Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi - I hope someone can give me some advice. I purchased my son (more or less mine) a crested gecko last week, our first reptile! He is very cool, green and kind of tiger striped!! I did a lot of reading and got lots of info ahead of time and we are getting there, except I can not keep up the humidity level of the cage over 55% - I am misting it constantly, and the terrarium is therefore always moist. I had to add a heat lamp since I keep my house cool, and with winter being so cold here it was hovering around 65 - 70F. I now have the day time temp at about 76 but the humidity drops quickly back to low 50's.What am I doing wrong, how can I keep some humudity in the cage. I have bark substate, and covered part of the cage with plastic. I added some moss last night to no avail. Any info would be much appreciated. And do they have a small appetite, or is he just getting used to the new surroundings because he doesn't seem to eat much at all. Thanks

There's a couple of things you could try to help with the humidity:

Substrate of bark mixed with peat moss or coconut fiber helps hold moisture. I have gone from bark/fiber mix to pure coco fiber, that way the crickets can't hide as well.

Live plants help raise the humidity, some pothos or sanseveria are good and sturdy.

You could also try an automatic misting system or a drip system. The drip buckets are pretty inexpensive, around 10 bucks, or you could make your own if you're so inclined. Auto misters start at around 50 bucks and go up from there.

I have trouble with my humidity as well, even with twice a day heavy misting, the humidity will drop to about 40% between mistings. That being said, I haven't had any bad sheds so far.

As for appetite, they are generally pretty big eaters, especially juveniles. How long has he been in his new location? What are you feeding him? My juvi ignored crickets when I first got him, but ate Crested Gecko Diet readily. My daughter's, which I got at the same time, was the exact opposite. Now mine prefers live food over CG Diet (he just ate 5 silkworms out of my hand, the little pig). Give him time to acclimate, try a variety of different food items, eventually he should start eating.

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Chris

1.0.1 Coleonyx variegatus
1.0.0 Gekko vittatus
0.1.0 Eublepharis macularius
0.0.2 Rhacodactylus ciliatus

Terrestrial? Who you calling terrestrial?!!

Thanks you so much for your advice - its nice to hear from people who are actually taking care of their own. I have had so many other animals - this is all new territory for me - just don't want to end up hurting him. I have been offering him apricot baby food with crested gecko diet mixed in - he will easily eat it off my finger - can't tell if he's eating it from the dish though - offering that every night since it doesn't seem that he eats much and a few crickets every 3rd night - most are still there in a.m. - at least 1 of 3 this a.m. - can't see others yet. He's 7mos so I'm assuming his belly isn't very large to fill up. Do you use a heat lamp at all? - if I don't it drops to low 60's (have been turning it off at night) with light maintains 76 during the day. They really do grow on you!!

Many people think that cresteds need to be kept super humid. This is a big misconception. Moist enviroments will harbor mold which can be detrimental to your animals health. My house averages approx. 41% humidity. I rarely mist my adult and subadult cresteds and have yet to see a shedding problem. I lightly mist my juvie cresteds once a day in the evening. You will notice that most crested keepers have adopted this misting schedule. You should probably post any further crested gecko questions in the Rhacodactylus forum on this site as it will yeild more responses.

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