 grams.
- Additional hides, plants and other accessories to make the enclosure as jungle like as you want.
thecrestedcastle@gmail.com
