CRESTEDS OR LEOPARDS???

[drpkckmurphy22]

Which one do you think is better and easier to breed?? What are the pros and cons?? Tell me some of your experiences.

 

[darkridder]

Before considering breeding, try considering what makes a better pet. Start off with a baby and see if the care needed for it is what you are looking to invest.

Leo babies are by far easier to care for, they dont dehydrate as easily and grow much faster. Crestie babies require alot of maintainence. They eat so little that alot of new time owners or breeders freak out when they dont see any food being eaten from the food bowl.

Now I have both species, currectly looking for a girlfriend for our male leo. But I have bred them in the past, they do require an incubator, babies will require supplemental heating and live food.

They both have their pros and cons, but I cant stress enough, buy a baby first and raise it before commiting to breeding a species of animal that there are already alot of people breeding out there.

 

[drpkckmurphy22]

I already have these animals and know. I just want to know everyone's opinion.

 

[Greyscale_Geckos]

I own both, I love both for different reasons!

 

[Olimpia]

I have both species also, and I love each for different reasons. I however would only breed my leos, and leave my cresties to be only pets.

 

[rubym]

I own both and have bred both. I dont think one is any harder then the other as far as breeding......they are just different and require different care. I love both types and enjoyed breeding both and seeing my babies grow.

 

[dunderpate]

both

 

[godzillizard]

Rhacs because of the powdered diet...plus their poop doesn't smell like a carnivores and they don't require an incubator--what if the power goes out?

 

[alliemackie]

I have one of each. Both are tremendously simple to care for. Leopards have a trickier temperature setup to get right, but require less daily maintenance, whereas cresties just need room temperature, but require at least one daily misting, usually more, and/or other ways to maintain humidity.

Crestie diet is dead simple, but I do like watching my leopard hunt. Crestie's terrarium is easier to clean because I have a naturalistic vivarium - I just bioactivate the soil once every one or two weeks. My leopard, I have to clean a bit more carefully, as he is on repti-carpet.

I find that both have very amusing personalities and are great fun to watch at night when they're active. Both take to handling pretty well, I do prefer handling my crestie because she likes to climb and jump and is lots of fun!

 

[Anthony Caponetto]

They're both great for beginners and they're so different that it's really tough to compare them.

I do think cresteds edge the leos out just barely in terms of being easier for beginners.

No heating required, rarely any health problems (lots of leos end up with MBD, heavy parasite loads and impactions according to several vets that I know), no cooling necessary, no tricky supplementation (with leos, getting a supplementation regimen figured out can be daunting).

While crested geckos do hatch smaller, they're still the hardiest reptile species I've worked with...we maybe have a 1-2% mortality rate in first month babies and that's when we're getting 300-400 babies a month (no time to baby them). With leopards, I think our mortality rate is probably closer to 4-5% with first month babies.

Dehydration really isn't much of an issue if you mist baby crested geckos daily or every other day. You can do it without misting them too...I've been to Allen Repashy's place (thousands of breeder cresteds) and they don't mist the babies at all...they just provide a water dish and keep the room at 50-60% humidity.

 

[ReptarNDukeNukem]

Before considering breeding, try considering what makes a better pet. Start off with a baby and see if the care needed for it is what you are looking to invest.

Leo babies are by far easier to care for, they dont dehydrate as easily and grow much faster. Crestie babies require alot of maintainence. They eat so little that alot of new time owners or breeders freak out when they dont see any food being eaten from the food bowl.

Now I have both species, currectly looking for a girlfriend for our male leo. But I have bred them in the past, they do require an incubator, babies will require supplemental heating and live food.

They both have their pros and cons, but I cant stress enough, buy a baby first and raise it before commiting to breeding a species of animal that there are already alot of people breeding out there.

The bolded it true because when my brother feeds hes two Crested Geckos he freaks out when they only eat one or two because he wants them to eat like my Leopard Gecko who will easily eat 4-5 crickets every other day.