Care Sheet for Geckos: CrestedAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 3.89 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 03/29/2005 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Geckos: Crested |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Dr. Tegu |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Crested Gecko |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Rhacodactylus ciliatus, Eyelash Gecko and of course Crested Gecko |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Its very simple to tell male from females when full grown. Males develop extremely large hemipenal bulges. At around six months most cresteds reach sexaul maturity and should shw signs of male or female. If to young to sex it is a good idea to raise the animals separately until one is completely sure of the sex. Adult males tend to weigh slightly less than adult females.
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Mostly Active During: | Night |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Use paper towels or coconut fiber as the substrate, and mist the cage two to three times aday especialy in the eveing. You can use large pieces of cork bark or branches for climbing, a nestbox with moist coconut fiber, and a plastic catch basin for shelter. A water dish is recommend but cresteds will drink the water droplets off the leaves after misting. |
Lighting and UVB: | No light is needed since they are nocturnal. But UVB light is some times recommend to bring out colors. A 12-14 hour period of light is beneficial. It should vary from season to season, becoming cooler and darker during the winter and hotter and brighter during the summer. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | During the day the temperature should range between 72-80 F (22-27 C) and 65-75 F (18-24 C) during the night . Humidity is very important since they a rain forest species. Humidity should range between 55-65% during the day and 70-80% at night. Spraying a few times a day helps keep the humidity just right along with a coconut substrate.
60-75% during the night
65% average
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Heating and Equipment: | None are required unless you wan t to use a UVB to try to bring out colors. I find UVB works nice with red Cresteds. |
Caging Provided: | A single specimen can be kept in a well-planted enclosure measuring 12" x 12" x 18 (10-15 gallon). Glass aquariums oriented vertically can also be utilized to house specimens singularly. A breeding pair or a trio can be housed in an enclosure measuring 18" x 18" x 24" (20-30 gallon)throughout their lives. Branches should be provided at varying heights and orientations for perching and climbing purposes. The bottom of the enclosure should have a well moisture absorbing substrate. UVB light during the day might be beneficial to crested geckos, but they seem to thrive and reproduce without UVB light. |
Diet: | Omnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Adult crested geckos should be fed 3-4 times a week. Half of the diet can be composed of various appropriate sized insects such as crickets, silkworms, waxworms and newly molted mealworms. The other half of the diet can be composed of mashed fruits such as apple, apricot, banana, peach and different berries. Commercial baby food brands such as Gerber© and Beech-Nut© are readily available in baby food section of a local supermarket. Hatchlings and juvenile crested geckos should be fed 4-5 times a week for optimal growth. Calcium supplement should be used 1-2 times a week for adult geckos and more frequently for juveniles and breeding females. Vitamin supplements should be provided once every 1-2 weeks. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Some feeder insects lack most the required nutrients for a crested gecko to thrive. It is important to supplement vitamins and calcium into insects(gutload). Calcium supplement should be offered at every other feeding for adult crested geckos and more often for juveniles and gravid females. This can be done by "dusting" feeder insects prior to being offered to your crested geckos. Calcium and vitamin supplements can also be mixed with mashed fruits.
Multi-vitamin supplements should be offered once every week or every two weeks depending on how well you gutload your feeder insects. Popular brands such as Herptivite and Reptivite are commonly available in reptile stores.
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Maintenance: | Spot cleaning should be done every day and a thorough clean should be done once a month using 5% bleach & water cleaning solution. Rinse well very well. Also if using real wood or bark, clean wood with very hot water and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to destroy all molds and bacteria. |
Some Words on this Species: | N/A |
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