Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello Everyone, I have been in the reptile business for a few years now breeding Ball Pythons, Leopard Geckos, Fat Tails, and Beardies. My husband got a few trios of sub adult and breeding Crested Geckos the other day. I was wondering if they can be kept in a rack system like the Geckos and Fatties. The racks I currently have are three different sizes. Hatchling rack which is shoe box size, sweather box size for sub adults and blanket size for Trios. I realize Cresties need lower temps and higher humidity which I can do no problem. But I have some important questions. If they can be kept in a rack system do we still use plants( fake mainly) with branches or can we use the PVC pipes for them to go into and hang on? Since I also have Beardies and they are mostly housed in glass enclosures but we will be changing over to vision type caging for the beardies. I can utilize the glass enclosures for the Crested if I need to very soon. And My daughter says that these guys can and usually do drop their tails alot easier than Leos. Please let me know if this is true. Its something she heard from a breeder while at a show once. I see alot of them without their tails and I know they do not grow back either. Any Help on Crested Geckos will be greatly appreciated. I have the Crested Gecko Manual and plan to buy the Big book on their Care at the next reptile show(next week). I sell and buy at many of the shows in the North East. Once I get these guys settled in, Pictures will be taken. Thanks Deb
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SACRED CREATURES~
http://www.sacredcreatures.com/

Beardies: 9.19.40
Not named yet! Hypo Red x Yellow Sandfire Female Juvy
Pyro-Red Flaming Tiger x Orange German Giant Male
Kai-German Giant x Orange German Giant Male
Skyla-German Giant x German Giant Pastel Female
Voodoo-Yellow Red Desert Male
Banshee-Orange Sandfire Female
Puff-Citrus x Red Flamming Tiger/Orange Sandfire Male
Cera-Citrus x Sunburst Female
Moon- Snow x Hypo Female
Jewel-Yellow Sandfire x Orange Sandfire- Female
Ace-Sundial Coral x Snow Male
Jace- Yellow sandfire x Orange sandfire Male
Sundra-Sunrise x Red/Gold Sandfire Female
Nitro(Stubbs)-German Giant x GG Pastel- Female
Rainbow-German Giant x GG Pastel Female
Wicket-Sundial Coral x Snow Male
Sedona-Blood x Red/Orange Sandfire Female
Cinder- German Giant Orange x GG Pastel Female
Seven-German Giant Orange x GG Pastel Female
Flame-German Giant Orange x GG Pastel Female
Viya-German Giant Orange x GG Pastel Female
Kiowa-German Giant Orange x GG Pastel Female
Flurry- Snow Female
Jinx- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange male
Jazz- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange female
Jet- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange male
Joker- Snow x Patternless Pastel x Hypo Orange female

Leopard Geckos 7.18.43
Not named yet- Super Hypo Tang Carrot Tail Baldie Female
Sirius- Tremper Albino Male
Blossom- Patternless Tremper Albino Female(Animal Dreams)
Blaze- Jungle Bandit Female (Bruckman's Reptiles)
Bonzai-High yellow Jungle Leo Male(Bruckman's Reptiles)
Basil-High Yellow Jungle Leo Female(Bruckman's)
Ebony-Dark Phase Normal Female
Snowflake-Line bred snow Female
Twister-HQ Red Stripe Leo Male
Swayze-HQ Red Stripe Bold Jungle Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Eclipse-HQ Red Stripe Bold Jungle Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Ayesha-Outcross JMG x HQ Red Stripe Female(Hot Geckos)
Solar-High Yellow Leo Male
Sunspot-High Yellow Leo Female(Bruckman's Reptiles)
Phoenix-Super Hypo Tang Carrot Tail Baldy Male (Hot Geckos)
Cajun-Super Hypo Tang Baldy Leo Female(Hot Geckos)
Calypso-Super Hypo Leo Female
Orion- Hypo Tang Leo Female
Bijou- Hypo Tang Leo Female( Our Breeding)
Arwen-Rainwater( LV)Jungle Albino Leo Male (Hot Geckos)
Aries-Rainwater(LV) Banded Albino Leo Female (Hot Geckos)
Ice-Blizzard Leo Female(Bruckman's Reptiles)
Winter-Blizzard Leo Female(Bruckman's Reptiles
Shiver-Banana Blizzard Leo Male(Bruckman's Reptiles)

Tortoises 1.1
Velvet-Leopard Tortoise 2 years old male
Isis- Blond Leopard Tortoise 16 mos old female

4.3 Ball Pythons
Stripe Male 05
Black Back Female 05
Het Pied Male 05
Axanthic Female 03
Reduced with Blushing Female 03
Chocolate Reduced Male 04
Banded Male 04

Our Tarantula's
1 Mexican Red Knee "Red"
1 Brazilian Striped Knee "Gremlin"
1 Chilean Rose Hair "Rosey"
1 Guyana Pink Toe "Pinky"
1 Chaco Golden Knee "Goldielocks"
1 Curly Hair "Curlie Q"

Exotic Roaches
Lobsters
Orange Headed
Orange Spotted
Hissers
And Many Furry Pets

I have heard of breeders that use rack housing for cresteds, but it is not the optimal condition. Crested at very much vertical animals and use all the height it can get. They drop their tails when handled roughly just like a leo, I have been told that the reason there are more dropped tails around is that most owners/breeders don't take enough time to tame them, a lot of accidental tail pinched in cage/box tops, or they keep too many together which results in fighting.

My advice would be to not breed unless you are sure you have good homes lined up, there has been talk here and elsewhere that the crested market is really flooded in the last year and it isn't a good time to start.
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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

I keep my crested geckos in a rack like system. The important thing is to use containers with enough height in them. Most sweater/shoe box type containers are ill suited for crested geckos as they have very little height to them. Once you have containers with good height you can put them into a rack system without problems.

I use 55l (58qt) sterlite containers that are 11"x13"x20" (hxwxl) for single adult crested geckos, with plenty of branches and fake plants. The branches are set at an angle to give more climbing room. I use papertowel for substrate for ease of cleaning. Taller containers are better but this type was the best I could find here. For breeding I put my breeding pairs into larger sterlite containers (62l or 68qt, 13x15x39" or something like that).

Out of the 5 adult crested geckos and 3 adult gargoyle geckos, none have dropped their tails or shown any signs of floppy tail syndrome, all are eating well etc. so this seems to work well for me. Newly hatched babies I put in dry goods storage containers which are something like 10"x7"x4" (hxlxw) in pairs or singles, separating pairs as they get bigger.

I do have to agree that the crested gecko market does seem to be a little slow lately, but it could simply be my area or the fact the babies I have, most don't look like much as babies, though I suspect most of my patternless babies will be bi-color. Just haven't seen them really fired up yet.
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PHLdyPayne