First time Crestie owner! Male or Female...

[Pareeeee]

HELLO! I'm new to the forums
Just bought a Flame Morph Crested Gecko yesterday. How old do you think it is? It has an almost 3 inch body from head to bum. Also how do I tell the sex? Is it too young still?

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

i would say that its probably 4-6 weeks old give or take. its way too early to tell the sex yet it needs to be at least 15ish grams to be almost certain of sex. unfortunately they can't be temp sexed like many other reptiles which sucks but o well lol. how do you have it housed? i recommend a small kritter keeper with papertowel as a substrate that way you can easily monitor that its eating and its able to find its food, since large cages are not recommended for small geckos since they can have a problem with finding their food. Have you purchased Crested Gecko Diet? if not you need to, I dont know what kind of research you have done but baby food is no good for them in case you dont know already. if you want to feed insects like crickets i would suggest making sure its eating Crested Gecko Diet well before you introduce insects to its diet. I wish you luck with this little one if you have anymore questions dont hesitate to ask

 

[rubym]

Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of cresties,lol.Personally I like the Rapashy CGD. I noticed a big differtence in weight when I swithched to it. IF you do use any baby food try to use organic. I have several that eat the CGD without anything. I have others that will not eat without a little bit of fruit. I puree mango for those and mix a small amount in. I also suggest weighing. Weight is a good way to tell approx. age.

 

[darkridder]

Try to not use baby food, there are many other options to do before resorting to offering it, and it is harder to switch a gecko off of it then anything else. As stated get your gecko established on CGD before introducing crickets into the diet. If you are finding they are reluctant to eat it, mix it with mango puree over the baby food, 1/2 water and 1/2 mago puree instead of just the water. I know what you are thinking it is such a small bowl! But you can pre-mix an entires weeks worth of CGD and keep it in the fridge. This way you know for sure you are getting the correct ratio (which is hard to do when you are just trying to make one tiny bowl), and in the long run save you time each night to just stare at your cute new gecko!

Since all cresties grow at a different rate, genetics, temps and diet all play a role, it is hard to give an age since it could be so varied, your gecko could be anywhere from 2-4 months old honestly. And as Daniell stated, they are not sexable until much larger. Since crested geckos age differently, you go by weights and not months. Normally by 5-7g males will start to show proes (well they can show when smaller they are just super hard to see), but I have had males not show pores until 12g. Females are never called for sure females until 17g as males can simply take a long time to bloom. But normally if you dont see pores by 14g your odds are really high of being female.

 

[Pareeeee]

Thanks everyone for your quick responses!

Oh boy, where do I start. The pet store I got him at already had him on crickets and baby food, and there is literally NOWHERE nearby I can buy CGD!! (yes, I already knew about CGD, I usually try to study about an animal a bit before I buy one) I am hoping to slowly wean him off those foods and get him on CGD - when I am able to find some...I am looking online for the cheapest place to buy it. There are about 3 brands...Repashy, Komodo, and T-Rex. Which one is the best?? I found a place that sells the Repashy 4oz bag for about $8.

Is the 15 gallon vivarium too large for him then?? I don't want to downgrade him to the 5 gallon I have, he seems to love the vivarium! But I guess if I have to...or when you say "large" enclosure do you mean something like a 30gal?

Temps are in the mid 70's. I have a low-temperature heat rock buried under the substrate to keep the tank warm. (I hope that's ok, and if so, should I unplug it at night to give a nightly temp drop?)

I mist the tank every day to keep it humid.

Ahh I have so many questions!

Thanks again for all your answers!
I hope it's a boy cause I wanna name him Rodney lol.

 

[Pareeeee]

PS:
In the meantime I'm thinking of mixing the baby food with the Calcium/vitamin D powder. How much powder should I use in say...a teaspoon of baby food? Just a dusting like how you would salt and pepper your food?

 

[darkridder]

T-rex is the exact same produce as Repashy, you will see his name on the label. THis is by far the best stuff over all the other products so I would get it. The prices run about the same everywhere online if you buy it in the 4 oz bags, normally there is at most a dollar difference. I normally buy mine through Pangea Reptile.

The 15 gallon is to large for him (this is an adult sized cage), babies and juvies need to be started off in something smaller, they tend to stress out otherwise. You can even use plastic storage containers for homes, so if you dont want to spend alot on a new home, hit up a home store and just buy a smaller plastic storage container, something shoebox sized will work. I normally use these, and I cut a hole on the side of the container I then hot glue screen to the side of the container for air flow and for easy misting.

I would unplug the heat rock, these guys really dont need supplemental heating unless your house is seriously cold, by that I mean mid 60's. Low 70's is a fine temp for them. If you find he is too cold, just move him to a warmer room in the house as you dont want to heat babies up in small containers.

You dont want to offer calcium daily, there is such a thing as too much. But give it a light dusting a few times a week until you get the CGD, to which that you will not need to add extra calcium to the diet.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/index.php?target=categories&category_id=165
http://www.store.supremegecko.com/index.php?target=categories&category_id=18
I have ordered CGD from both of these suppliers with no issues and great customer service.

http://www.store.repashy.com/retail/index.php?target=categories&category_id=226
Repashys site with dealers listed for his superfoods.

as far as baby food goes i would definitely try to wean it off as soon as possible. i dont know if you have ********s or *****s or local pet stores in your area but generally *****s and ********s have small bottles of CGD for sale. i dont know where your located in relation to one. o wait i just looked and your in canada so its possible you guys dont have a ******** or *****. i dont know. also check out if there is any reptile shows being hosted near you generally there are folks that have CGD there.

i dont know about the heat rock being buried under the substrate, but being its small i would go with a smaller tank and maybe a heating pad and a solid substate like repticarpet or papertowels since you are in canada its probably quite cold there so it probably needs the heat a lil on it.

i hope you can get some CGD soon so you can get it to start eating it. i would hate to see your new lil one to get MBD or anything. I have seen too much of that as a result of cresties being fed baby food though i have seen them live off it and not have any problems with calcium and vitamins and crickets in their diet but i have seen more bad than good with it. I rather be safe with a complete diet thats made especially for them and other geckos like them.

im going to research what i can find for you in ontario, canada for shows and petstores n stuff like that. i know it can be a pain to find things when you need it.

 

[Pareeeee]

Thanks again for your quick answer.
Is a 5 gallon plastic kritter keeper too big? That's all I have at the moment.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

yeah low 70s are fine for cresties. so no need for heat. and as darkridder said a smaller enclosure is best.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

i think that would be okay...though generally i go smaller for my little ones but if thats what you have its better than the bigger one.

 

[Pareeeee]

sunshinegeckofarm: it blanked out the store names...lol what store is "*******"

what does MBD mean...?

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

Pets-Mart and Pet-Co. i hope it dont blank it out this time lol. sorry about that i always forget that it blanks it out

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

metabolic bone disease or disorder

 

[darkridder]

nope a 5 gallon kritter keeper will work fine

 

[Pareeeee]

ok great. ya the website I was gonna buy CGD on won't ship to Canada :main_angry: :main_thumbsdown:

He ate his first two crickets yesterday!! I was so excited. He will only eat them out of my hand, which is strange since he's new I thought he wouldn't really want much to do with my hands yet. The only baby food he ate was from my finger too...

 

[Pareeeee]

WOWeee 20 bucks for a 4 oz bag of CGD from Pangea cuz I live in Canada...

 

[Pareeeee]

OO i think I found a pet store nearby that sells it

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

thats good. Western Gecko is based in Canada if you dont find it locally. I am not sure where they are in Canada whether it makes a difference where you are on shipping and such I have no idea lol. Good that you got him/her to eat a couple of crickets its better than nothing. just make sure they are well gutloaded with veggies and fruits and a something like flukers cricket diet and dusted with calcium

 

[darkridder]

try here, it is a listing of pet stores in Ontario, you might have to call around, but hopefully you can find it local
http://fins.actwin.com/dir/stores.php?c=2&r=18