Crested gecko resources?

[Doodlebird]

I've never had any reptiles, but a crested gecko has been a dream pet of mine for a while. My Mom's friend recently posted on Facebook that they are looking to give away theirs. I'm very tempted but want to make sure I can provide everything it needs. What are some good sites for created gecko husbandry?

 

[BoyFromLA]

Maybe this? Check the 2nd reply.

Crested and Gargoyle gecko forums

Does anyone have any suggestions for the best crested and/or gargoyle gecko online forums to follow/join (not Facebook)? I can't seem to find the Arachnoboards equivalent for these animals. Makes me really appreciate arachnoboards. Thank you!

arachnoboards.com

 

[Poonjab]

They are super easy to care for. Don’t need high temps, just pay attention to humidity and feed a paste. Set up arboreal.

 

[viper69]

I've never had any reptiles, but a crested gecko has been a dream pet of mine for a while. My Mom's friend recently posted on Facebook that they are looking to give away theirs. I'm very tempted but want to make sure I can provide everything it needs. What are some good sites for created gecko husbandry?

There’s a forum for these, hit up google.

 

[Doodlebird]

There’s a forum for these, hit up google.

Thanks! I asked the people on AB because I see some conflicting information, and I want to give it the best care possible is I decided to get one.

 

[viper69]

Thanks! I asked the people on AB because I see some conflicting information, and I want to give it the best care possible is I decided to get one.

I did all the research when I owned them. Contact breeders too

 

[Doodlebird]

Update: just checked out the gecko and I honestly have no idea how he is alive. He's in a 12 gallon enclosure with some plastic plants thrown in at the bottom, a heat lamp that melted the top of the enclosure and has been living on purely the gecko powder mix for five years with no insects or fruit or anything.... I'm tempted to go for it to get him out of that situation, but I'm going to do some more research first.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Just FYI -- 'purely the gecko powder mix' is indeed fine (so long as it is a stand-alone mix like 'Pangea with Insects').

Additional insects (dusted, of course) are good for all sorts of reasons, but fruit really isn't.

Big viv (30g plus -- ExoTerra types are much better than converted fish tanks), lots of ventilation, live plants (pathos), lots of hides (cork tubes), heavy misting each evening at lights out, warm room temp (75F). UVB is nice but should be checked with a meter which is more than most people want to invest. Live plants should be considered a necessity, "bioactive" not so much unless you like added hassle and wasted money for no benefit at all, in which case go nuts.

There aren't really any gecko forums anymore. The Pangea forum is an unmoderated wasteland. FB has wrecked so much it isn't even funny.

 

[Doodlebird]

Just FYI -- 'purely the gecko powder mix' is indeed fine (so long as it is a stand-alone mix like 'Pangea with Insects').

Additional insects (dusted, of course) are good for all sorts of reasons, but fruit really isn't.

Big viv (30g plus -- ExoTerra types are much better than converted fish tanks), lots of ventilation, live plants (pathos), lots of hides (cork tubes), heavy misting each evening at lights out, warm room temp (75F). UVB is nice but should be checked with a meter which is more than most people want to invest. Live plants should be considered a necessity, "bioactive" not so much unless you like added hassle and wasted money for no benefit at all, in which case go nuts.

There aren't really any gecko forums anymore. The Pangea forum is an unmoderated wasteland. FB has wrecked so much it isn't even funny.

Thanks! How do you change substrate when you have live plants? I've seen people recommend you change completely it every 3-4 weeks, would that mess with you plants?

 

[Malum Argenteum]

You can keep the plants in pots (you can jam pots in holes in cork, or use a cork round as a pot) with something covering the soil so that the gecko doesn't just dig them out. You can also use epiphytes like Neoregelia mounted directly to the cork. Crested geckos will shred plants, so use tough ones (Neos) or plants that grow fast enough to keep ahead of the destruction (pathos). The plants are mostly for a bit of added humidity as they transpire water during the day, and to act as drinking surfaces when you mist in the evening.

Just a thin layer of substrate (coco chips, live oak leaf litter, Jungle Mix) to catch the mess. Crested geckos don't get any real use out of substrate, so it is basically for your viewing pleasure and for poop catching. The viv should be higher than wide, and jammed full of hardscape for hiding areas, so there need not be much exposed substrate anyway. Indoor/outdoor carpet can work on the bottom, too -- get two pieces so you can swap them out for cleaning.

 

[Tarantuland]

Here’s the Viv I built for mine. I’ve only had it for a little over a month though. Pangea or repashy food is fine, mine seems to like the Pangea watermelon once. Certain fruits are good occasionally, with raspberries being the best. I gave mine a hornworm once but probably will as a treat every month or so. You can use paper towels instead of substrate at first to make sure there’s no impaction and the gecko it eating. You wanna keep them 70-78 degrees, and mist the enclosure twice a day. They may drink from a dish but many won’t. This current set up is a 12x12x12 but I plan on moving it to a 12x12x24 when he gets bigger

 

[Doodlebird]

Here’s the Viv I built for mine. I’ve only had it for a little over a month though. Pangea or repashy food is fine, mine seems to like the Pangea watermelon once. Certain fruits are good occasionally, with raspberries being the best. I gave mine a hornworm once but probably will as a treat every month or so. You can use paper towels instead of substrate at first to make sure there’s no impaction and the gecko it eating. You wanna keep them 70-78 degrees, and mist the enclosure twice a day. They may drink from a dish but many won’t. This current set up is a 12x12x12 but I plan on moving it to a 12x12x24 when he gets bigger

Your set up is really pretty! I like how natural it looks. What kind of heating do you recommend? Our house is typically between 67-80° depending on the season and time of day, so mine would need some kind of heat.

 

[Tarantuland]

Your set up is really pretty! I like how natural it looks. What kind of heating do you recommend? Our house is typically between 67-80° depending on the season and time of day, so mine would need some kind of heat.

Thank you. I’d recommend getting husbandry down before putting one in a vivarium, but you need to let it go for a few weeks or a month for plants to establish. I actually just put mine in there today.

No heating at all, 67 won’t kill them I don’t think but over 80 will.

Get a temperature gun, but if you add heat make sure you’re checking temps. If you use a bulb, go with the smallest one or 25 watt, if you use a heatpad make sure you have it plugged it into a thermostat.

if that’s your range though that’s pretty ideal, but I’d be more worried about 80 than 67. Like I said im also relatively new to keeping one.
I talked to multiple breeders- clints reptiles on YouTube, googling and reading as many threads as you can to form a solid opinion.
The forum Pangea has a lot of info but doesn’t seem to be as current, but so much really changes in 5 years in the exotics hobby. I take Reddit threads with a grain of salt. On YouTube, Go herping and wickens wicked reptiles are both typically decent IMO but i cross reference everything.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Tarantuland, I don't want to come off as overly critical, but rather give helpful suggestions.

12 x anything isn't large enough for an adult crestie. I say this having kept them in enclosures of that size, up to my current viv of a little over 100 gallons, over the course of a couple decades (I got my first in 2003 IIRC, when they were still pretty novel). A 18 x 18 x 24 was really cramped for the behavior of a pair for me, but a single gecko would probably have been fine. One major heath issue with the smaller vivs in that the gecko tends to form a habit of resting vertically, which contributes to FTS.

That leads to the next concern -- hides. Cresties prefer to hide all day, completely secluded. Once they get more comfortable in a viv, they'll sleep out a little more often, but forcing them to do so isn't good. The viv in the photos has no arboreal hiding areas. Ideally, there would be a handful of choices (high, low, at various angles) which simply isn't possible to offer in such a small space. Also, for the keepers who choose to use UVB (I do -- it is probably good for the adults, and demonstrably beneficial for younger animals in avoiding tail kinks), doing so in a viv without sufficient hides is dangerous.

Also, it isn't really possible to set up a thermal gradient in such a small viv. No, 67 won't kill them, but a hot spot in the low 80s, tapering down to 67, would be much, much more appropriate. A small (undercabinet halogen puck lights on an inline dimmer work great and are cheap) heat lamp overhead gives the gecko thermal choices. Heat mats aren't a great choice, as any heat pad that is strong enough to heat the viv in a chilly room is going to take up a big area that will be too hot for the gecko to use. It may be possible to use one under the viv, but the amount of ventilation that a crestie should have (at least 50% screen top; I run 100% screen top and 100% screen door in a room that is 50% ambient humidity) will bleed off almost all convective heat. You're right about high temps being dangerous, though -- thermal gradients in a properly large viv avoids this risk, and helps the keeper learn what the gecko prefers (offer choices; watch decisions of animal; learn what animal prefers; alter care to give better choices; repeat).

Also, I think I see a drainage layer? If so that isn't necessary and is a waste of space -- a borrowing from dart frog vivs that serves a purpose for them, but not for cresties. Way too much gets borrowed from dart frog vivs that isn't appropriate for large arboreal reptiles like cresties, or for snakes, or for some other animal that has very different captive needs than a small timid diurnal microphageous belly drinking amphibian.

Those are nice plants -- I think the Episcia is especially useful -- and will likely work for a baby crestie, but an adult would shred all but the Neo.

 

[Doodlebird]

I found this set up that I really like, is this good for a crested gecko? I think I'll make some mini ruins for the bottom, for a kind of rainforest ruins look. Can bromeliads be used with these guys? They don't grow very fast, but their leaves are pretty durable.

 

[Tarantuland]

Tarantuland, I don't want to come off as overly critical, but rather give helpful suggestions.

12 x anything isn't large enough for an adult crestie. I say this having kept them in enclosures of that size, up to my current viv of a little over 100 gallons, over the course of a couple decades (I got my first in 2003 IIRC, when they were still pretty novel). A 18 x 18 x 24 was really cramped for the behavior of a pair for me, but a single gecko would probably have been fine. One major heath issue with the smaller vivs in that the gecko tends to form a habit of resting vertically, which contributes to FTS.

That leads to the next concern -- hides. Cresties prefer to hide all day, completely secluded. Once they get more comfortable in a viv, they'll sleep out a little more often, but forcing them to do so isn't good. The viv in the photos has no arboreal hiding areas. Ideally, there would be a handful of choices (high, low, at various angles) which simply isn't possible to offer in such a small space. Also, for the keepers who choose to use UVB (I do -- it is probably good for the adults, and demonstrably beneficial for younger animals in avoiding tail kinks), doing so in a viv without sufficient hides is dangerous.

Also, it isn't really possible to set up a thermal gradient in such a small viv. No, 67 won't kill them, but a hot spot in the low 80s, tapering down to 67, would be much, much more appropriate. A small (undercabinet halogen puck lights on an inline dimmer work great and are cheap) heat lamp overhead gives the gecko thermal choices. Heat mats aren't a great choice, as any heat pad that is strong enough to heat the viv in a chilly room is going to take up a big area that will be too hot for the gecko to use. It may be possible to use one under the viv, but the amount of ventilation that a crestie should have (at least 50% screen top; I run 100% screen top and 100% screen door in a room that is 50% ambient humidity) will bleed off almost all convective heat. You're right about high temps being dangerous, though -- thermal gradients in a properly large viv avoids this risk, and helps the keeper learn what the gecko prefers (offer choices; watch decisions of animal; learn what animal prefers; alter care to give better choices; repeat).

Also, I think I see a drainage layer? If so that isn't necessary and is a waste of space -- a borrowing from dart frog vivs that serves a purpose for them, but not for cresties. Way too much gets borrowed from dart frog vivs that isn't appropriate for large arboreal reptiles like cresties, or for snakes, or for some other animal that has very different captive needs than a small timid diurnal microphageous belly drinking amphibian.

Those are nice plants -- I think the Episcia is especially useful -- and will likely work for a baby crestie, but an adult would shred all but the Neo.

Right on, I do appreciate all the tips. I agree with OP that it is a little tricky to find good info on these guys.

I’m using LED plant grow lights, not uvb right now but I will add some more vertical hides asap. That is a piece of cork tube going from the bottom to the top, not sure if you could tell in the photos. I’ll still add more hides though. I do plan on moving over to uvb at some point. I’ll also look into working out a temperature gradient.

I do have a drainage layer, but whenever i build my adult Viv I’ll look into make it a larger size than I had planned and leaving all that out. My guy is just a hatchling right now though.

 

[Doodlebird]

my guy is just a hatchling right now though.

Would you mind sharing a photo of him? No particular reason, I just love little baby reptiles

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I found this set up that I really like, is this good for a crested gecko? I think I'll make some mini ruins for the bottom, for a kind of rainforest ruins look. Can bromeliads be used with these guys? They don't grow very fast, but their leaves are pretty durable.

That's not bad. The tillandsias are a weird choice, as they aren't usable by the geckos. Neoregelia would be a better (and easier to care for, from what I"ve read) brom. The driftwood would be more functional if it were a cork round with an inside diameter the gecko could fit in comfortably, and ditto for the viney things.

Rather than how it looks to human eyes, consider the needs of the animal (whatever the animal). How does it move? How does it drink? How does it sleep? What light level does it prefer? Does it want you to see it? How deep into the brambles would it prefer, given all the brambles in the world? How is it going to catch prey in the viv? What are its health risks, and how can you minimize (eliminate?) those risks with smart viv design?

The best crestie setups, like the best T setups, are visually ugly.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I will add some more vertical hides asap

If it is forced to sleep vertically, it will usually sleep head-down, which contributes to FTS. Horizontal hides are required.

 

[Tarantuland]

If it is forced to sleep vertically, it will usually sleep head-down, which contributes to FTS. Horizontal hides are required.

Gotcha. Thankfully that piece isn't hardscaped so I will recongifure it