Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How are these things for Crestie's? I understand humidity would prolly escape easier, but could this be overcome by using a substrate that holds it better?

Would it be okay for them in general? I mean, you think they would like it and climb on it okay? Any thoughts are appreciated, Thanks in advance!

I currently have 2 of the small fresh air habitat and they are currently housing high-end crested geckos for Sundial stock. These units are very nice and cheaper than comparable cages. All I do is spray heavily in the morning and again at night. They have been in duty for 2 weeks now and I have no complaints. I actually have 2 more units coming next week to house the gargoyles I just bought. Highly recommend these.

yeah my friend uses them for his crestie they work well he uses damp peat moss as a substrate, but the crickets always breed in there which are a pain to get out. I've also read (I believe in Robbie Hamper's book) that cresties like well-ventalated cages.

Derek

Thanks =)

So they have no trouble moving in the cages or anyhting? They can climb the sides fine right?

I'm sure they can, im just overly paranoid. Spike sometimes hangs form the top of the screen in his current glass aquarium hehe.

hey JEFFREH,
its VAherper from reptilerooms,
i keep my girl in a 38 tall reptarium, she LOVES IT! The cresteds can climb all over the screen, and slo when shes shedding she rubs against it and uses the screen to help get the skin off of herself. I use ecoearth as a substrate and it really helps the humidity stay up in the high 60s all day. Also, my male has longer nails than the female does, and he ROCKETS up the side. All in all i recommend it highly! i got mine for 12$ at petco.
-richard

Thanks Richard! And everyone else who reply'd aswell!

I may catch some flack for this, but oh well. I think a lot of people but heavy importance on humidity when it just isn't necessary. A constant high humidity can actually cause problems. You want humidity to cycle, you basically want to hit a high spot and then have it gradually come down over time and then dry out for the day, too much humidity can actually cause shedding problems believe it or not, I believe Anthony can speak on this a bit better than me as I know he's mentioned it before. Im speaking for Rhac's of course, certain animals may need constant high humidity.

A lot of Green Tree Python breeders use a cycle method, where they mist well at night and over about 8 hours or so it gradually decreases as the water evaporates and then basically dries out throughout the day.

The only time I use water bowls is when I leave town, other than that I mist nightly, that's it. All of my crested and gargoyles are doing great, no shedding trouble, no dehyrdation, nothing. A lot of professional Rhac breeders use screen cages as well, they are relatively inexpensive and very easy to clean. Just take them outside and hose them off.

Hope that helps!
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RhacRoom.com An Online Rhacodactylus Community
www.rhacroom.com

i was just about to post something of this nature. the only thing i would like to add to is what was mentioned about using the substrate to keep humidity up. while eco earth, peat moss, bed-a-beast all do this. it is a BAD idea to keep it saturated or very moist for a very long period of time. if you are going to do this, you should frequently turn it over to " aerate" it. otherwise you may end up with a soggy, smelly enclosure in no time flat. i spray once each night, and more if the surface of the substrate has dried out by the next night. good airflow the the enclosure is a must.

I also only spray once each night, I am aware of the possibilities of bacteria growth and all that nasty stuff. I guess my Q was, will the humidity escape too quickly or will he even be able to have humidity at all with the all screen enclosure. Now that I know they are okay, I'm not worried. Thanks for the help everyone, very much appreciated =)

if the cage dries out too quickly, or the humidity isn't high enough, you could consider covering the back, sides, or both with a clear plastic like a drop cloth or something. that is what i would do if that was an issue where i live.

Hello there,

I'm all for having less to clean out and we all know how the crickets love the water bowl. (At our house we're thinking of just calling them 'cricket suicide pools' instead of 'water bowls')

*BUT*

The thing that has been stopping me from removing them has been the thought that it may make it easier for the cresteds to catch something from one another. I thought I read something to that effect somewhere...

I'd love to have Randy's advice here, he'd know more about this kind of stuff than most of us (certainly me at any rate).
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Toni

1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.1.0 Giant African Millipedes - Vanilla, Millie
3.1.2 Crested Geckos - Hoolie, Allanon, Silth, Big Mama, Wind & Moonbeam
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

im pretty sure you wont see your cresteds eating dead crickets out of the water bowl.
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RhacRoom.com An Online Rhacodactylus Community
www.rhacroom.com

No, sorry, that's not what I meant. I can't imagine that they would do that either! Although last night we did have one of our juvies 'rescue' one from the water bowl... I'm sure the cricket didn't appreciate it much! LOL
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Toni

1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.1.0 Giant African Millipedes - Vanilla, Millie
3.1.2 Crested Geckos - Hoolie, Allanon, Silth, Big Mama, Wind & Moonbeam
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

is the point you're trying to make that the cresteds will be licking objects in the enclosure which could lead to the spread of a disease or illness? because either way when you spray the cage they are going to lick fake leaves, glass, rocks, sticks etc. if one crested has something to share with another crested, it will likely get it either way i would imagine.

n/p
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Toni

1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.1.0 Giant African Millipedes - Vanilla, Millie
3.1.2 Crested Geckos - Hoolie, Allanon, Silth, Big Mama, Wind & Moonbeam
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

in my larger cage, where it stays reasonably humid anyways, and i have 3 cresteds housed together, i have a water bowl. as a solution for the "cricket suicide", you could perhaps leave a small stick that just sticks into the water as well as over the edge of the bowl, giving them an escape route - this has worked quite well for me.

In the smaller cages where i house juveniles and babies, i spray everynight and they have been doing just fine, i just dont find it feasible to change/keep a water dish in the smaller enclosures, but yes its definately not a proplem to go with no bowl and spray them. With my larger lizards, i just simply like the ability to have them get it when they want as well as it being a nice gathering spot at night for me to observe them.

hope this helps Andrew Ellis

In ideal conditions misting should not be used in species that can readily use bowls and when it is, cleanliness can’t be stressed enough.

The reasoning for not misting is simple – in a captive situation animals live in a closed system and through consuming their own fecal matter via the contaminated water, counts of pathogenic organisms can reach intolerable levels. Some reptiles harbor potential pathogens like coccidia without any outward signs, so long as their numbers are kept low.

But of course misting can work when the cages are clean and no one has a serious communicable condition. We provide water in small disposable condiment cups…
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-Randy May
www.neoscales.com
Email Me

I don't know you personally - obviously - but from reading your posts and website I thought your input would be valuable. So you guys don't mist at all?
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Toni

1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.1.0 Giant African Millipedes - Vanilla, Millie
3.1.2 Crested Geckos - Hoolie, Allanon, Silth, Big Mama, Wind & Moonbeam
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

We are misting a little, when we have just cleaned the cages. Otherwise we provide several small drinking bowls.

During the winter not misting meant that humidity was a [bleep] to keep up. Even with a room humidifier, we still had the occasional “crispy tail tip” on young specimens. So we did opt to go back to a limited misting routine.
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-Randy May
www.neoscales.com
Email Me

I've been debating acquiring some rhacs, and I live in a semi-arid region where the humidity can range from 30 to 60%. I also keep leos, so don't want to humidify the entire reptile room...would you recommend one of those foggers to keep humidity levels up, rather than misting? It seems that they would be less likely to cause dripping that could spread bacteria around. I would probably go with a mesh cage and plastic over 3 sides.
Do you think this would provide sufficient humidity?

They have no problems moving that I've seen. All but two of mine are in screen type cages. One of mine never seems to walk on the ground in hers. She even grabs crickets off of the sides or top when they climb. I think they look better than tanks, but that's my opinion. I've seen some really nice tank setups too, but these just work for me.
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-Idiotshot
3.2.4 Crested Geckos (Marty, Skitz, Flip, Houdini, Domino, Tongues, Peep, Chomps, Siren)
2.1 Ball Pythons (Oedipus, Achilles, Tempest)
0.2 Spotted Pythons (Spots, Echo)

I only use water bowls in my baby crested enclosures ( i use the tops of babyfood containers) my adults due fine with me just misting the cage at night. If you want to stop the crickets from drowning put those plastic aquarium filter balls in your water bowl and your crickets can just climb ontop of those. (sorry anthony didn't mean to steal your idea)

Derek