Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Theres only one younger crested in there, and i'll hopefully ad a corkbark backing to it

Here's my crested, who was given to me by someone who got him from petco and couldn't get him to eat.

see, elaborate setups look really nice, but there are two big problems with them:

1- they are very difficult to clean on a regular basis

2- crickets can hide EVERYWHERE which makes it very difficult for your crested to find food.

now already, you have a crested that was given to you that supposedly would not eat, so this makes #2 an even larger problem.

i know it looks really nice, and i am not trying to be rude in any way, but you may want to reconsider that enclosure. i keep my setups very basic. its easy to clean them, the crested find food easily, and they are perfectly healthy in their setups.

you may want to reconsider your current setup, i know you put a lot of work into it, but it may not be the best thing overall for your crested.

you've voiced your opinions as anyone should. and you've made your points as to why you think that. the only thing i think should be done is remove the mulch as rhacophile mentioned. and as to the feeding issue, monitor feeding in a separate cage for awhile. with a set up like that you're going to go through 3x as many crickets to make sure the gecko can find it.
but telling someone to switch cages because it's easier and supposedly better for the gecko is just wrong. it may be easier, but the gecko will thrive in a terrarium like that. i guarentee it will be happier and probably in better physical shape than most other cresteds that are raised in tubs. the gecko will be MUCH more active in an evironment like that and will keep it interested in moving about rather than just sitting there. there are many more possitive things that can be said about having a natural set up rather than a tupperware container. ( and yes i understand where you're coming from on the fact that the cage is easier to clean, and easier to monitor feeding, but that is it!!)
if the gecko is eating, and the person can maintain the cage, then what is the big deal? plus a fully decorated cage is much nicer to have in the living room for a decoration and will probably be kept up if it is on display.

What an excellent post, I totally agree with flame here. I have heard from many breeders and enthusiast alike how difficult natural terrariums are and it is simply not true. Some one some where decided to write it into the book of urban legends that they just don't work (what a crock). I can personally can testify that they are easy to care for and the cresteds stay fat all year round. Yes there are slightly easier setups that require less maintenance, but you really have to ask your self if a couple minutes a week isn't worth it for your animal. Now in the case of massive breeding projects I understand keeping them in tubs, hell they'll sell soon anyway. But if your keeping them as pets have a little sympathy and at least let them have the illusion of a natural habitat. I enjoy my set ups and yes even enjoy maintaining them. I'm not trying to harp on anyone but I do ask that you at least think about it. Here are some tips and info on maintaining them.
1. First find an all organic soil (try to avoid compost) Home depot sells some of the kind I use(EarthGro).
2. Sift through it taking out any large objects, and try to crush up and dirt balls (this may take a while)
3. Find your main plants for your terrarium, good places to try are Home Depot, Lows, and any local nursery, try for a few hardy strong branched ones like Ficus (Weeping Fig), Rubber plants, Jade Plants, shrubs, etc.
4. If you like pick up a few decorational plants to place around the tank (try to avoid flowering plants & if you use a ground cover keep it to a minimum so crickets have no where to hide).
5. remove the majority of soil form the roots and rinse the plant room temp water and a cloth (to help remove any pesticides). Also water the plants after they have been planted.
6. Find some pretreated wood cork bark, grape, etc. (don't grab it from outside) place this in the tank to give them something to hang out on at night (saves your plants)
.7 Line the tank with Vaseline (to keep ants out) around the bottom or top edges.
8. Slap a high powered UVA UVB light on there or preferable a plant light. As a side not your going to want to make sure your plants don't require more light than can be provided.
9. Water as needed, wipe the glass down as needed, and enjoy.
With a large enough tank 30 gal or so you almost never need to clean the substrate and when you do just stir it up, makes great fertilizer.

The set up takes time to get together but the maintenance is as simple as picking your nose.
Good luck to all, even you lazy people (just kidding)
-Eli

again, we all have our methods, but this is a special case.

you mentioned sypmathy, in my opinion a pet owner would have "sympathy" on an aimal that is already supposedly "not eating" and set this animal up in a setup where it could easily find and catch food.

i set my cresteds up as natural as i can without going to whole way, as in, i dont use soil at the bottom, i dont go heavy with decorations, but all of my setups have branches, hide spots, plants either live or plastic, they are setup very well. i have done naturalistic setups before and FOR ME they werent as practical as i wanted, and because I have read so many articles about them, and because of my own experience, i like to share my thoughts and opinions about them.

but in a special case like this, it isnt hard to see why i feel this setup may not be the best for this particular crested.

but hey, to each his own.

the only thing i prefer to do differently is to cover the soil with eco earth or bed a beast. it seems like it dries out quite a bit quicker and i like it's appearance more. i also find it easier to spot feces which is then easier to remove.

do you have anger issues?

i never said it was "better", I simply said that in my setups, my geckos are perfectly healthy in the way I have them setup, and i dont use tubs either, there isn't one time in my entire post where I said my setups were better. maybe you need to go back and read my post again before you jump to conclusions.

second, he bought a gecko from someone who clearly stated that it was not eating, and then it is put into a setup where the possibility of it not finding food is evident, and i simply suggest that for health reasons he may want to reconsider the setup, and you blast me for that too.

i am entitled to my own opinion, and IN MY OPINION, naturalistic setups can become difficult to clean because they are so elaborate, and in this case, where the gecko is already NOT EATING, i repeat, NOT EATING, it is even more of a problem since it may be difficult to find food.

again, i did not ONCE say that my setups were any better, i simply stated my methods, and why i use them. if he wants to leave his gecko is a setup like that. that is fine.

dont make up things and post them that i never even said, or jump to conclusions about what kind of hobbiest i am, please.

n/p

well, everytime someone ( you in this case) replies with the exact type of message when someone posts something about a natural set up . you come to assume they think their way is better. ( in other words, everytime someone has posted something about a natural set up you rag on it and say go with a simple set up) notice how many times in my post however i in fact agree with you. READ AGAIN... I AGREE WITH YOU.
i said several times, it is okay to voice your opinion, but let him use a natural set up if he wants to and i said, i agree with you on eating and cleaning sometimes. but if you scoop poop and turn over the substrate as rhacophile has stated the set ups are infact extremely easy to maintain. (the only grief i have had with a terrarium is crickets finding the eggs before i do)
if you throw in plenty of crickets,they will have no problem finding them. if you put your cgd in the same place, they will eventually find it and keep going back.
and try re-reading my post without a mind set that it was an angry one. this is typing here, you can't hear my voice, it is my opinion and was not intended to be snotty.

it seemed like you were getting on my case about it, if thats not the case than i apologize.

i am in no way implying that my setup is better. i just wanted to suggest that in this case, especially with a gecko that is already not eating, a natural setup may not be the best choice. another reason i always post about natural setups, is that it seems people tend to get a bit wild with their setups, they become extremely elaborate and heavily decorated. it is even suggested that around 50% of the terrarium should be fairly open to provide plenty of jumping and climbing room for rhacodactylus. i just like to keep other hobbyists aware of potential problems that could come of densely planted terrariums or heavily decorated terrariums. again, i do not mean to imply that my setups are any better, to each his own.

but it appears we see eye to eye on several things regarding these setups.

But for your concerns, I said the original owners couldn't get him to eat. Key word was "was", but I guess I wasn't completely clear on that. I didn't buy him; they gave him and his tank to me for free just because they didn't want to deal with him. I've had him for about five months now, originally put him in a much smaller cage so he could easily catch crickets. He eats crickets fine now; about every week I go through and take all the plants out (they're all still in pots) and round up escapees and give those to him by hand. He's the only lizard I have so the extra maintnence for cleaning isn't a big concern. All the substrate in the tank was from a reptile specialty store and they said its prefectly safe.

Man, what a beautiful cage setup you have there. Also, congrats on adopting an animal that another couldn't deal with. I assume it is eating well now? What are you feeding it?

As long as it is still able to eat the food you offer it, that cage should make that gecko feel right at home. Congrats!
-----
Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP

Yes, he eats fine now. The other person got him when he was very small. They didn't have a thermometer or hygrometer in the tank, or anywhere for him to hide, and would handle him way too much and bring his cage back and forth from work. After getting him, i handfed him crickets for awhile to make sure he'd eat, then he was in a plain 5 gallon tank. He's a great eater now, and eats a mix of baby food and crested gecko diet, crickets and the occasional wax worms. The cage he's in is actually pretty easy to clean; all the plants are still in pots so every week i just go through and take them out and catch any loose bugs and spot clean. It only takes 10 minutes.

Is that mulch on the bottom of your terrarium? If it is I would remove as much as possible. I would worry about it being a choking hazard. On a side note, the tank looks great.
-Eli

Nice cage

After reading the other comments and seeing several mention the concern of losing crickets in the cage it prompted me to make a comment. My own crested gecko cages, though not as elaborate do have alot of places for crickets to hide. However I don't toss my crickets lose into the cage. They all go into a 2.5" high ceramic pot. It has verticle sides instead of curved once like a typical bowl (just don't know what to call it, will see if I can get a pic of it later). Crickets can't get out, especially when they are under a 1/2" in size. Bigger crickets I just pinch one or both hind legs (for the most part they fall off after that). I rarely fine lose crickets in the cage when I clean.

I have a few natural setups myself and I just wanted to share a feeding method that I use. I just place the crickets in a open top container right into the tank. This way the crickets cant get all around the tank and in the case of my treefrog's setup drown. The geckos will soon learn that the crickets always appear in the container and will go there to eat and even wait for food when hungry. In the case of my treefrogs below they are always hungry and hang around the container whenever it is in their tank. Enjoy!

John