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Crested Gecko please help asap

edextraze321 Jun 26, 2005 12:51 PM

I am considering buying a crested gecko because i heard it is the best gecko for handling and very easy to care for. I have read a lot on the caresheets, forums and online but still have some questions. If you could please halp i would greatly appreciate it.
I had a Chinese water dragon before which recently died for unknown reasons and i want to make sure i can properly house a crested gecko without any problems.
1)How do i tell if the humidity in the tank is right i heard around 50-65% but i have no way to tell and maintain that humidity in my 10g or 20gH tank.
2)Are these very fast lizards, so that if i am holding it and it gets away it will run like hell and take off on me like my younger brothers leapord gecko
3)How should i set-up my tank and what are the best things to include (plants, substrate, moss, and all of the things needed in the tank to keep the lizard).
4) also i do not have a flourescent light except for if i use the fish tank light on my 20g high so is it alright to use a 60w incandescent on a 10 gallon if i decide to use that tank and switch to the 20 gallon later on.

Replies (3)

edextraze321 Jun 27, 2005 10:43 AM

I haven't gotten any feedback and would really appreciate it do you guys not no the answers or just not feel like replying to me i don't know why but some posts people get help from so many people yet i haven't gotten a single reply

ferndalezoo Jul 05, 2005 10:49 AM

I'm sorry. I missed this earlier. Many cresties can be handled. Personally, we have 2, and the female is not terribly handleable. I think she thinks she's part Tokay or something. If your home stays in the 70's (temps), you don't need an external heat source. You can keep a single crestie in a 20ga TALL tank (or better, get a 20 long and set it up on end). A pair (females, please) can live in a 30ga. We keep our pair in a 30ga up on end. For babies, you're going to want an easy substrate like paper towels. For older animals, you can use something like Bed-A-Beast for a more natural look. They are arboreal creatures, and need lots of room to climb and places to hide. They don't need UVB, but you can use it if you'd like, and it can help the colours "pop" for the more heavily patterned animals. We feed a combination of live prey (mostly crickets) and the diet found HERE.
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PaReptileRampage Jul 31, 2005 04:02 PM

Ok, to help you out a bit with your Cresteds, I will give you hints and pointers to help you keep healthy little guys. The type of tank I first started was a 20 gallon high tank with a screen top. Since these guys like it cooler than 80 degrees and a little higher than 50 degrees. The type of substrate varies between owner to owner, but white paper towels are the easiest thing to use in my book. Its fast to clean, easy to replace and doesn't get swallowed when the geckos bite it by accident. Humidity can be maintained with frequent mistings and a live Pothos Plant. Keeping with the Pothos Plant, make the tank a more vertical setup. Bamboo sticks used to keep tomato plants straight are cheap and great to use, and I also use fake vines for climbing. My 3 Cresteds are in a 55 gallon tall hexagon tank with a screen top, live pothos plant, weighted drift wood, 5 long pieces of bamboo that get close to the top of the tank, 10' of Flukers vines and some live grapevine. For food, I feed them nightly with 1/2" crickets coated with calicum powder on them. If any are left over I skip a night of feeding. I used to use baby food as a treat but watch it carefully. The babyfood can go bad by morning and crickets can fall in and die. You can keep the geckos together as long as they have enough space to live apart if you find out you have 2 males that fight. I got lucky and bought 3 geckos from my old job at Petco for $40 a piece and ended up getting 1 male and 2 females. Have fun with the little guys, they love to jump and crawl all over. Watch the lid because the little guys are good at escaping.

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