Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all! I'm a new owner of a couple of baby R. ciliatus that arrived yesterday. I had their enclosure all set up and ready for them and got them in with no trouble.

Here's my questions:
1. I have other pets, and these guys are so small (~2.5" TL) that I am worried about their getting out and being eaten. So far I've only opened the door a couple of times and they haven't attempted to escape, and I'm wondering if yours typically try to make a break for it when you open the cage?

2. I read here or somewhere that babies can have a hard time finding their food if the enclosure is too big. Mine are in an approximately 24"Hx20"Wx16"D enclosure and I put in 6 tiny crickets last night for them. This morning I saw 1 cricket. I can't guarantee they didn't get out, but was told if a dish is deep enough they generally won't and they were in an 8 oz. deli cup inside a 4" deep pan in the bottom of the enclosure. Think they got eaten?

3. When they arrived yesterday, one appeared to be deep green with an orange crest and the other was orange with a lighter flame down its back. Last night and this morning both were tan colored. Does one of these colors indicate stress or is it part of their day-night cycle or are they trying to blend in like a chameleon? I knew from reading that they'd change colors, but I didn't realize it would be so dramatic.

Thanks! I'm sorry if these are annoying newbie questions. I read numerous care sheets on these guys before I got them and have read halfway back through the archives of this forum so far. I appreciate any help or input.

The color is a stress AND a day-night cycle thing. But they do change a lot!
They usually don't make a break for it when you lift the lid, but if they do they don't run THAT fast (I think they're slower when running straight up). If you're nervous, a very soft mesh big fish net is a good way to catch a runaway gecko without harming it.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Thanks for answering! How do I know whether the darker colors were showing stress from shipping or the lighter color was stress from new cage or it was just day/night cycling? Any way to tell?

And thanks for the fish net tip. That's a great idea! I'll put one with the other stuff right by them so it's handy. I don't want to stress the little guys any more than I have to or make them drop their tails or anything.

>>The color is a stress AND a day-night cycle thing. But they do change a lot!
>>They usually don't make a break for it when you lift the lid, but if they do they don't run THAT fast (I think they're slower when running straight up). If you're nervous, a very soft mesh big fish net is a good way to catch a runaway gecko without harming it.
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>>Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I noticed that their colors tend to be darker during the day and a little more drab. At night they usually are much more vibrant.

Thanks. I see one of mine is back to being green. That means if the other one weren't hiding so well, I'll bet it would be orange.

By the way, do you do anything to get their attention when you put food in their cage, or just count on them noticing it and eating?

>>I noticed that their colors tend to be darker during the day and a little more drab. At night they usually are much more vibrant.

You can't tell. But most of what you see will probably be day/night.
If you wait until the geckos are awake, and mist the cage every time before you feed them, you can sort of train them to expect food after you mist. But they'll still find it on their own. It's just good if they find it before all the dust comes out.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Thanks so much for answering my newbie questions. I'd hate to have these guys suffer if I made a mistake.

>>You can't tell. But most of what you see will probably be day/night.
>>If you wait until the geckos are awake, and mist the cage every time before you feed them, you can sort of train them to expect food after you mist. But they'll still find it on their own. It's just good if they find it before all the dust comes out.
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>>Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I just got a new baby crested, and I've been syringe feeding her the crested gecko diet just to make sure she's eating... 'cause it IS hard to tell! I actually screwed up the diet of my first crested, and he's got a bit of a deformity because of it. He wasn't a good eater and I think I wasn't giving him enough calcium when I fed him by hand. So there is definately nothing wrong with asking questions.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I fed crickets the day they arrived (Tues) and CGD mixed with peach baby food yesterday. I think they ate the crix, but not so sure about the CGD except that one of them was clinging to the back of the cage and I got him to lick a little off my finger. I definitely don't want MBD or FTS for my guys if I can help it.

I got a good look at them last night after lights out and it seems they're actually approaching 4" in total length, though their bodies are more like 2". They're still so tiny, though. I have read that adult size is 6"-8" long and that they shouldn't breed before 30g-40g, but was wondering what a good weight in an adult is (non-gravid, a few years old) and what average/normal distance across head, chest, and/or hips is?

Also, since mine were sold as "babies" without a specific age, I'd like to try to figure out how old they are. Based on what I've been reading, I'm guessing TL of 3.5"-4" is indicative of a 3 or 4 month old -- does that sound about right?

Thanks again for answering my questions. This forum just doesn't seem very active and you've been very helpful to me.

>>I just got a new baby crested, and I've been syringe feeding her the crested gecko diet just to make sure she's eating... 'cause it IS hard to tell! I actually screwed up the diet of my first crested, and he's got a bit of a deformity because of it. He wasn't a good eater and I think I wasn't giving him enough calcium when I fed him by hand. So there is definately nothing wrong with asking questions.
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>>Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I don't know a lot of that stuff- I only have 2, have never bred, and my female isn't even an adult. (the male, who is the messed up one, wouldn't have normal measurements anyway).
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

That's okay, just trying to learn as much as I can about these little guys. Maybe someone else will know more about the adult size/weight. Thanks!

>>I don't know a lot of that stuff- I only have 2, have never bred, and my female isn't even an adult. (the male, who is the messed up one, wouldn't have normal measurements anyway).
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>>Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Hi, if you got your cresteds at Reptile Depot like I did last weekend (I think I read somwhere that you ordered them from RD), those cresteds are about 8 weeks old. So roughly around 2 months. So far the two babies I got on Saturday have been really good with the gargoyle diet I've been feeding them. I put just a little bit on a shallow dish and make sure it gels up in a perfect way so that the next morning I can see if they've ate any of it. This morning I checked and almost all of it was gone, with a lot of lick/bite marks in the gel. A lot of breeders feed the gargoyle diet to young cresteds because of the higher protein value. I also have a breeder male crested that feeds okay on the CGD, but I give him a silkworm or two every other day. Hope this helps
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Sal
Geckos "R" Us

www.geckosrus.com

Sal, thanks for the info. Yes, I did get them from RD, but don't think I mentioned that here. It's definitely useful to have an idea of how old they are. I had read about giving them the gargoyle diet for more protein, but wasn't sure how old mine were or how long to feed that instead of the cgd and didn't want to mess them up.

Have you (or has anyone?) tried feeding the cresties from dishes/platforms attached to the side of the enclosure instead of on the floor? I wonder if they'd be more comfortable with that.

>>Hi, if you got your cresteds at Reptile Depot like I did last weekend (I think I read somwhere that you ordered them from RD), those cresteds are about 8 weeks old. So roughly around 2 months. So far the two babies I got on Saturday have been really good with the gargoyle diet I've been feeding them. I put just a little bit on a shallow dish and make sure it gels up in a perfect way so that the next morning I can see if they've ate any of it. This morning I checked and almost all of it was gone, with a lot of lick/bite marks in the gel. A lot of breeders feed the gargoyle diet to young cresteds because of the higher protein value. I also have a breeder male crested that feeds okay on the CGD, but I give him a silkworm or two every other day. Hope this helps
>>-----
>>Sal
>>Geckos "R" Us
>>
>>www.geckosrus.com