Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to the world of crested geckos, but I got my little girl a month ago and have fallen completely in love! I thought I'd share some of the best photos I've gotten of her so far.

I'm still working on her vivarium, a 20g high, and I'd like to share some pictures when I get some for any kind of advice you guys could give me.

She's a cutie! Where'd you get her?
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.1.1 leopard geckos
1.1.2 crested geckos
..1 mali uro

I got her from a breeder friend of mine at our local herp show. She is almost 6 months old, and I just transferred her from a 10g to a naturalistic 20g high with heartleaf philodendron and a spider plant.

I got 2 leaf dishes and fashioned them as ledges, one of them sits middle height and one sits maybe 6 inches from the top of the cage. Do crested generally eat from the ground, or will she eventually grow interested in the food if I put it in the dishes? I'm currently feeding her CGD with a tiny bit of organic pear baby food (she loves the pear flavor!) and 4 or 5 dusted crickets a night. It seems like she's always interested in the crickets (if she can catch them) but only eats about an 1/8 tsp of the CGD mix a few nights a week. I know that CGD is a complete diet by itself but the crickets provide great exercise and she seems to enjoy hunting very much. Should I back off on the crickets so she'll eat more CGD or does this sound okay?

I'd love any sort of feedback!

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0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boas
0.2 Labrador Retrievers

We tend to find the best way to raise a crested is with a combination of crickets (dusted with vitamins of course) and CGD. When our girl became an adult she started preferring her CGD straight without any fruit, but for some reason likes it "aged" overnight first. (she's weird that way) Now we only feed crickets as treats a few times a month. I would suggest that at 6 months you could move to only feeding crickets once a week and then CGD the rest of the time. CGD is a complete food you can raise them from babies, to adults, and even breeding females on only CGD, that is what it was designed for. But I have to admit, as some of us here have done in the past, it is too much fun watching them hunt, so a hoppy treat once in a while is fine, but not in any way necessary.

I am jealous that you can get such great pictures, ours is two years and to date we have two clear pictures... and about a hundred blurry ones. But then, our girl has gecko ADD, she can't help it.

Good luck!

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0.1 Albino Leo Gecko
0.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Dear Boyfriend
Departed: Harvey and Spock

Here is a kind of bad picture of her newly set up cage. The plants are live, and I still need to fill out the top with fake plants until the live ones grow out enough to provide some cover.

Let me know what you think!

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0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boas
0.2 Labrador Retrievers

Looks pretty good, and will be even better once you fill in the top with some fake plants like you mentioned.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

I've seen several people say not to feed crickets or to limit cricket feedings to once or twice a week. Is there a reason for limiting crickets that much, or is it simply to ensure the gecko eats the CGD more than anything else?

I personally LOVE feeding crickets. It's something that I have always enjoyed, if not for the simple fact that reptiles seem to have so much fun with them. I worked at an exotic pet store for over 2 years, and we always fed dusted crickets every day (dust was even mixture of Rep-Cal Herptivite and Calcium w/ d3).

I did cut back my cricket feedings, but mainly because the only place around me who actually sells crickets has very low quality ones. They tend to die quickly so it seems I'm always running out just a few days after I get them. And, honestly, I don't have much faith in this particular place as a small animal and reptile supplier. It seems, though, that my little girl isn't as active when she doesn't have those crickets to hunt every night. I worry that she isn't getting a proper amount of exercise!
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0.1 Crested Gecko
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boas
0.2 Labrador Retrievers

I think the big thing about this is that CGD is a complete diet for them, providing everything they need. Crickets definitely provide good exercise and psychological stimulation, but it's somewhat harder to get them to be complete nutrition. It's great to feed them once a week or so, but even gutloaded, they're not 100% of what a crested needs. As far as I know, that's the only reason; it's not that crickets are bad for your gecko; they're just not as good as CGD.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

cute tongue picture! =)

i would feed her crickets in a separate container until she grows up so she doesn't get impacted from any accidental ingestion of substrate.

they will eat from the dish wherever you put it, but it's up to you and your gecko as to preference.

skip the baby food. if you want to add flavors, get the 2-part repashy diet. it is a protein base and a flavor nectar which you mix by weight according to whether you feed insects or not. as for crickets, i would cut them down to once a week.
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4.1 snakes, 5.3.2 crested geckos, 0.1 gargoyle gecko, 2.0 devon rex cats, 1.0 betta