Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying to combine a helpful "Basic Care Guide" for Crested Geckos to display on the Neoscales website. So far I've got the absolute basics for care, but now I'm wondering what FAQs would be the most beneficial for people? Because there is a high number of newbies and experienced breeders alike residing here, I figured it would be a great place for feedback.

Suggestions?
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www.neoscales.com

post what you've got so far so we know what you have and can make suggestions. good idea too though, this way we have a place to send people when they have basic questions.

..the idea isn't to critique the FAQ so far. The request is for people to put up the overall basic topics they feel are commonly asked and important to include. Consider this juncture a brainstorming session rather than a first draft.
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-Randy May
www.neoscales.com
Email Me

the reason i said that is so everyone doesn't come up with ideas that you guys are already going to put on the site. i understand that it would back your ideas up and such, but if you are already going to put it in the info section then why should we repeat it?

Let me just start over by saying: "Any and all questions someone thinks a newbie (newbs, feel free to pip up with your questions!) would ask." I haven't yet begun work on the FAQ section simply because I thought a better gauge of what useful information to include would come from here.

Sorry for making this difficult from the beginning, I guess two extra minutes of my time could have been allotted for better clarity.

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www.neoscales.com

Disclaimer ...Ok I wrote this to be helpful but I also tried to be a little funny as well. Hopefully everyone can laugh but the basic questions should be useful for the website. I understand we are all newbies once and trust me Ive still got lots of questions about breeding myself. If anyone fails to see the humor then let me try this...No offense but....

These are the ones I have seen many many times till the pros (Which I unfortunatly am not) eyes begin to bleed.

1. Ive had my crested 1 hour ,1 day,or 2 days and havent seen him eat ,How do I get him to eat ?

2. My crested Gecko doesnt like CGD he only eats crickets dipped in rich swiss choclate . Or Gourmet baby food baked by a chef. How do I get him to eat CGD Ive tried twice this afternoon.

3. I mist the cage (pick a number from 1-10) times a day but cant keep the humidity at a constant 75% How do I do it?

4. I want to breed cresteds how do I introduce the pair .
PS dont suggest dinner and a movie it didnt work

5. How do I know they are a pair?PS I stared at his underside with a magnifying glas till something white came out and he licked it what was that?

6. Mine weigh 10 grs ,I know you recommend 30-35 grs before breeding them .Will it really be a bad thing if I start now?

7. If it is a bad thing afterall what will make them fat so I can breed them ?

8. Housing screen vs glass all aspects

9.Housing --size per gecko. *** Note pros talk in inches but newbies ask in gallons

10. and the top ten newbie crested question of all time
''where can I get a BRIGHT RED DALMATION FIRE HARLEY PINSTRIPED FEMALE ready to breed for about 20 dollars?

11. Runner up question ..what morph is this?

n/p

Had to laugh at that! I do appreciate you guys helping us newbies along. One day I hope to reciprocate by handling the newbie questions when I know more than I do now... BUT for now, as one of the resident newbies I'll let you know some of the things I would love to see in a FAQ - other then what's already been put forth:

A "growth chart" sort of thing - for those of you with kids, remember how you'd get that chart from the pediatrician every month when the baby was in for his/her check up? There was a median/'normal' line of growth graphed on there and then your child's progress was plotted along the graph as well. It was helpful even though most kids are not along that 'normal' line to see if the growth of your child was progressing along the same sort of path.

Something along the same lines as this has been suggested, but how about some enclosure pictures? Maybe a basic setup and a naturalistic setup? With dimensions? And a listing of everything needed to set it up? And the things you'll most likely want to help take care of your pet - a scale, temp gun, whatever...

The genetics thing mentioned was interesting, but I'm guessing also that it'll be WAY more complicated than can be covered in a FAQ - maybe somebody can offer a course? (I'm only half kidding here...)

Following my post a few threads down - what to look for when you get a Crestie? When we got ours we at least had enough general herp knowledge to help us see that some of the ones being offered for sale were not in good shape. Luckily we ran into Robbie Hamper whose animals seemed to be healthy.

A list of what 'normal' behavior is like.

How to convert your animal over to CGD, how often to feed crickets (if at all) and what to dust and/or gutload them with.

One other thing... I'm sure you guys are all aware that the most accessible places for people to get their hands on a reptile pet are also the most notoriously misinformed about how to care for them. Crested Geckos have many qualities that will appeal to people who normally wouldn't want to get involved with reptiles and as such the number of newbies even LESS informed than I is going to be growing exponentially. Sara and Randy, this FAQ list you are thinking of putting together can really help out. People who find it and this forum will be trying to do the best for their pet, and many will have discovered that the information given to them from the pet store will have been very wrong - they are going to want to question EVERYTHING. I don't know how much I can do to help, but let me know if there is anything I can do - maybe I can help newbie-proof it for you

Just my 2 cents...

Toni
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1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.2.0 Giant African Millipedes - Cocoa, Vanilla, Millie
1.0.0 Crested Gecko - Hoolie
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

Thanks for some great ideas! I didn’t even think to include some tools to have, like the scale and heat gun, definitely have to include those.

Genetics are for sure more involved and don’t follow any sort of “het for this, het for that” guidelines; maybe I can request some of Anthony’s wisdom on that one.

Never even thought of “what to look for in a Crested” either; thanks for coming up with some good stuff to get my brain moving. So far this topic has garnered some constructive and even entertaining ideas.
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www.neoscales.com

Nobody ever answered when I asked the one about the $20 pinstripe

Those were great! My favorite has *got* to be this one: "6. Mine weigh 10 grs ,I know you recommend 30-35 grs before breeding them .Will it really be a bad thing if I start now?
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www.neoscales.com

I've got one to add to the list.

12. My gecko will not eat turkey babyfood on his own, so I have to force feed it to him. He craps on me every time I do this. Does this mean he doesn't like it? Should I try ham baby food instead?

>>Disclaimer ...Ok I wrote this to be helpful but I also tried to be a little funny as well. Hopefully everyone can laugh but the basic questions should be useful for the website. I understand we are all newbies once and trust me Ive still got lots of questions about breeding myself. If anyone fails to see the humor then let me try this...No offense but....
>>
>>
>>These are the ones I have seen many many times till the pros (Which I unfortunatly am not) eyes begin to bleed.
>>
>>
>>1. Ive had my crested 1 hour ,1 day,or 2 days and havent seen him eat ,How do I get him to eat ?
>>
>>2. My crested Gecko doesnt like CGD he only eats crickets dipped in rich swiss choclate . Or Gourmet baby food baked by a chef. How do I get him to eat CGD Ive tried twice this afternoon.
>>
>>3. I mist the cage (pick a number from 1-10) times a day but cant keep the humidity at a constant 75% How do I do it?
>>
>>4. I want to breed cresteds how do I introduce the pair .
>>PS dont suggest dinner and a movie it didnt work
>>
>>5. How do I know they are a pair?PS I stared at his underside with a magnifying glas till something white came out and he licked it what was that?
>>
>>6. Mine weigh 10 grs ,I know you recommend 30-35 grs before breeding them .Will it really be a bad thing if I start now?
>>
>>7. If it is a bad thing afterall what will make them fat so I can breed them ?
>>
>>8. Housing screen vs glass all aspects
>>
>>9.Housing --size per gecko. *** Note pros talk in inches but newbies ask in gallons
>>
>>10. and the top ten newbie crested question of all time
>>''where can I get a BRIGHT RED DALMATION FIRE HARLEY PINSTRIPED FEMALE ready to breed for about 20 dollars?
>>
>>11. Runner up question ..what morph is this?
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Anthony Caponetto
www.ACreptiles.com

n/t

From what i read on here, i think that there tends to be alot of misunderstanding/misconceptions about cage size, and what is appropraite/acceptable. People on this forum have tended to ask how large (ie for breeding colonies) and how small (babies and juvies) of a cage is appropraite for thier gecko(s).
If i think of anything else ill post it

Andrew Ellis

seems like there's quite a few questions about keeping males together etc. you may want to emphasize how they seem very docile but when males are introduced to eachother they fight, and same for mating with females.
another would be keeping geckos of different sizes in the same enclosure.

I think something useful would be a basic intro to crested genetics. I know that there is not much knowledge on the subject but there has to be a general idea and pattern that all of the experts that do frequent this forum could add. From what I have heard and understood it sounds like crested genetics kind of hits around the same for the human eye... multiple spots for color and distribution of coloration. I think it would be great if those who have had a lot of experience to help us newbies get a little idea of where to start with our collections. Example... I only have one crested that is a fire (orange and brown) what would some random matchings make. I don't know, maybe I am shooting a little high for a FAQ since most answers should be pretty short. Just my thoughts. By the way, I really enjoy reading this forum, as it helps supplement the information that I have read in Rhac books with practical experience. Not speaking facetiously at all, you guys are great. Thanks

Bryan