Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Having read a quite a few care sheets, web pages and a  great many posts on Crested Geckos not only here, but on several other forums. I have several thoughts Ild like to share. I am relatively inexperienced as a Herp keeper.Ive got a Iguana whom has lived like a king for about 5 years (His cage equals half my living room)and a red ear slider for 4 years . Before I acquired either I did a great deal of research to see if I could supply the necessary time ,effort and equipment to keep the animal.  Information was quite plentiful and for the most part quite complete.
  Researching Crested Geckos is a very different experience, The majority of care sheets are simply parroting information from very few sources (as esteemed as those sources may be) . The majority of web sights have little or no new information or personal experience to offer. The majority of crested owners have  less than a years experience with the animals as well. Consequently reading the pages is very much like reading the same page over and over again. Forums such as this one offer the best opportunity to gleen new information as people mention personal experiences, but at the same time an opportunity to get mis-information ... Examples are as follows
A question in another forum was asked about keeping geckos together    ..  there was 1.You shouldnt do it
2). 1 male 1 female   
3) 1 Male  3 Females  
4)  same sexs ok 
5)  as many as you want as long as there is enough hiding spots 
6)  No probalem either way  but youll lose tails .
A question was asked what happens  with 2 males  answers were 
1) they fight to the death 
2) the fight till one loses a tail 
3) they stress each other out till tails drop and
4)  maybe nothing
 
My point is a lot of well meaning individuals will answer a question in the manner they have heard rather than what they have personally  seen . The issue is worsened by the same basic questions being asked over and over by people who havent done any research until the knowledgeable and experienced breeders simply stop answering.

  Im beginning to ramble ...I guess my main point is simply there is a great deal to learn  about crested Geckos and we all have to pay close attention and begin to sort the myth from the facts.
  I would like to thank Anthony C in particular and the many others for the wealth of common sense knowledge and  practical answers. They often vary from the usual canned answers and are based on hands on experience.
Pat H
 

Well, what can you expect, crested geckos have only been extant for ten years, and obviously we are still learning. Isnt that exciting? Who knows where cresteds will be ten years from now, look at leopards. They have a long way to go, and i feel that forums like these and members like a.c. are on the right path, why complain?
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- Dan

2.4.9 Crested Geckos

Actually I wasnt complaining ,simply pointing out some of the positive and negitive in the current information exchange.We can not advance if we dont take a realistic look .
Heres another example if you find 12 care sheets on cresties youll see it lists 75% or more humidity is required.
However I belive it was Anthony C that mentioned he mists taking it up to 100% then allows it to drop down as low as 50%.And has no difficulties what so ever. In my mind that probally is more like thier natural climate . Thats the sort of information exchange I find very useful.
I do agree its very exciting that cresties are a rediscovered species . All the more reason to increase our knowledge of these creatures. Pat H

In cases like this... and I'm talking reptiles in general... usually there are several valid ways of doing things, and some work in some circumstances with some animals and not with others. It's very common to have this experience with animals that don't have huge bodies of knowledge with them, which will make keeping a rarer pet like a crestie a totally different experience from an iguana. I usually go with my best guess and tweak it from there.

But in my experience cresties are one of the easiest lizards to keep, and if you have a healthy iguana a crestie will be a cakewalk.

(I remember researching some species or other... where every piece of info I found on a given website was contradicted by info on another site. I should have framed it. You'd think books would be better but they can be as bad or worse than websites)
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!