New to the forum and Crested Geckos.

[CaptainMorgantown]

Hello!

I decided to join this forum after lurking around for the past week. I am getting ready to buy a Crested Gecko within the next month (already put a down payment on him), but I have owned Leopard Geckos for about five months. I have kept various frogs for the past five years, and I have also had a chameleon for exactly one year. Basically, I'm new to geckos in general.

I have a seen a lot of stuff online about what type of substrate to use, but I'm not sure how I feel about some of them. I don't want to use paper towel because I like my tanks to look natural, so I was wondering what you all use for your substrates.

Also, here is a picture of him, it would be awesome if someone could identify the morph for me. I've heard that he could be a Flame or a Harlequinn.

Thanks

 

[cassicat4]

He's cute.

I'm not the greatest at identifying morphs (color blindness FTW) but from the markings, it looks like a Harlequin to me. If not, I'm sure someone will be along to correct me shortly.

If your gecko is quite young, paper towel is recommended for awhile until they've settled in and/or are through quarantine and/or are a bit older. This will allow you to track their poop for any signs of illness or lack of eating. As well, if you choose to use an ingestible substrate, there's a much higher risk of impaction issues with young geckos as they can't pass the substrate as easily.

If you want a non-ingestible substrate, some people use felt/reptile carpet/astroturf with success. You can also go online and some places sell green paper towel for a more natural paper towel look.

Otherwise, if you're looking for a soil-type substrate, for my adult female, I use a soil/peat moss mix for substrate as I have her in a planted tank. I also feed her live prey (along with Repashy) in a separate tupperware container so there's no risk of ingesting substrate with eating. I didn't move her to this substrate though until she was around a year old.

However, my 10-11 month old will never be on anything natural as she's a clumsy eater and will only eat crickets that are loose in her enclosure (refuses to eat out of a separate container). She also has a tendency to chase water droplets and has more than once "caught" her paper towel. I wouldn't risk putting her on an ingestible substrate.

I know a lot of people also use sphagnum moss for a natural look, plus it retains humidity quite well.

I think ultimately what you decide to go with should be based on what works for your gecko. Get to know their habits/inclinations so you know what substrate could be used with little risk.

 

[CaptainMorgantown]

I guess that I should have also added that I do the same thing and take my reptiles out of their cages to eat, especially my frogs. I will probably do the same thing if I use the peat moss mix. I would love to do a planted cage, so I hope that it all works out.

I thought of another question as well. The gecko pictured above is a 3 year old male, but I have an opportunity to get a female for 25 dollars. Is it okay to keep them in the same enclosure? I know with chameleons it is a big no no.

 

[cassicat4]

It's a no for Cresteds as well. You should only keep males and females together during breeding. Otherwise, they should be housed separately. They are not social creatures and don't do well with others sharing their space. Bullying/fighting and intimidation behaviors often occur, which can result in injuries and stressed geckos. Sometimes two females can be housed together, but it's on an individual basis as to whether it will work.