Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I just had a few questions. I want to make sure I don't stress out my new CG.

My new crested gecko is about 3 months old and I've had him for a few days now. He hasn't started eating yet. He seems scared or nervous when I'm near. He immediately runs away (or climbs away) when I try to pick him up. How do you train them not to be so shy?

Also, what kind of light can I use that doesn't bother them while they're active at night?

How do they sense when it is night? Internal clock or amount of light in the room?

Alex

Well you don't really train it. Just hold it often and it will get used to being held. You can use a red light to veiw it at night, they have them in pretty much every pet store and they actually say for night veiwing, BUT make sure you don't make it too hot in there. Crested geckos dying from heat is a common way of dying. They can get really stressed out if it's too hot in there. Make sure it's no higher than about 80 during the day and no lower than 65 at night. But at night with the red lamp on you still don't want it higher than 75. You do want it to be warmer during the day just like it would be out in the wild. As for the night thing, they think it's night time when it's dark, not a biological clock.
-----
1.0 savannah monitor
0.4 leopard geckos
0.0.1 anole
0.1.1 crested geckos
1.1 bearded dragons
0.2 common boas (BCI)
1.0 ball python
0.0.1 western hognose
0.1 kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 green tree frog
0.0.1 golden tree frog
0.0.2 fire belly toads
0.0.1 Sulcata tortoise
0.0.1 desert hairy scorpion
0.0.10 baby florida bark scorpions
0.0.1 texas millipede
1.2 sugar gliders 0.2 joeys
0.1 grey chinchilla
2.0 cats
0.2 guinea pigs

I had a red light for my house geckos and didn't like it....too bright. I got a "dark" moonlight type one. It looks like a black light. Make sure they don't get too much heat though. I have my house gecko terrarium next to the Crested one and the lamp is always on....10-12 hours day, 12-14 hours night. Probably about 30 minutes no light so the bulb can cool (I got cheap and just switch the bulbs). I like the black/purple bulb best as it gives out a small amount of light and is a perfect nightlight for my son. The red seemed to be too bright.