Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi!
Thanks for the advice you all have shared so far. We will be getting our gecko next week. I have a few questions:

We put in too much water! I was worried about the bare root plants getting enough down in the gravel layer but now the top layer is almost mucky. How can I get it out?

The temp is ranging from 58-70 degrees. This seems a bit cold. Should I get a special lightbulb or something for the winter?

We are going on vacation a week after we get our crestie. Would it be better to make him a travel cage and bring him (or her) with us or throw a bunch of crickets in there and have the pet sitter check on him? I hate to leave him alone, we will be gone a week.

Thanks!

My first time posting a photo-hope it works

Dang! It worked on the test page!

i would set up a little fan or something and take the top off of that cage. if you have a relatively enclosed top i would get a different one that will allow it to ventilate better or you will have mold growth issues and possibly respiratory issues with your gecko.
other than that it looks pretty good. let the substrate dry out on top, and then mix it in with the wetter stuff and do that for a few days until it dries out. the gecko will not dig down unless if it is going to lay eggs ( which is obviously isn't going to do for quite some time, assuming it turns out to be female)
your pet sitter should be fine with it, just make sure they know all of the care requirements for it.
i would try putting on a couple of 20 watt or a 40 watt red bulb if you're going to try to add something to heat the cage. ideally it should be between 65-80 degrees.
glad you're doing this all before you got your gecko so you can get it all figured out good work!

Thanks! The top is actually a screen thing with two handholes on top, not the glass kind we had with our fish. The pet store guy said it would work.

Do they sell warming bulbs that would fit in my fixture? I'm not getting where to put the 20-40 watt bulb you mentioned. Is there a little light you can buy and set on top of the screen?

if you are using a flourescent fixture than there really aren't any heat bulbs you could put in it. most people just use a dome style light ( often found in home improvement/construction type stores, lowes, home depot etc.) and just put a blue light for day, or red light for night ( or red for always )
otherwise there are fixtures that look similar to the flourescent type that have like 6 inch long bulbs that thread in on either side so there are two lights.