Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recently got my cresties on valentines day. he got me 3 cresties and all the set up stuff. =) my fiance gives great gifts i know. anyway just wanted to post what my enclosure looks like...any feedback would be appreciated.

i am using live plants and eco-earth mixed with coconut bark. i'm also alternating crickets and CGD (mixed with water) every night. a couple of questions:

1)my enclosure doesnt seem humid enough, i have my digital thermometer/hygrometer towards the top to the right and it usually reads 70-74degrees and 30-60% humidity. it usually goes up to 60% when i mist it...but stays about 30-40%. what can i do to make it more humid?
2) how soon so i need to change the substrate?
3)i found one of my cresties with his head buried under the substrate this morning. he was buried up to his arms. is that normal?

i'll be posting more pics of my little guys as soon as i can get pics of them.

thanks, starr

There are always the automatic mister set up things or a water fogger like they use in frog tanks. I want one of those

Nice set-up. I would put a few more vines to make use of the full heigt & folliage (can be fake) along the walls. Also be careful with the larger chunks of bark in the substrate. If they ingest it by accident it could cause impaction. I have a layer of straight eco-earth as the top-most layer of my tank.
As for humidity, you can try to throw a towel over the enclosure after you mist it. I had the opposite problem... I had too much humidity... Tho your readings may be caused by the placement of your hygrometer. I have mine about mid-way up the side of my tank. It doesn't look great but gives a slightly more accurate reading.

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0.0.1 Crested Gecko (Anton or Angelina)
1.1 Crazy dogs (Alex & Sadie)
0.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee)
0.1 Amazing Wife =o)
Charlie - RIP 9-8-05 (Veiled Cham)

n/p
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0.0.1 Crested Gecko (Anton or Angelina)
1.1 Crazy dogs (Alex & Sadie)
0.2 Vacationing Kitties (Puddy, PeeWee)
0.1 Amazing Wife =o)
Charlie - RIP 9-8-05 (Veiled Cham)

i think your humidity is fine. too high humidity all the time just encourages fungi and mold to grow in the tank, making it smell bad and causing health problems. also, it really promotes teh growth of bacteria. i mist my geckos about once a day, usually in the early evening, and they never had any shedding problems, or dehydration problems. misting once or twice a day is fine. also, you could provide a moist hide from them to go into when they feel they need a moister environment. a small cage with slightly damp sphugmum moss works well.
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PHLdyPayne

i agree with ldypayne that the humidity is fine. you actually want it to have a drying out period sometime during the day. humidity usually should not remain constant, as this will promote mold growth.
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