Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, this is my first lizard. Needless to say i am a little intimidated. i got some advice from my friend who sold me him (who works at a reptile store) and this is my set up

Medium sized Exoterra tank
large pebble layer covered in water
Inch layer of coconut husk
Inch layer of aquarium moss
2 shoots of bamboo
sheet of cork bark
some fake leaves hanging on the walls

i was told to spray once or twice a day
feed once a week, 4 week old crickets, about 3 dollars worth.

i wanted to cross reference my information with some people who are familar with this breed specificly. She has a Flame crested? gecko. But not a Satanic. Also, i have seen pictures of some on here with red eyes. She told me the eyes change colour with maturity, but i also read they they change only at night when they are active...
can anyone clarify?

unfortunately, i think you might have chosen the wrong lizard to purchase as your first. while they are no doubt cool looking, satanics are extremely touching and unforgiving for any ignorance. your setup seems alright, but your description seems a little vague, and pics work best to point out things to work on. i have noticed eye color to change with maturity, but thats the difference between those a couple days old versus those several months or older. make daily mistings EVERY night after the lights go out, a decent spray that covers the whole enclosure, but doesnt bog everything down or too light so it dries up in a few minutes. watch for mold growth as well. feeding "three dollars worth" of crickets is one of those things that is too vague to tell. i would recommend small to medium sized crickets, so they go down easily. dust them with calcium/vitamin dust. feeding once a week isnt going to work forever, unless you allow the crickets to free roam. i would make sure at least one or two crickets are eaten every 2 to 3 days. and i would also recommend not purchasing another one of these until you have had this one a good while. also, keep the temperature cool, do not exceed 80 F. the best temp would be 70 to 72 F. good luck, and get back with some better details about your enclosure, if you dont mind.

Wow, wish I could help.
We just got a Crested as our first "lizard" which was quickly followed by a bearded dragon. I know our local herp only store had a note saying they would not be carrying any satanics due to their fragile nature, but do get in other varieties of leaf tails. That just sounds like a really hard choice for your first time. I wish you the best of luck!

-Bonnie

PS- the once a week does not sound like enough food/often enough. We feed the Crested every other day crickets and then the baby food/CGD in between