Crested Gecko Care

These are the titles for each section in my crested gecko care guide, please use a link below to jump to that particular section or take your time and have a good read through the lot.

Introduction Information Housing Heating Humidity Feeding Substrate Lighting Breeding Incubation Hatchlings Handling Cleaning

Introduction

Before purchasing your Crested Gecko there should be a few things you must ask yourself first.

• Am I prepared to keep my gecko for the next 20 years of my life?
• Can I offer it a home and food all year round?
• Will I have the time needed to care for my leo?
• Can I be sure that if my leo becomes Ill I can pay for the treatments?

After asking yourself these questions do you feel comfortable to still get your Crested Gecko? If yes then next you need to decide where you will purchase your gecko. I cannot stress enough the fact to think about buying your crestie from a reputable breeder.

I have many reasons for saying this as store bought reptiles generally carry parasites. where ever you decide to go here are a few things to look for in a healthy Crested Gecko.

• Bright eyes,
• Alert to people around the vivarium,
• It should be interested in eating (ask the breeder or store to put in some crickets ).  
• When you get your new crested gecko home you should allow him/her to settle in for a week before handling.

Now that you know what to look for I will tell you the things needed to keep your Crested Gecko successfully.

Before purchasing your gecko you should ensure you have covered all of the requirements provided in my crested gecko care sheet and that your enclosure is setup a week before introducing your new gecko.

Information

The Crested Gecko or ( Rhacodactylus ciliatus ) has exploded onto the reptile scene in a big way, with many saying that it might possibly give the Leopard Gecko a run for it's money. They are saying this due to the extremely simple requirements needed to care for the Crested Gecko.

Crested Gecko's are native to Southern Grande Terre, New Caledonia and so far it has been found out they are also inhabiting one of the surrounding islands, Isle of Pines. This is great news as only just being rediscovered in 1994 after a presumed extinction the Crested Gecko is back.

They are an arboreal species and spend most of there time hanging out in the rainforest just above ground or sometimes found amongst the leaf litter. Being Nocturnal you can often find them in these places through the day but by night they will be out hunting for soft fruits or insects to eat.

Crested gecko's do not have eyelids and so clean them with there tongue,

They are believed to live anywhere from 10-20 years,

On there feet they have sticky pads which enable them to stick to almost any surface and hang upside down but they also have one at the end of there tail which enables them to be quite acrobatic,

Crested Gecko's can be kept at room temperature,

With triangular heads, dinosaur like spikes, big shiny eyes and amazing potential these make an excellent gecko to care for.

Housing

You can house your Crested Gecko in a simple or naturalistic vivarium depending on the gecko's age.

• One gecko can be housed comfortably in a 20 gallon tall, glass, plastic or screen vivarium,
• Three adult cresteds can be housed comfortably in a 29 gallon viv,
• Hatchling cresteds should be housed in 10 gallon vivs,
• You should provide plenty of climbing structures like branches, vines, live or fake bushy plants,
• And a Water bowl,

The vivarium should be kept particularly clean during quarantine.

Below is an example of a simple/quarantine setup.

And a heavily planted Vivarium for an adult Crested Gecko.

Heating

Crested Gecko's can be maintained successfully with no extra heating in some countries but in others you may need to supplement it by using a low wattage spot bulb.

• They thrive in temperatures between 72°f and 82°f, this can be easily maintained in most homes,
• Anything above 85°f and it could lead to illness or death of your Crested Gecko,
• A 2 month cooling period is recommended to allow breeding gecko's to rest. This can be done by dropping temperatures to 65°f - 70°f.

Humidity

Crested Gecko's require a humidity of around 50% - 60% through the day, in the late evening you can lightly mist the vivarium with a pesticide free, clean water sprayer to bring this up to 60% - 75% for adults. For hatchlings and juveniles the humidity should be kept a little higher especially when shedding.

Feeding

Crested Gecko's will eat insects and various fruits,

It is best to keep hatchlings on 10-14 ( 1/8inch ) crickets and these should be fed everyday,

For juveniles and adults they can be kept on crickets no bigger than the distance between there eyes and fed every other day,

On the days when not feeding crickets you should feed a pureed fruit mixture or fruit baby food to your gecko, this can be apricot, peach, pear, banana and apple but others may be consumed, for hatchlings this should be fed 2-3 times a week,

You can add a little treat in the fruit mixture for your gecko, you can do this by spiking it with a sprinkle of spirulina and bee pollen once a week, both of which a nutrient dense and will enhance the nutritional value of the fruit or baby food mixture.

You should always dust crickets and insects with calcium powder prior to feeding and these should always be gut-loaded 24 hours before being used as a feeder,

Due to recent research it is possible to maintain your gecko solely on a specially formulated diet created by Sandfire Dragon Ranch exclusively for T-REX. This diet is otherwise known as CGD ( Crested Gecko Diet ), it comes as a light brownish powder that you then mix with water to create a smoothie like mixture, you can then feed this to your gecko every evening for hatchlings/juveniles and every other evening for adults. Sometimes if your gecko is already feeding on babyfood or a fruit puree it may take some time to ween them off and onto the CGD. Do this by increasing the amount mixed with the fruit mixture or try coating your crickets in it.

Hatchling Crested Gecko's should take to the CGD nicely and have been kept solely and successfully on it with no problems, meaning no need to feed insects but it is always better to keep crickets in the gecko's diet as it's in there nature to hunt.

Substrate

They can be kept on a number of substrates but care must be taken so that your gecko does not ingest any loose substrate as this can cause impaction.

If keeping hatchling or juvenile cresties it is best to use either nothing at all or paper towel.

Once over 6 months old they can be kept on bark mulch, sphangum moss, a mix of peat and moss, paper towel or nothing at all.

Lighting

Crested Gecko's do not really require additional lighting unless it is needed to boost up the temperature of the vivarium, in which case you should use a low wattage spot bulb.

You can use red or blue glass bulbs for night time viewing, ( not painted ).

Breeding

Breeding Crested Gecko's is a relatively simple process, firstly you will need a healthy male and female. Males mature at around 9 months of age but it is recommended you wait until the female is around 14 months or 30 - 35 grams in weight before breeding ( subtract 3-5 grams for tail less females ).

Males can be easily distinguished by the large hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail,

In order to induce breeding temperatures should be maintained between 75°f and 80°f with a nightime drop of 5°f,

Females should then be fed everyday dusting the crickets 3 times per week,

In the enclosure you should provide a lay box big enough for the female to get into, this can contain sphagnum moss or a peat moss mixture and should be 4 - 5 inches deep. It should be covered with a slab of bark to add security for the female.

This can then be checked everyday for eggs when breeding and if any eggs are found they should be removed immediately to prevent them from drying out,

Females should lay a clutch of eggs every 25 - 35 days,

If using a substrate like sphagnum moss or a peat moss mixture it can sometimes be a pain searching around for the eggs so it is advised to not use a substrate during laying so that you force the female to lay her eggs into the egg container to make it easier to find them.

Incubation

Once the eggs have been removed from the laying container they can then be placed inside an incubation box, this can be a small sandwich box filled with vermiculite about 1 - 2 inches deep. You should use a 1:2 ratio of water to vermiculite and you should remove the lid for a few minutes twice a week to allow air exchange and to check the eggs.

The eggs can be incubated in an incubator or in a room provided the temperature stays stable. The ideal temperature is between 72°f and 80°f but I would recommend somewhere in between, these should then hatch at around 65 days.

Hatchlings

Hatchlings and juveniles should be maintained in small to medium plastic critter keeper with a very simple setup. It should contain only a few climbing branches some foliage for cover and a small water bowl. It is best to use paper towel or nothing at all for substrate to reduce the risk of impaction.

They can be lightly misted twice daily, once in the morning and again in the evening to aid in shedding as young cresteds have been known to have trouble shedding there skin at a young age.

You can feed them 10-14 ( 1/8 inch ) crickets everyday and dusted with calcium powder every other day.

Also feed a fruit puree or babyfood mixture 2-3 times a week.

Handling

Crested Gecko's do tolerate a certain amount of handling and can tame down rather nicely if the time is put in to form the bond but some can be flighty and may try to bite, they can be handled once every evening for around 5 minutes if your gecko will tolerate it. Never try to grab your gecko as this can stress them out easily but allow them to climb onto your hand when they are ready to. If you tear your gecko out of it's enclosure you could damage the feet and if grabbed by the tail he/she might possibly drop it.

Cleaning

Depending on your setup these points may differ but I'll try to cover all areas.

If using a simple setup or quarantining then cleaning should be a breeze,

• Clean all cage items thoroughly once a week with boiling water,
• You may need to scrub down fake or silk plants and branches,
• Clean all food and water dishes everyday,

When using a naturalistic setup all points remain but if you have a messy substrate this can be removed of all faecal matter and left in place for a month maximum, at this time it should be replaced.