Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My crested is my first lizard. My brother bought it for me on Christmas Eve because he knew that ive always wanted to have a lizard ever since i was a little girl. Ive attached some pictures for you all to see him. I decided to name him Waldo because he blends in REALLY well with his surroundings and he is difficult to find at times.

anyway. i have a lot of questions and i thank you in advance for any help or advice.

the first order of business is that i really dont know if he is a male or female. i assumed it was a male so for now i am going by that. what is a good way of trying to figure that out? i just ordered that Rhac book and hopefully it will come soon and answer a lot of my questions.

he also has a lot of white blotches and spots on his body. mainly there is a big white spot on his tail, which you can see in one of the photos. and he also has some white by his claws, etc. is that normal? because when i first bought him i wasnt sure and was concerned. maybe he is shedding? im really still clueless about him and since he is my first lizard i am a real newbie. i also got nervous because a day before we went out to buy him (from petco) an acquaintance of mine (who once owned leopard geckos) said that the lizards at Petco looked sick and buying them wasnt a good idea. i got a little annoyed with that remark but decided to buy Waldo since i was pretty set on buying him.

i also really have no idea how old he is. could someone help me with that and make an educated guess? ive found several ranges for how long they live and how big adults can get and they are all very diff numbers so i really cant make a good conclusion myself.

but perhaps my biggest concern is that he doesnt eat. i gave him meal worms the first few days that i got him and he may have at one but i cannot be entirely sure. then i decided to give him banana baby food with his vitamins and that was left untouched and if he did eat it was a very small amount. same thing with the water, i dont think he is drinking but it is hard to tell with water because it can evaporate or he can drink so little that i cant tell. i was able to feed him a tiny amount of baby food the other day with a spoon and that was that. ive been trying to do the same since and im really not getting anywhere so i bought a diff. flavor so i can see how that goes. i also tried to give him a mealworm last night on a spoon and i placed it next to him and ntohing really happened. at one point he did jump on top of the worm dish and he was on top of it with his head inside the dish for a few mins but he didnt eat!

so now i really dont know. im worried because i dont want him to get sick or die of not eating for so long or something. any ideas? my brother has said that i should just leave the eating issue alone and that when he really gets hungry he will hunt around for food and although that may be true i still am nervous about the fact that he really hasnt eaten in so long.
he also almost is never ever on the ground which is where the food is. i have a lot of things for him to climb on so he is always up in the tree or on the glass or top of the tank at night. he is only on the ground when i place him there and then he jumps right back up onto a branch. so im afraid he isnt even exploring the ground. what i need to do is invent bowls that can be securely attached in the tree somehow.

i have him in a nice 20 gal tank. and im not sure if he has gone to the bathroom or anything of that sort since he has been here. i cant really tell because the bottom of the tank is covered with a soil mixture. but ya know i doubt it.

i have also noticed that he really isnt active under his black light. i think he thinks it is too bright and when it is on he barely moves around like in the day time. so ive been experimenting with different lamps and things that i have in my house so that he can be active and i can observe him. i have noticed that he very active when all of the lights are off in my room and i try to do that for as long as i can but once i go out or something i put the blacklight back on to reg. temp when im gone and the same thing goes for when i sleep. i dont want to risk leaving it off at night and have the temp. drop too low. any recommendations for night lights? something dim that creates a sufficient amount of heat..?

sorry for this obnoxiously long post but i am new at this and i have a lot of questions and concerns about my little one.

enjoy the photos.

-eve

Image

more photos

oh and if anyone just wants to email me about this feel free to do so...
salivastain@aol.com

just hangin

this is his 20 gal tank

you can see him hanging out at the very top on the right hand corner

tank

Hey,

Im definetly no expert. I only got my crested maybe 5 days before you got yours. Mine is 2 months old and tiny. I had (have) previeously owned leopard gecko. He was extremely easy to care for. I decided to try a crested. Mine has alot of white on the tail and an orange head and crest. I woudnt worry about the white... As far as i know, (which isnt much) that is just colouration! I was nervous about mine not eating. I havent acctually seen him eat, but crickets are vanishing and he is leaving droppings all around the cage. Are you misting? I have never seen mine drink out of a bowl. I mist and he licks the water clean off the pothos leaves. I have no idea if mine is eating baby food or not. I have peach and i cant tell at all if hes eating... im getting slightly nervous as well.

Anyway, thats all i have to offer... not much, but its my expeirience.

thanks,
Geoff

hey. thanks for replying and sharing.

mine drinks the water drops off the windows and the leaves too. i was just misting so that you could get a drink.

i am considering going down to Petco tonight and getting some crickets. how many should i buy? should i just leave them their overnight? and then take them out in the morning? im thinking of putting two or three in there at a time. does that sound good?
-----
-eve
i just happen to like apples and no i'm not afraid of snakes

crested gecko-waldo
fighting fish-oscar
plant-medusa
boyfriend-nick

yup. Thats what i did with my cricks. They will crawl up the screen on my cage and right to the waiting lizard. (ive seen him staring at one and then get preoccupied with me watching and start to back away. I then left the room and came back to find him sitting where the cricket was a moment ago. and of course the cricket had vanished.) I think he must have eaten it. I took him out of his cage earlier today and he was a bit jumpy, but he was always licking my fingers. Im going to try putting baby food on my finger and seeing if he will lick it off.

Anyway. Good luck

>>>i assumed it was a male so for now i am going by that. what is a good way of trying to figure that out? i just ordered that Rhac book and hopefully it will come soon and answer a lot of my questions.

Males will have obvious bulges at the base of the tail. Its not easy to tell at an early age, so id wait a few more months to tell.

>>>he also has a lot of white blotches and spots on his body. mainly there is a big white spot on his tail, which you can see in one of the photos. and he also has some white by his claws, etc. is that normal? because when i first bought him i wasnt sure and was concerned. maybe he is shedding? im really still clueless about him and since he is my first lizard i am a real newbie. i also got nervous because a day before we went out to buy him (from petco) an acquaintance of mine (who once owned leopard geckos) said that the lizards at Petco looked sick and buying them wasnt a good idea. i got a little annoyed with that remark but decided to buy Waldo since i was pretty set on buying him.

The white blotches are part of its coloration. Their color even turn lighter/darker depending temps, mood, light, etc. All petcos are different, but the majority of chain petstores often mistreat animals. If it looks otherwise healthy, i wouldnt bee too worried.

>>>i also really have no idea how old he is. could someone help me with that and make an educated guess? ive found several ranges for how long they live and how big adults can get and they are all very diff numbers so i really cant make a good conclusion myself.

Several factors change how big a crested is. How often you feed it is an example. Considering it came from a petstore, it wouldnt be wise to make a guess yet. It does look pretty young however. Could be a month or two, or even a few weeks, etc.

>>>but perhaps my biggest concern is that he doesnt eat. i gave him meal worms the first few days that i got him and he may have at one but i cannot be entirely sure. then i decided to give him banana baby food with his vitamins and that was left untouched and if he did eat it was a very small amount. same thing with the water, i dont think he is drinking but it is hard to tell with water because it can evaporate or he can drink so little that i cant tell. i was able to feed him a tiny amount of baby food the other day with a spoon and that was that. ive been trying to do the same since and im really not getting anywhere so i bought a diff. flavor so i can see how that goes. i also tried to give him a mealworm last night on a spoon and i placed it next to him and ntohing really happened. at one point he did jump on top of the worm dish and he was on top of it with his head inside the dish for a few mins but he didnt eat!

Your going to have to get crickets. Mealworms are a porr choice as a staple food choice. You may even try the crested gecko diet found at local pet stores.

so now i really dont know. im worried because i dont want him to get sick or die of not eating for so long or something. any ideas? my brother has said that i should just leave the eating issue alone and that when he really gets hungry he will hunt around for food and although that may be true i still am nervous about the fact that he really hasnt eaten in so long.
he also almost is never ever on the ground which is where the food is. i have a lot of things for him to climb on so he is always up in the tree or on the glass or top of the tank at night. he is only on the ground when i place him there and then he jumps right back up onto a branch. so im afraid he isnt even exploring the ground. what i need to do is invent bowls that can be securely attached in the tree somehow.

They are arboreal, and will only come to the ground for hunting, breeding and maybe sleep. Try getting crickets. The motion will get their attention, and they will eventually go to the ground to eat.

i have him in a nice 20 gal tank. and im not sure if he has gone to the bathroom or anything of that sort since he has been here. i cant really tell because the bottom of the tank is covered with a soil mixture. but ya know i doubt it.

It can sometimes be hard to spot, because the crested is so small. Its still however, getting used to its new surroundings. Give it a few more days to adjust, and if it still isnt eating/pooping, i would consider a vet.

i have also noticed that he really isnt active under his black light. i think he thinks it is too bright and when it is on he barely moves around like in the day time. so ive been experimenting with different lamps and things that i have in my house so that he can be active and i can observe him. i have noticed that he very active when all of the lights are off in my room and i try to do that for as long as i can but once i go out or something i put the blacklight back on to reg. temp when im gone and the same thing goes for when i sleep. i dont want to risk leaving it off at night and have the temp. drop too low. any recommendations for night lights? something dim that creates a sufficient amount of heat..?

You can try a red bulb, as reptiles cant see tthat color of the spectrum. However, cresteds come from a place where it isnt very warm (about 67-75F average). The temps would be the least of my concern.

Good luck with it,
M.N

thank you for all of your great advice.

i just got back from Petco with a red light and a dozen very small crickets.

the red light should work really well since it is A LOT darker. and i put in the whole dozen because a)i would have trouble fishing them out and b)i just wanted to get rid of them. lol. i really have no place to put them. so i dusted them with his vitamins, so now i have white cricks, lol and i hope he eats.

should i remove the rest of the crickets i find tomorrow? or leave them in there?
also..how many do you think they eat at a time? one? two?

thanks.
-----
-eve
i just happen to like apples and no i'm not afraid of snakes

crested gecko-waldo
fighting fish-oscar
plant-medusa
boyfriend-nick

Eve,
You sound like me when I first got my guys! I have five now, but i was a bit frantic at first.Lets see..as someone already said white spots are normal,mine are splashed all over w/them.gives em' character.Feeding:mine never took to the babyfood. I feed them the Crested gecko diet available at Petco or Petsmart everynight and crickets 3 days a week.I tried a number of substrates,the one I like most is indoor/outdoor carpeting.You can get it precut at Petco,it's reusable,looks nice in a naturalistic set up,and they can't eat it!!!!I wouldn't worry much about heat,unless it's freakishly cold in your house.Are you misting them?That's where mine seem to get most of thier moisture.Anyways,hope this helps. Goodluck!
Courtney
p.s it may take awhile for him to go for
the crested gecko diet.Just keep offering it
and eventually he'll come around.

do you find them just the gecko diet and nothing else?

i think getting the crickets last night was successful. i put the whole dozen in there, can i just leave them in there? i figure when he gets hungry again he can just continue eating. i dont see a lot of cricks at all in there, i guess most are hiding. how many do little cresteds eat at a time?

i like my substrate a lot but since it is a natural soil mix i may have to change it since it will be hard to look for droppings.

i had another question i wanted to ask but i suddenly forgot it so i guess i will come back later.

ooo got it! i feel so much better.
how often do you guys clean your tanks? and how do you go about that?
i need to buy a little cage or something that i can place him into when i clean it.
-----
-eve
i just happen to like apples and no i'm not afraid of snakes

crested gecko-waldo
fighting fish-oscar
plant-medusa
boyfriend-nick