Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all. I've been keeping snakes for 12 years, but am thinking about getting into a gecko of some sort. A friend had a pair of crested geckos, and they were really great. Anyways, I've got free space for a 12x12x18 enclosure, and was considering a Crested gecko (Rhacodactylus ciliatus) , Panther gecko (Paroedura picta), Tokay Gecko (Gekko gekko) or Tibetan Frog Eyed gecko (Teratoscincus roborowski).

I've heard in research that Crested geckos can be maintained entirely on crested gecko diet, the commercially available product. Baby food and insects can be used for variety. With every other species of gecko, mention is made only of insect feeding, it seems. The ability to, if needed, primarily use a prepared food is a big advantage for me and my schedule/space.

That said, can one keep, with the same amount of success, any of these other species- panther, tokay, tibetan frog eyed, with a similar product or perhaps even with crested gecko diet itself? or in combination with baby food, limiting insects to about once a week? are the nutritional requirements of every such gecko relevantly different?

I also think tokay geckos might very likely be too large for the 12x12x18. confirm?

thanks for your time/help.
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-Chris
cdohna.googlepages.com
1.0.0 WC SD Gopher Snake, Max
1.0.0 CB Albino Banded Cal King, Manny
0.1.0 CB BRB, Mucalinda
0.1.0 CB BP, Maya

I can't speak with authority about the other species, but that enclosure is smaller than recommended for an adult crested (it's equivalent to 11 gallons, and 20 plus is recommended), so it'd also be too small for a tokay, as they larger.

My crested lives in a 10 gallon with a metal mesh topper that extends it to about 20 gallons, and she does well in that, but we fairly frequently talk about how we'd like to get her a larger enclosure when/if the budget allows for it. The 18x18x24 exo-terra cage is one option we've considered pretty seriously (roughly 34 gallons). Anyway, the point is that you could house a crested in that 12x12x18 while it was a juvenile, but you'd eventually need to upgrade it to a larger cage, and I'd guess that the same would be true of most arboreal geckos.
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0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko - Tigger
0.1 Crested Gecko - Pooh-Bear

There are some other geckos that can be maintained on the CGD, with occasional insects. It was worked well with most Phelsuma (day gecko) species. I almost acquired a golden gecko a bit ago, which are related to Tokay geckos, and on the Repashy reptiles forum the general consensus was that it would probably be alright, but also since it really hasn't been tried before the gecko should be monitored carefully.

Your 12x12x18 will probably be alright for a bit for a juvenile crested gecko or tokay, but eventually you will need something bigger as suggested.