finally got my new crested! a few questions for you veterans...

[yospike4]

woo hoo! I finally got my new crested a few days ago. I've been thinking and planning a whole lot. I actually researched for 3 weeks before pulling the trigger. I just hope some of u guys can tell me if i might be doing something wrong. I take helpful criticism very well so let me know if you would have done anything here differently:

When i picked him out from the breeders, I went in with two things in mind.

1) Pick one that has nice coloration.

2) Pick one that is lively and looks healthy.

so I did that and picked him. He has pretty nice coloration, even though I hear it doesnt matter cos pattern and color can change drastically within a year. He was also the jumpiest and liveliest one out of the group. When i handled him there he was crawling all over my arms and stuff.

I took him home and set him up with his tank and now all of a sudden he seems so slow and not lively at all. I took him out to handle him a few times and he just sat there on my hand. Basically he's about 70% less lively. I furnished him pretty well and I fed him crickets sprinkled with calcium right away but he seems unhappy and his color is even a bit duller as of right now. what is up? am i handling him too much? does he need adjustment time? The temperature is about 82 or so during the day and about 70 at night. maybe thats not good temperature?

Oh, and the tiny crickets seem to have a tendency to go hide under the crevices of the fake tree, could that be a problem?

 

[Jennie]

I recently got my first crestie about a month ago and although mine took quite well to the change, most do not and will look less lively becuase they are stressed out. Its normal for them to not eat as much or at all during the first few days, dont worry though they are just getting used to the new tank. Also I wouldnt recommend holding/handling the new baby much during the first 2 weeks. I know its hard! They are so cute and soft, but seriously its worth it in the end; you dont want your new crestie to be scared of you and stress out everytime he/she is out of the cage, this can also cause a tail to drop. I would say anything over 82 degrees is pushing it...I have heard 85, but I dont let my take go above 80. Babies get stressed out very easy when it comes to the temp. You might want to get one of those kitter keepers and feed your baby in there! Its much MUCH easier in my opinion and you dont have to worry about the baby not finding the food or getting a mouth full of the substraight. What type of bedding are you using?

Oh yea! If you dont have a AC unit in your house/room and you cant seem to keep your cresties tank cool, you can always put a reusable ice pask on top of the tank. Works great for me and will drop the temp 3-5 degrees! Mine and my BF's room get 80-85 degrees and our babies tank stays around 75.

 

[yospike4]

ah so you're from california too huh? yeah, the weather is pretty brutal these days. I've been managing to keep him downstairs with the A/C on through most of the day so I've been managing temps of about 80 or so at max.

It is pretty hard to keep my hands off the thing. its so cute haha. I'm using reptile carpet. It kind of looks like astroturf.

I'm actually not sure how old my crested is. I forgot to ask. I know, pretty dumb. It's about the size of my ring finger though. How big should it get before I can handle it more often?

 

[Perefalcon]

try leaving it alone for at least a week and let it adjust...I'm assuming you got the crested gecko diet? that's the best stuff for them...baby food has too much sugar comparatively...if it's that small it may not be interested as much in the crickets...but I've always noticed that they love hunting no matter what size they are. A perfect temp would be anywhere from 68-73...I keep mine at that temp and they're perfectly happy, active and healthy...although I swear one has a hyperactivity disorder with the way she's always bouncing around her tank.

Oh, make sure you also dust the crickets with a vitamin...Crested Gecko Diet is a completely balanced diet. but once you add live prey it will offset the vitamins and calcium, so whenever you feed live, dust it...that way you're sure that your baby is getting all it needs.

Edit: OH almost forgot.....

CONGRATS ON THE NEW CRESTIE..........ONCE YOU GET ONE....YOU'LL CATCH THE BUG HEHEHEHE

 

[Jennie]

Yup! Im a Cali girl, haha! Reptile Carpet isnt a good idea with baby creaties becuase their claws get stuck in it. You may want to change it to paper towels since there is no impact. If you switch to moss or a jungle earth, you will want to feed the baby in a separate tank becuase it can bind him/her up if digested. Right now Im using a mixer made up by the breeder and it is prefectly safe to use for juvies, but I still feed my baby in the other kritter keeper just in case.

Like Perefalcon said...Never forgot to dust the crickets. Make sure that the he calium you get has D3 in it. And also make sure that you get the right size crickets as well...at that size I think 2 weekers are fine. Thats what I use right now and my babe is still a little guy.

I hope this helps! What other fourms are you on? Im on this one, http://ciliatus.com/forums/index.php and http://www.forums.repashy.com/. The breeder I got my baby from is good friends with Allen Repashy and his site is very nice and has tons of people to with great info!

 

[yospike4]

thanks so much for the help u guys! if u guys have any more comments and suggestions, or any stories of your own, I'm all ears.

 

[Jennie]

You are very welcome! Dont forget to post some pictures, I cant wait to see your new baby! What morph is it?

 

[yospike4]

im not too sure. its got a reddish brown color with some nice patterning. I think its a harlequin. but its only about a month or so old so who knows what it might become later...