Hedorah99's Crested Geckos

[Hedorah99]

Finally got some decent pics of the little buggers. Enjoy!

Enjoy.

 

[Gigas]

Lol eyelashes ^.^ they look so kwel... do tthey mind being handdled, do they bark?

 

[Hedorah99]

They don't like being handled but will tolerate it. i move them to seperate containers to feed them. they are housed individually but eat roach nymphs and I don't want them getting in the soil. they do not mind it and generally know whats up when they are in the bins. they have not vocalized yet but they are all pretty young.

 

[Hoosier]

Do they need heaters? Do you think they'd do well at a room temp of 60-65 in the winter?

 

[MindUtopia]

I love them!!!! You are so gonna get me in trouble because now I want geckos and it's all your fault. ;P Seriously though, very cute! But they make noise? I had no idea. Maybe that's a good reason not to get any: it may be a little harder to lie about the critters in your closet to the building manager when something in the closet is making noise!

 

[Hedorah99]

Do they need heaters? Do you think they'd do well at a room temp of 60-65 in the winter?

60-65 may be pushing it. they don't like temps higher than 80. i keep mine at 75. i am just heating the whole room. any critters that need additional heat i just use a low wattage bulb.

 

[Hedorah99]

I love them!!!! You are so gonna get me in trouble because now I want geckos and it's all your fault. ;P Seriously though, very cute! But they make noise? I had no idea. Maybe that's a good reason not to get any: it may be a little harder to lie about the critters in your closet to the building manager when something in the closet is making noise!

I have heard the males can vocalize when looking for a mate. i dunno if this is true.

 

[GailC]

I love your grey one, what does it fire up to? is that it in the last picture? I must find my cream tiger a mate like that.

 

[Hedorah99]

It gets a pretty deep red sometimes. most of the time it is pretty white. that is it in the last picture. he's my big male.

 

[Hedorah99]

New female

Thsi is a female i bought for $35 at a local petstore. I was hanging out inside talking to the manager when someone wanted to sell some geckos, crested and leopard. All the leopards had either cryptosporidium really badly or were blowing bubbles through their noses. While inspecting the female crested gecko he had, its tail fell off in the clerks hand. She was so malnourished it was not funny. They wound up buying the crested because its tail fell off, but they couldn't take the leopards. This is the female after a month of gorging on baby food and crickets.

And for good measure here is my female Chinese Leopard gecko. her tail is growing back nicely. Will hopefully get some eggs from these guys in a few months

 

[Mr.Scorpion]

They don't like being handled but will tolerate it. i move them to seperate containers to feed them. they are housed individually but eat roach nymphs and I don't want them getting in the soil. they do not mind it and generally know whats up when they are in the bins. they have not vocalized yet but they are all pretty young.

What? Most are pretty neutral about handling in my expierience. Everytime I opened the cage's lid, the gecko would jump out of the cage and cling to my shirt until I gave her some baby food. There was another that would hop on to my hand while I was dfoing maintenace and it refused to detach until I had to manually move her. BTW, Awesome pictures!

 

[Meaningless End]

heres a few pics of my little guys... cresteds rock........ its true.

 

[AneesasMuse]

Very nice Cresteds, everyone! Here's my gang... well, most of them. I have some new additions along with new pc problems preventing pics to upload

L'il Abner recently. He'll be a year 12/08

L'il Abner when I first got him in July

Sara'ah is one of my hatchlings from early September

This is Nazeem... hatched late September and has a new home now

Malika was one of my first hatchlings on my own... in July

Lucky II is one of my first geckos ever... still a baby, hatched in June

Kurta is one of my favorite babies... the personality is awesome!

Khamees is Kurta's clutch mate... love this baby, yet still let it go home with a good friend. They're from late July.

Little Faizal... same age as Sara'ah and hasn't grown much. All the hand feeding and special attention is making this little one a fast favorite.

This is Chanceux Cils, aka. Crunch... she started the Crested Craze. She hatched in June and I got her at 4 weeks old. She's not changed at all and this pic is no where near fired up.

Making her debut...

Bilal is Malika's clutch mate and this pic says it all... he has the attitude of a dragon LOL Fired up, he's a beautiful chocolate with some flames and this guy has monster crests!

Amra is Nazeem's clutchmate and definitely a favorite from the moment she peeked at me from the incubator.

A random and blurry pic of L'il Abner and Flip feasting on fresh Black Mission Figs... their all time favorite fruit!

Crunch and Lucky II when I first got them... little dinky dolls there

My Flip guy... he's come a long way from FTS to 100% recovery! He'll be a year in a few days... 11/22/05 This is the guy that launches himself onto my forehead every time I open his enclosure. Hahaha!!

Big Poppa Lucky... LuckyII, Malika and Bilal, Amra and Nazeem's daddy

Betsy... Mom to Lucky's chirren

I just acquired the last two and don't have any of my own pics of them. These are from the previous owner. Almost all of my recent photos are by a dear friend that does awesome photography, and she still thinks she's an amateur.

These pics are still missing two of my other dalmation kiddos... Spot and little Yabissa. I think I got everyone... I have 14 Cresteds in total and may be getting another adult male and Spot's mate, Val, pretty soon.

Enjoy!

 

[Mushroom Spore]

What's owning a crested like? Obviously anyone can look up caresheets and learn how it's done, I mean the day-to-day stuff. *Do* they make noise? I saw someone mention barking. :?

In general, how spazzy are they? If you open the enclosure or let one sit on your hand, what are the odds it will suddenly launch itself onto the wall or ceiling? I'm only 5'1", I'd have a problem. Though I guess they can probably be lured back down with fruit bits or something. (Unlike my blasted Ts...if my C. cyaneopubescens ever gets out of her enclosure, I'll never catch her, she's nuts.)

I'm a college student in a two-room apartment, I've already got four tarantulas and a ball python, but I think once I get a steady job alongside school, I might look at adding a lizard to the collection. It's down to crested or leopard gecko, or a blue-tongued skink. Obviously some options will need more time, money, and space than others.

How well do cresteds travel? Are they as commonly shipped in the hobby as other reptiles? If I were to put one in a properly ventilated rubbermaid with some substrate and kept it out of direct sunlight, could I just take one in the car with me if I had to go on a prolonged visit to the parents? The snake and the spiders can be left alone for a week or so at a time, but I figure these guys would need to eat more often (and their food would rot if left unsupervised).

 

[AneesasMuse]

A day in the life of one of my Cresteds...

They live in various types of KK's or glass tanks converted to vivariums with live and fake plants, paper bottoms or hydroton and coir bottoms (depending on age of gecko inhabitant), branches at various angles and a water dish (that most will never use, but it's there just in case).
First thing in the morning, I mist everyone's enclosure to the point of water dripping off the plants, etc. They like moving water.
I turn on the UVB and flourescents cuz in my experience, the lights help with the calcium issues. This is not the case for everyone, though, and much debate may ensue after mentioning this... but it works for me and the geckos.
My room is kept basically at 75 and drops to 65 or so at night. The humidity stays above 50% and is more likely in the 60-70% range most times. This helps with sheds and the health of the gecko and the plants (orchids, broms, pothos, ficus, etc.)
For two days, I feed them a mixture of fruits... mango, papaya, persimmon, figs, strawberries, banana, peaches, etc. ...along with a bit of yogurt, steamed and pureed chicken breast, and supplements (RepCal's Herptivite and TriCal calcium). The third day is cricket or roach nymph night, depending on the size of the hunter. I dust the bugs with TriCal and Herptivite.
The younger kids, under 6 months, get misted again at night usually cuz they shed more often and so on.
When I turn out the lights and get everyone's food in their enclosures... around 10:30 or 11pm... the barking and thumping and beeping and so on begins. It's not loud enough for you roommates to hear or a nosey landlord, even, but you will hear it. In the beginning, I only had the 2 big boys and the 2 hatchlings, and the big boys were pretty vocal with each other. Now, everyone has something to discuss at night, it seems.

There's so much more to this... whether you have more than one, both genders, adults or hatchlings, breeders, and so forth; but this is a typical day in the life of my Cresteds.

I don't handle everyone on a daily basis and only a couple of them are notorious spazzers. They seldom jump to the ceiling, though. It's safe to handle them sitting down on the bed or sofa or floor, so if they land bad there's some cushion and not far for them to run under anything either. They can move fairly fast. Everyone does not jump on my forehead... only Flip actually and I think he's just funny that way. L'il Abner bites my thumb on occasion cuz I don't put his fruit dish down fast enough. A few others are hard to get off once they get on. My big girl eats from a spoon and so does my littlest baby. They're like anyone else... individuals with varying personalities and quirks.

I hope this was helpful. Others probably have lots of input and don't be surprised how different everyone's regime will be. I've modified a lot of info and found what works for me and my geckos.

 

[Meaningless End]

ya my cresteds are prity much the same way.. i have mine on a cricket/ baby food diet and they are all growing like weeds. most of the day they dont do much but at night there is a prity constant thump from them jumping up and down the walls.. theyre not hard to keep and defianlty make good pets.

 

[Barbedwirecat]

*Claps hands*
Hey Aneesa!

I have that old dart frog tank I can't use for amphibians anymore cause of theat chytrid fungus. I've been told by my vet it would be ok for a lizard to go in it. False bottom High humidity about 70-80 temp 75. Do you think these guys would be ok in it? I'd love to put them in a larger cage than they are now, and thats ones just sitting there with plants in it.
Rufus:

Bailey:

After planting:

6 months growing:

 

[Meaningless End]

that cage looks perfect for some cresteds... just imagin the same thing but with poop all over the glass and you'll be good to go.

 

[AneesasMuse]

I think that tank would work great for one or both of your Cresteds, as long as they are still young or male and female... two older boys will fight and can get nasty enough to be fatal.
What size is that tank in gallons, btw? It looks great! The plants are all healthy and a nice variety.

I have individual boys in 10g tanks flipped on their end. I have pairs in 30g enclosures and I hope to have a nice 1:3 colony in one of my 55g tanks soon. L'il Abner will be the male in that group and I'm still waiting to see which girls will work with him... they need to grow some and they also need to be girls, actually.

Hey Barbed!!

 

[Barbedwirecat]

Well I have to admit,I have two males. They have never fought the 2 years I have had them, though Bailey bites the crap outta me. He always has, but I chalk it up to the fact they were put with gargoyle gex when they were younger and he got his tail bitten off. Rufus is really sweet and likes to be handled (from what I can tell) They were in a 22 gallon reptarium, I just can't keep the humidity up. This is a 45 ga bowfront. I put them in it tonight we'll see how it goes. I got both babies when they were really young and couldn't sex them, but again both males. I need some females badley but the only store that carries cresteds is petsmart and they never get any sexable ones in, and now they get REALLY tiney babies in. Hopefully when I move there will be more petstores I can choose from,and more reptile shows closer and I can get a really pretty flame.