New Crested Geckos

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Everybody,

I recently aquired 2 crested geckos. I was told that they were both males and that they were approx. 4 yrs. old. After reading that males should not be kept together but realizing that these two got along OK I brought them to the local pet shop to check. I'm 95% sure that they are both females which is good news for me because all I need to do is get a male now.

They came in a 14.5" x 14.5" x 25" flexarium with some decorations. I made a nesting box with a tupperware container and put some sphagnum moss and cocout fibre bedding in it and keep it fairly moist. I've been feeding them fruit blend baby food and smushed up banana. I tried mixing some gecko diet with the baby food but they don't seem to be eating it. I've tried crickets as well but I'm not sure if they're eating those either. I put about 5 or 6 in last weekend which were still in there for quite a while. I put 3 in the other night and haven't seen them but haven't searched the enclosure either. I mist them twice a day and every other day put a warm damp towel over the back of the enclosure to help with humidity.

I have a 30 gal. aquarium that I was thinking of putting vertically and getting a mesh door for to help with the humidity. I would like to see what other people who have cresties have for their setups. Also ... any other food options or ideas would be welcomed. I tried unsweetened applesauce but they didn't seem to show any interest.

BTW - How long does baby food last in the fridge??

I've attached a pic of these geckos.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[danielle609]

They are adorable! I really miss mine, one day when I have more room and time I may pick some up. I think it is so cute when they lick baby food off your finger. I could sit there for hours just watching them eat. (not really but I think you get the point ) i think baby food should stay good for at least 5 days after opening...not really sure though sorry. Sounds like you have a good home for them!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Crested Geckos.........

Hi there Dyesub Dave! What does Dyesub mean? Just being nosey as usual. It looks like you do have two females. They would have huge tail bulges by now if they were males. You need to get a male for them so you can get some babies going My Crested Geckos are still unsexed babies. It's going to be several months until I can sex them. I have them split into two 18 x 18 x 18 ExoTerra cages. They hold the humidity in really well. Below is a picture:



I mist the cage at the time the lights go off at night and they start drinking right away. When they are adults I am going to put them into 1.3 breeding groups in 18 x 18 x 36 screen chameleon cages that are heavily planted. I am going to use Hoya plants that are shaped into topiaries and area about 30" tall. I have about 7 of those in my chameleon cages already. Female chams love them because they can sleep inside the topiary.

My babies are eating mostly crickets now. I use the Repashy Superfoods premade diet and then I add fresh diced fruit. They have been reluctant to eat it in the cage but they will eat it from my fingers while they sit on my hand. You might try that Dave. Just dip your finger in it and put it up to their mouth. They will taste it and maybe start eating it. Baby food will last about 5 days in the fridge.

Your nest box sounds good. Mine are too young so I don't have to mess with that yet. Your females are very pretty. You should get some real nice looking babes out of them. Jenna (Prism Chameleons) from this group is doing Geckos too. She's starting primarily with babies like I am. She's done a lot more work with them in the past than I have, and attended some big international Gecko Symposium a year or so ago. She is going to try the aquarium turned sideways too. Hers has a sliding screen top. So she would be a good source of info on them.

I'll try to get pictures of mine posted next week. I am running around like crazy this week. Bye

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey there,

Dyesub is short for Dye Sublimation. Where I work I transfer special inks on to various items .... plastic & metal badges, plaques, hardboard coasters, fabrics, etc. ... using a heat press. There's an explanation here if you want to check it out ... http://www.tek-press.co.uk/sublimation-explained-1-w.asp

I've noticed that my cresties don't seem to be eating that much. I've been putting a few crickets in and little deli cups with baby food and smushed up banana in them. They seem to lick a bit off my finger but other that that their cups look untouched. Do you guys have any other suggestions for food? What kinds of baby food work the best and other types of fruit that yours seem to like?

I'm not sure that they're currently in the ideal setup and want to improve it very soon. I'll take a pic of what they're currently in and post it this weekend.

Crested geckos are very cool and I'm really looking forward to getting a male and hopefully hatching some babies!!

Later ... Dyesub Dave.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Better Cage Picture.....

Hi again Dave! Thanks for explaining the DyeSub thing.....Makes total sense now I just realized I posted the wrong gecko cage picture. The one I posted is just a close up of the food/water area. Here is a better overall picture:



Are your geckos pooping? I saw little poop the first few days I had mine. I don't think mine ate much for awhile after I got them. I found more and larger poops as the days went by. Mine are not eating the prepared food unless I feed them from my finger. They are eating crickets. I'm not going to worry as long as they are eating something. I'm just putting in enough crickets to eat eat night. I want them to have a good gutload.

We had a huge wind storm here yesterday. The power was off for hours. All the chams went to sleep. All the geckos started running around and having a big party

 

[Dyesub Dave]

New Enclosure!

I just got my cresties in their new setup last night! I bought some new plants from RONA and gave them a quick shower to clean them off. Their new home is fairly simple at the moment but I've been thinking about closing in the bottom 4-5 inches with plexi or something and using peat moss and soil and planting directly in the cage. Currently I still have the plants in the pots and only paper towels in the bottom. I'm trying to find a nice cork bark log that they'll be able to hide in. I also have a piece of thin black plastic material stuck to the back of the enclosure to help keep the hunidity up. I may cover one of the sides with this material as well. See attached pic.

Plants included are Pothos, Peperomia, Croton and Dracaena. The large leafed green plant beside the nesting box is fake. You can see one of the geckos coming out of the nesting box and the other is in the top of the reddish coloured plant. I brought lists of Safe & Toxic plants with me to be sure however I bought this one plant from Wal-Mart that I thought would be perfect but it wasn't on either of my lists. Of course when I got home and did some reasearch I found out that the Elephant Ear (Alocasia) is toxic ... too bad they would have liked it.

This enclosure is much larger than the 38 gal. reptarium that they came in. Let me know what you think of it. As always any suggestions or ideas are welcomed.

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.


NOTE: Added a 6" Snake Plant!!

 

[Smitty]

I personally would add in more hwy's in there (walking paths) with vines, or something, it didn't look like some of those plants would provide the stability needed for walking from one plant to another without going to the bottom... then again it is only a picture!

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Smitty,

Yeah I was thinking of something like that but wasn't sure if these geckos would like thin vines or not? I can get some grape vines from behind my place for free that would be up to 1/2" thick .. I use them for my chams already. Maybe I should give them a try. Like I said I'm planning on getting some cork bark for hides as well.

Thanks for you suggestion.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Smitty]

If you have that easy of access to them then I would say go for it. Hard to tell if they will or won't use it but I would think it is better to have the option available for them, and remove it if they don't use it than to never have that option to begin with.

I'm not too familiar with their activities so I can't say for sure, but mose reptiles that I know do like having some kind of sticks or other like items to climb on from time to time.

 

[SuperRad]

OMG. Those crested geks are so nice. I want one .

i always wanted to get way into gecko's or cham's. i chose chams.

in Arizona we have a million western banded gecko's and western Mediterranean gecko's running all around here, i pick 'em up and play with 'em for a while or feed them some nice gutloaded crickets and then let 'em go.

 

[danielle609]

Hi Dave! Just got your PM. It was actually my first PM I feel so special But I think the cage looks nice! Lets just say my cresties didn't have a very classy home. I housed my pairs in ten gallon aquariums, so I am sure they would have rather been living with you! At school we had a "colony" of cresties that were housed in a cage like yours, but I believe it was glass. The only thing I have a question about is how well they can climb the screen. I have only housed mine in glass so I have no idea about the screen. I am sure it is fine though, I don't think it would cause any problems! Looks nice!

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Smitty ... I went down looking for some vines/wood yesterday. I found some smaller vines for my chams and a couple small pieces of wood but nothing that I really thought suited the geckos. They seem to be doing OK with the plants for now. I want to find a piece of wood that seems to suit these geckos and their enclosure.

BTW - I saw this HUGE vine that came from a tree branch about 100 ft. or more up straight down to the ground. It must have been at least 2" thick .. just like something out of Tarzan. My son thought so too as he was swinging on it !! ( I tested it first of course! ) I've never seen anything like that before!


SuperRad ... I would be in HEAVEN if there were little lizards running around me all the time. I was in Florida as a kid and was totally amazed to see the lizards running free all over the place. I'm just too used to squirrels I guess!!



Danielle ... happy to have helped in the SPECIAL department! LOL I was wondering that about these geckos too when they came in their small flexarium. However they seem to have no problems climbing in either enclosure. I did put a layer of thin plastic at the back of this cage that they can also easily climb on. And hopefully between all the plants and the back being covered the humidity will stay close to desired levels. Now all I need is a male to get some eggs goin' on !!

Thanks for your replies everybody!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[danielle609]

Danielle ... happy to have helped in the SPECIAL department! LOL I was wondering that about these geckos too when they came in their small flexarium. However they seem to have no problems climbing in either enclosure. I did put a layer of thin plastic at the back of this cage that they can also easily climb on. And hopefully between all the plants and the back being covered the humidity will stay close to desired levels. Now all I need is a male to get some eggs goin' on !!

Thanks for your replies everybody!

Dyesub Dave.

If they are climbing on it with no problems then I would assume that it is perfectly fine! I think the plastic backing was a good idea!

You should def. get a male! It is very cool seeing them emerge from the eggs. You know what is funny is that you could find a male, breed your cresties and have them hatch even before your chameleons do! LOL ...I guess it is another hobby to keep your mind off your 26 eggs that could take a while to hatch

 

[Dyesub Dave]

You know what is funny is that you could find a male, breed your cresties and have them hatch even before your chameleons do! LOL ...I guess it is another hobby to keep your mind off your 26 eggs that could take a while to hatch

Yeah ... like I need another hobby!! LOLOL I can barely keep up with what I have now!! I need to have a bigger place so I can just stay home and look after my pets all day ... while breeding fish and lizards to pay the bills!! C'mon lottery!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[danielle609]

C'mon lottery!

Dyesub Dave.

yeah right....In our dreams!LOL

 

[PardalisGirl]

New Crested Cage

Hi Dave! Sorry it took so long to see this. My computer crashed. My new one doesn't come til today and it will be a couple of days to get things running again. I have very limited internet access right now.

The cage looks great! I bought a couple of the rubbery bendable branch things at the pet store. They have a couple of plastic leaves sprouting from them. Not the bio-vine stuff. It's thicker and smoother so it's easier to clean poop off of. The Cresties do spend a lot of time on them at night here.

Hope you get some eggs. My Cresties are much too young. They are getting much tamer. They will sit on my hand and lick off the Repashy Gecko Diet stuff from a finger. That's the only way they will eat the stuff. Won't touch it in their cage.

Well got to go. I miss this site. I can't wait until I can post and read here again

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Oh, I just saw this thread! Your cage looks great and yeah, they do just fine in screen cages as well as glass. I have some in both screen & glass terrariums. I just love the geckos. I have cresties and leopard geckos now, in addition to my panthers. They always look like they are smiling . It's nice to see some of the chameleon fans having geckos too! I can't wait to have some babies next year!

 

[PardalisGirl]

Pictures Jenna

Hi Jenna Me thinks and knows you have some excellent Leopard Gecko pictures.........................Please post them in a new thread in this forum. You need to be sharing so we can appreciate. (I saw some of Jenna's pictures on another group forum). They are just too cute

 

[Zoey]

Oh wow they are gorgeous