Crested Gecko Questions.

[jrr429]

So ive been looking at getting a bearded dragon or a crested for awhile, parents decided no on BD so im looking more into cresties ....but got some questions.

1. so besides plants n logs, just need a hide, food dish, water dish, and can i put in a calcium dish to be on the safe side?
2. I can only keep my room at a max of 65 (parents also put a limit on that as well lol) so during this winter time should i use a bulb for a lil extra heat for them seeing as how they like to be around 72ish range? and if so what wattage? (the tank is 48x12x24 if that helps).

any other major info i need to know would be appreciated.

thanks for any help guys

 

[Dron2124]

no calcium dish the crested gecko diet has all the nutrietion and calcium and vitamins they need. A light would be ok as long as it is not on the enclosure. U dont want your gecko walking over the light and burnign its self. Watt wise im guessing about a 75 or so u dont want it to get over 80 cuz ti will stress out the gecko a lot. Crested are one fo the best lizards iv owned so far. Iv had a bearded dragon and a leo both were not as cool as my crested. Long as u give them the space to thrive and dont mess with them to much at the begginign you shoudl be fine.

 

[darkridder]

If youre starting out with a young gecko, you will want to start with a smaller set up, they dont do well in such large enclosures. Something around the size of a 5 gallon or smaller is best for gecko 10g or less. For the size you are using, it would be best for an young adult, so I wouldnt house a gecko in it until it was at least 30g. And I would also consider having food dishes in 3 areas of the tank to insure the gecko can easily find its food. Honestly a single gecko does well in 15-20 gallons, so your 55 is a bit over kill, but thats ok

You dont need a water dish as their main diet is CGD, but here is no harm in offering it. But you want to make sure it isnt too larder, so using milk lids (I use gatoraid lids for adults) for food and water. Calcium dishes are not needed also as the CGD is completely balanced, but you can offer it. Just be sure to remove it every time you mist otherwise it will get all clumpy and gross.

They can tolerate lower temps perfectly fine, but you have to look at what your night time temps are. At lower temps geckos often eat less, so you may want to consider having a small bulb over the tank. The problem is if you are getting a smaller gecko, it can be hard to eat the tank. So what you may want to consider doing before getting your gecko, get your temps worked out first before getting the gecko, it is better to have that all figured out so that way you dont over heat the gecko in such a small enclosure. But on the 55 gallon tank, something like a 25 watt on one side will be fine. On a smaller enclosure, you are looking at like a 7 watt bulb.

As far as what exactly you will need. When making an enclosure you want at least 50% of it to be plant cover, and you want 3 of the 4 sides to have hanging plants on it (or near it), as often they like to sleep on the walls, without many places to sleep, they are more prone to sleeping upside down. You wil want at least 1 hide space on the floor, in your big tank I would suggest at least 2, which can be anything really, they even love tp rolls.

The best suggest is just keep reading care sheets, there are many on the web, I have one on my site, but there are other great ones at pangea reptile, jb cresteds also has an outstanding caresheet also.

 

[Dron2124]

my gecko refuses to go below like half way down his tank its like a forbiden area down there i swear.

 

[darkridder]

My geckos at night spend alot of time on the ground. Each animal can be different, and their moods can change. I have had geckos who will sleep in one area for months, then out of the blue change sleeping areas and sleep there for months, then again change it again. But because of this "mood" change, you can not just say my gecko will never go on the ground so therefore I will never give a hiding place on the ground, you should always offer something to sleep under on the ground be it a fake plant that is low to the ground (or a live plant), a half log, paper towel rolls, anything, but you still need to offer it.

 

[Daedric1]

1. so besides plants n logs, just need a hide, food dish, water dish, and can i put in a calcium dish to be on the safe side?
2. I can only keep my room at a max of 65 (parents also put a limit on that as well lol) so during this winter time should i use a bulb for a lil extra heat for them seeing as how they like to be around 72ish range? and if so what wattage? (the tank is 48x12x24 if that helps).

any other major info i need to know would be appreciated.

thanks for any help guys

As others have said, there is no need for a calcium dish. Feed them Repashy's Crested Gecko Diet (I recommend the two-part diet which involves mixing a base and a flavor;they seem to like the taste better than the bottled stuff: http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/two-part-gecko-diet.html)

You can get by feeding them just the CGD as it has everything they need, but feel free to feed crickets once a week or so. I wouldn't feed more than this often because they might expect and hold out for crickets and not eat their CGD.

The 65 degree temperature is a little on the cool side, so you may want to use a bulb for some heat as was suggested earlier. You mentioned that your parents don't allow temps over 65 in the winter (I'm guessing because of gas bills). Because of that, I suspect they may have a similar limitation on air conditioning in the summer? Keep in mind cresteds should not be in temperatures over 82 degrees as it stresses them out and may eventually kill them. Therefore, in the winter you can heat them during cool temps, but in summer, it's going to be a lot harder to cool them if your house gets hot. If it's going to be too hot in your house, I would avoid getting a crested gecko.

Generally speaking, a cage taller than long is preferrable for cresties. Yours seems to be a good height though. In the future you may want to use one made by Zoomed or ExoTerra that has a front opening door (in addition to a mesh openable top). This makes it incredibly easier to do cage maintenance, setup, find your gecko, mist, etc. A good size would be an 18x18x24.

Good luck to you and your cresty if you get one.

 

[Dron2124]

Yea joker has a huge cork board log down there that's huge I want hit to clime in it so bad but he hasn't yet. He moves as he sleeps but stays around the same area but iv only had him for like 3 weeks or so

 

[jrr429]

lol yeah i figured it was overly too big but its what i have available to me, im a college student what can i say haha. yeah the pet store i plan on getting them from has mostly sub/ adult geckos. so i would probably get that and not a baby. ive been reading like crazy but like to get the person to person feedback of this site ..the info was helpful. and yeah during the summer i got a fan system that keeps my room around 75 80ish. but i can tweak it to keep it cooler then 80 for them. (and yes gas bill is the reason)

before i do even buy the gecko i would have the tank all set up and well for it. i have a 75 watt so i think thatll do (wont be touching the cage).

So just to run through and check, today probably going to store for the rest of the supplies...

Have: tank, wood for climbing (been cleaned), bulb for extra heat.
Need: screen lid, CGD, plants, two hides on floor, 3 dishes around tank for food, temp gun.

 

[darkridder]

A great place to get plants is Michaels or the Dollar Store, the plants for the pet store are nice an all, but they tend to cost alot more, and you could fully dress your tank for a fraction of the cost going to the dollar store or michaels. Also try buying your CGD online, through www.pangeapreptile.com a 4oz bag costs the same as 1oz from the pet store, you just have to pay to have it shipped, so in the long run it is a much better buy, so i would consider buying your food online instead.

For food dishes I honestly use pop/water/milk lids. Using actual reptile dishes causes you to waste alot of food, a single adult eats a full gatoraid lid worth of food in 2 days, so by using a larger dish you waste tons. Not as pretty to look at, but for me, esp with as many animals as I keep, makes more sense.

 

[jrr429]

michaels and dollar store...wow never thought of that lol...thanks, and yeah was considering using the mil lids, we are about to empty one out ...and guess what, found a smaller tank to use...30x12x18. ill post a pic of the current design in mind

 

[jrr429]

now imagine a bunch of plants on the walls, getting that tomorrow. and on the log laying down is where the food dish (milk cap) will go. how many more branches should i add in? i feel like i should add some more but how many you think?

 

[Dron2124]

I would say that u would want some branches or things up higher as well. I have a cage set up with a cork board log, cork board back, a huge piece of wood with a bunch of branches on it. A plant that goes around most of the log. Then I also have a vine in it

 

[Eureka]

I agree with the above. It's looking good, now I would start concentrating on adding a large amount of plants. So covering the back wall and some wide leafed standing plants which Cresties enjoy sitting on. My guy also loves vines to walk along.

 

[darkridder]

You need many more plants, like I said you want at least 50% of the tank to be covered in plants. Look to make something a bit more like this, these are a few of my setups

This is my phelsuma pair tank, but theyhave the sme requirements as the crested gecko as far as decorating goes, so if you decided to go as a live planted viv, this is what you would expect. The plants are still in the process of growing. The brown tubes hanging up on the walls are PVC pipes painted to look more natural, they were epoxied to earth mags, so that way mags can be on both sides of the glass and holds the pipes in place. There are 2 other ledges in there, one under the light, and one in the back which holds their CGD. The bowl is for insects, the roachs go in there since roaches wil quickly burrow in the dirt.

Hope those give you a better idea on what it should look like. You dont normally need a ton of branches for cresteds, you want at least 1 or two in there, but you need to focus on plenty of plants.

 

[jrr429]

yeah like i said, had to picture it with more plants lol. going to check out dollar store or ******** and get some tomorrow. but got some ideas now.