My Crested Gecko is hiding

[Ninjamuffins]

Hello, I'm new to this forum stuff and I'm kinda worried about my baby crested gecko, he doesn't move a lot during the day and I've only caught him once moving at night. I don't know if he's eating. need advice please!

 

[WLG_KD]

Can you tell us a bit about his tank setup? Also, how big is he? (If you don't know grams and age, maybe estimate with his size minus tail.) What and how much are you feeding him, and how often? How is your husbandry? (Ex. how much do you mist, how do you monitor temps and humidity, etc...). And have you seen any bowel movements at all in the time you've owned him/since you've become concerned?

These are just off the top of my head questions, but they'll help to figure out if it's normal young Crestie behaviour or if your little one might need a vet visit.

 

[Ninjamuffins]

He's only a baby, I got him about 5 days ago, he's probably no bigger then 4 inches (including tail), I put in some crickets for his size and some powered food that you add water with until it's a milkshake, it's only for babies. I mist whenever I see the droplets have evaporated off the leaves, he's in a 20 gal. tank so he's got plenty of room, i have a UVB light for Calcium and i do keep track of the temps, i keep it around 70-85 degrees all the time, the humidity is usually around 65%. I don't even know what his poo looks like so i really haven't been even tell if he's been eating. i read up on something that they might not eat for a month? that's crazy! please help me lol

 

[WLG_KD]

Okay I replied in bold blue to the different sections. Hope it helps! Also, I believe somewhere in the Stickies maybe there should be a Crested care sheet, I'd say take a look at that, methods vary a little, but it sounds a lot like you might have gotten some info from a pet store (the UVB light for example, I see it a lot from pet stores looking to make a dollar!) that isn't completely accurate...

He's only a baby, I got him about 5 days ago

It is normal for your baby Crested to not eat for a few days while they're getting settled in their new enclosure. That being said, I'd NEVER say a month is healthy for your baby not to eat!!! May I ask where you got him from?

he's probably no bigger then 4 inches (including tail), I put in some crickets for his size and some powered food that you add water with until it's a milkshake, it's only for babies.

Nix the crix (haha) for now. They're not totally necessary in captivity because of the balance in the powdered Crested Gecko diet. Also, I do not know if you know this, but uneaten crickets can actually harm your baby gecko by biting it and/or just generally stressing it out if he's hanging out where they can get to him. You didn't mention if you're removing the uneaten crickets within a short amount of time. I wouldn't do crickets until you know he's eating well and is a healthy weight (can you see his little ribs when he's at rest?).

What brand of food is it? Here we use Pangea Complete either Mango or Banana, but have also tried and had some luck with Clark's diet though we've found they don't love that as much (not all Cresteds like the same stuff though!). Addendum: If you did not know already, please do not feed your Crested baby food. They can become addicted, and it is not nutritionally complete for them!

I mist whenever I see the droplets have evaporated off the leaves --- the humidity is usually around 65%.

Humidity, you might have just a bit too much. Mist once moderately during the day
(morning), let it dry out to about 50% or so during the afternoon, then mist again heavily at night (allowing for an 80-100% humidity level that will then gradually decrease overnight to about 45-50% again depending on how quickly the cage dries). It really is important to them to have "cycles" if you will, of higher and lower humidity. If you're worried about your Crested drinking enough, then you can add in a little milk cap with some water in it. *Too much humidity all the time can cause other issues like shedding problems and bacterial growth...yuck!

he's in a 20 gal. tank so he's got plenty of room,

He actually has way TOO much room right now, at such a small size. I'd strongly recommend putting him in a much smaller tank for now (max 10 gal tank, but probably a large Kritter Keeper to be honest until you can be sure he's eating and defecating normally). 20 gal really is the ADULT size recommendation for a Crested. I don't move my young ones into even a 10 gal tank until they're about 3" (or a few months old, depending, they all grow at different rates) NOT including the tail. (Also I should add I've got my tanks turned up on the side so they're taller than long, you can find guides online on how to make custom doors for them with screening materials if you go this route.)


i have a UVB light for Calcium

Crested Geckos actually *do not* need a UVB light, it's a good effort but you're wasting your money there. It's not doing harm, but it's also not really giving him any benefit, from what I've read they (long time keepers) haven't seen any improvement in calcium absorption with one vs without. Probably because these are nocturnal geckos, they wouldn't get UVB from the sun anyway while hiding wrapped in leaves during the day in dense forest, so their body kind of adapted to absorb calcium without it.


i keep it around 70-85 degrees all the time

85 is WAY WAY too hot for your baby Crested (or any Crested - Optimal temps are around 72-78 during the day and a drop to low as 65 at night is okay). Temps that high can actually cause stress and illness if it happens too often for these little guys. Here, we keep our ambient air temp around 72-75 degrees on average and have had zero issues with any of our geckos.

I hope this is helpful to you! Please let us know how it works out or if you've got any more questions I might have missed! Good luck!!!

 

[WLG_KD]

Also, I'm exhausted and half asleep so I'm sorry if anything sounds harsh, I absolutely do not mean for any of it to be, I'm just too tired to proof read!

 

[Ninjamuffins]

I will use your advise and try to work on bringing the temp down and try to spray once a day, also I will take out the crickets (pets mart told me he needed them) I got him from pets mart by the way. He started to move last night for once, he climbed on the glass so that makes me feel better that he is moving more at night. The food I feed him is called Crested Gecko Powder by All living things. how would I make the temp go down about 5 degrees?

 

[WLG_KD]

How you change the temp depends on the room you're keeping your Crested in and how you're heating that room. I can't help too much there, sorry!

Mist *two times* a day, once in the morning and once more heavily at night. With only one Crested it'll only take a few seconds.

I've never heard of the food you're feeding, but perhaps someone else has, so I can't offer comment on it.

In general pet stores don't have an in-depth knowledge of care for the reptiles they sell (occasionally you'll get someone who does, but not often), and have guides they go by that are often inaccurate. Plus, the bottom line for them is making money, and adding on things you don't really need (like that UVB light), is how they get it.

Are you also going to make his enclosure a smaller one? That and the balance of temp and humidity are probably your three biggest keys to having a healthy, happy baby Crestie.

 

[Ninjamuffins]

Going to keep him in the 20 gal. tank, I don't have much money right now but maybe in a few weeks I can change it out, i'll try my hardest to keep him healthy! thanks again so much!