I have two little crested's Thirsty and Ginger. I have them in a big x terra glass front vertical terrarium. The ambient temperature in there is about 75 degrees so I was told by the breeder to not use a light as they don't need much light( I was thinking about the xterra tropical light that is like 13 watts or so) I use red christmas lights on top of the terrarium for nighttime as I was told that would work. I am really worried though as the Cresteds are very lethargic. I also found little tuffs of mold growing on the substrate. I have a live plant in there for them many fake plants and two rock ledges. I want them to be happy and I am afraid they are dying. I saw feces in there and cleaned it up. Diarreah, two days ago. I am not seeing them eat or drink water. Help please they're awesome and I am worried. I feed them every other day Repashy every other day and have mini pin head crickets for them but haven't used them as the gecko's are small and I don't know if they can eat the crickets(was told they can choke easily). What substrate, light can I use and should they be so unmotivated. Ginger never even moves too much.I've had them one a little over a week.
Coconut shell substrate molding in terrarium
- Thread starter hutena
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ariana
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- far side of sanity
obviously change the substrate.
look up some crested homes i dont have any so i wouldnt know what to use.
pin head crickets? those should be fine for them if theyre so little.
mist sides of aquarium and make sure there is water available at all times, just because you dont see them drinking doesnt mean they arent.
http://www.reptilehabitat.com/crested_geckos.htm has some substrate ideas and lighting requirements.
i personally think that they should be more active.. id take them to a vet if i were you, i wish you the best of luck though and hope the little ones make it ok!
look up some crested homes i dont have any so i wouldnt know what to use.
pin head crickets? those should be fine for them if theyre so little.
mist sides of aquarium and make sure there is water available at all times, just because you dont see them drinking doesnt mean they arent.
http://www.reptilehabitat.com/crested_geckos.htm has some substrate ideas and lighting requirements.
i personally think that they should be more active.. id take them to a vet if i were you, i wish you the best of luck though and hope the little ones make it ok!
S
skelegirl
Guest
Coconut shell? Do you mean coco fiber? Like "Eco Earth"? I use a 50-50 mix of coco fiber and organic potting soil for my crestie vivs. I've never had a mold problem, other than untreated wood items getting moldy.
Do you have a drainage layer underneath the substrate? Like expanded clay pellets, hydroballs, aquarium gravel, etc? No drainage + 75 degree temps could lead to mold.
As far as the cresties, lethargy and diarrhea sounds like a red flag for parasites. Do you have a herp vet nearby you could take a fecal sample to?
Pinheads should be fine for them. I feed my cresties 3-4 week old crix with no problem whatsoever. When Little Miss Biteypants was small, there were a couple of times I accidentally put some crix in there that were a bit too big for her. As you can see from the pic, she still managed to chomp them down ok (that's a leg sticking out of her mouth on the left
)
Do you have a drainage layer underneath the substrate? Like expanded clay pellets, hydroballs, aquarium gravel, etc? No drainage + 75 degree temps could lead to mold.
As far as the cresties, lethargy and diarrhea sounds like a red flag for parasites. Do you have a herp vet nearby you could take a fecal sample to?
Pinheads should be fine for them. I feed my cresties 3-4 week old crix with no problem whatsoever. When Little Miss Biteypants was small, there were a couple of times I accidentally put some crix in there that were a bit too big for her. As you can see from the pic, she still managed to chomp them down ok (that's a leg sticking out of her mouth on the left
)
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Your crested is soo cute.
I took the substrate out. I also took them out and hand fed Ginger repashy. She ate a little not much. I will do that tomorrow too. Thirsty went crazy when I gave him crickets. He ate 4 of them. He loved them. I put all their vines and shelves and plants back in without substrate. They stay in the air on their vines anyway. I found that Thirsty was trying to eat the papertowels on the bottom along w/ the crickets. Do they really need substrate? Do u know of a flat turf Thirsty couldn't eat. They are really sweet. Ginger is just really shy and I did order medicated food from repashy. Not the one for parasites but
entamoeba fix. I contacted a vet but they didn't contact me back. Today they looked better though. I just need Ginger to eat and drink more.
Thank u for writing back,
Hutena
I took the substrate out. I also took them out and hand fed Ginger repashy. She ate a little not much. I will do that tomorrow too. Thirsty went crazy when I gave him crickets. He ate 4 of them. He loved them. I put all their vines and shelves and plants back in without substrate. They stay in the air on their vines anyway. I found that Thirsty was trying to eat the papertowels on the bottom along w/ the crickets. Do they really need substrate? Do u know of a flat turf Thirsty couldn't eat. They are really sweet. Ginger is just really shy and I did order medicated food from repashy. Not the one for parasites but
entamoeba fix. I contacted a vet but they didn't contact me back. Today they looked better though. I just need Ginger to eat and drink more.
Thank u for writing back,
Hutena
P
pipedream
Guest
I have ultimately switched to papertowels in our crestie enclosures. First things first, if they are small, they do not need to be in a large tank. They need to have good hunting instincts and some size to them before being let loose in a large enclosure. Pin heads are IMO too small. We start all of our cresties on 1/8 to 1/4 inch crickets and even the tiniest of our cresteds can chomp down the 1/8 inch crickets. If it is about the same size as the distance from the tip of their nose to their eye, it is fine. Also, mix some banana babyfood into the crested gecko diet to encourage eating. We also feed phoenix worms free choice in a mealworm dish. They absolutely love them and put weight on them fast.
Another thing to keep in mind is they are nocturnal and shy. They will more than likely come out in the middle of the night when you are not around. As a previous poster said, mist the cage down very well at night, they prefer to lap up water from the tank sides and the leaves. I would get them into a 10 gallon tank for now with a few leafy hiding places, a small water bowl (or go without a bowl and mist twice per day), and give them small 1/8 to 1/4 inch crickets (make sure to dust them) with a bowl of crested gecko diet mixed with a fruit.
This has worked for me for a very long time Best of luck. (oh and they do poop down walls and all over everything)
Another thing to keep in mind is they are nocturnal and shy. They will more than likely come out in the middle of the night when you are not around. As a previous poster said, mist the cage down very well at night, they prefer to lap up water from the tank sides and the leaves. I would get them into a 10 gallon tank for now with a few leafy hiding places, a small water bowl (or go without a bowl and mist twice per day), and give them small 1/8 to 1/4 inch crickets (make sure to dust them) with a bowl of crested gecko diet mixed with a fruit.
This has worked for me for a very long time
Best of luck. (oh and they do poop down walls and all over everything)
P
pipedream
Guest
You can go to Walmart and get the shelf liner in a brown wood grain look if you prefer. We use papertowels with no issue though. Just do not get anything dusty as it will impede their ability to climb the glass or walls.
S
skelegirl
Guest
Oh, duh! I don't know what I was thinking...you're right. Pinheads are too small. For some reason I read "pinhead" and a 1-2 week old cricket popped in my head. Dur.
I've found that if I gutload my crickets wtih the crested gecko diet powder (in addition to the rapashy insect gutload), it gives the geckos a better "taste" for the CGD. My little ones didn't seem to be eating the CGD at all until I started giving it to the crickets. Now they scarf it down. :main_thumbsup:
P
pipedream
Guest
That is one good idea that I forgot to mention. I do that as well and it worked for a very picky eater we are putting weight on.
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