My friends getting a crested gecko!

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

My friend wanted a gecko so I recommended her one that doesn't need crickets all the time and I showed her a bunch of pictures of them and she fell in love, I think we convinced her mom to get one and I gave her one of my books but I was wondering if you had some tips? Like how do you know if their healthy or if their eating properly? Or anything you can tell me about them

 

[kayla.h]

Make sure she is doing a lot (and I mean a LOT) of research. Cresties are a lot of fun, and cute as heck, but they have very specific habitat requirements. In addition, crested geckos have only been sold as pets for a short time (10+ years? Am I right? Help me out crestie people!) so everything we are doing for them now in captivity may drastically change in the coming years as we learn more and more by trial and error.

I will say this: when she is going to purchase her new buddy, try to find a breeder that cares about the species instead of just wanting to sell them. You can usually tell because they'll know each of their animals, and they're usually only selling one or two species at a time. I would also recommend that if she goes with a crestie or gargoyle, she should really get a year-old or slightly sub-adult individual. Babies are tempting. They're cute, tiny, and (let's face it) cheaper. But a sub-adult you can probably get a better read on their personality. More importantly, as she learns how to care for it, she'll make mistakes (I STILL do and everyone else has). If she gets a larger gecko, tiny slip ups are not the end of the world. But a baby... I lost my crestie over a stupid mistake that I'm still kicking myself for. Had she been an adult sized gecko, I'd have caught my mistake in time and I'd still have her.

I hope my ramblings have helped a little.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

Well we plan on getting one from a chain store like pets smart or pet co and I know they don't take very good care of them but we plan on checking more then one store to find a healthy one, like we're going to look for one that is active and alert, skin feels soft but not squishy. Is there anymore ways to tell? Thank you for your tips I really appreciate it!

 

[Amanda1]

Care sheet: http://www.geckotalk.com/threads/crested-gecko-care.47/
I've had one of my cresties since he was 6 months old, and he's 6yrs old now. I think they are easier than leos. Make sure she gets Repashy Crested Gecko Diet (CGD), not another brand. The stuff they sell at Petsmart is NOT a good diet. Don't use any heaters unless you keep your house frigid, since they are very sensitive to temps over 80F.

If I can get on my soapbox for a bit, have your friend look into exotic pet rescues in your area. Or just go on Petfinder.com and search for geckos. Geckos live pretty long lives, much longer than most people's attention spans, so you may be able to find one at a rescue nearby. Pet stores and breeders are not the only options. I'm off my soapbox now.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

Where can I get CGD? She wants to get it in two weeks so we're looking them up and figuring out what they would need, since their expensive and so are the cage were gonna put paper towel on the bottom and get as much as we can for it.

 

[Jetfire]

ANY well-stocked pet store will carry Repashy cgd;try a more local,smaller pet shop if the bigbox stores don't carry it.
Also look into T-Rex brand (practically the same as Repashy),or Pangea Fruit Mix ( what I personally use,I find the geckos eat more of it than the Repashy,but not as easy to find as Repashy).
If there are reptile expos ( like Repticon,etc) near you,they are great places to stock up on gecko food,as vendors will usually have different package sizes,flavors,etc. I've had geckos that wouldn't touch one flavor lose their little minds over a different flavor. You can also order it online through multiple,multiple websites
(LLL reptiles is where I usually go,but there's plenty of other options).

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

Thank you! I'll see what I can find for him/her ^^

 

[Amanda1]

I've never seen Repashy CGD at Petsmart or Petco. They have some other crested gecko food that is pellets, which I wouldn't trust. I order mine online, or pick it up at shows. I've only tried the original flavor, and both of my cresties eat it fine.

 

[CrazyLeopardGeckoLady]

Ok I'll look into it thank you!