Crested Geckos questions.

[damzookeeper]

I want to add cresties to my collection in the future but I have a few questions.
1). can I house babies in small aquariums, kritter keepers, or rubbermaids like I was told I could, Or should I make small screen cages like 1 foot hight by 6 or 8 inches squared. These would be for the babies if I'm successful? I was thinking the screen cages would be better with daily mistings but maybe the glass or plastic would be?

2) will baby cresties eat mealies? I don't get crickets often, usually only when I get baby beardies. My leos are mostly on a mealie diet with occasional crickets.

3)Can I use Hienz brand baby foods for them? And is there any I should stay away from?

4)Basic husbandry I think I have down now. I had one a few months ago but I had it in the herp room and he over heated and passed away. :( I knew not to keep him above 80 degrees but I was away and didn't realize it got very hot in the room. Above 100 degrees. :(
I will now be housing them in the basement with minimul lighting for heat in the winter. My question is.... how low of a temp can I leave them at through the night? I think it can get as low as 60 through the night down there. On average it is about 65-67 degrees but on the really cold nights I'm sure it dropps lower.

5) can I use black or red lights on their cages to bring up the heat during the winter if neccessary or can they see it and get stressed from it?

Sorry for all the question, I want to be ready for them this time! still have lots to learn!

[RaVeNo888o]

Hi.
From what i understand (i havent gotten mine yet :) )

1) I purchased a kritter keeper from a baby crestie. I believe that the closed sided eclosures are better. The cresties get most of their drinking water from the drops on the leaves from misting. so you will need to mist at night and you dont want it all drying up right away (which could happen with screen sides)
The kritter keepers are good for babies because you dont want too much room, later you can upsize the tank to 20 or so.

2) I havent heard of problems with babies and mealies. I do know that the cresties will eat mealies and that is one of the main things i plan to feed mine. Im just not sure if there are problems with the babies eating them ,but i imagine they should eat them readily. just make sure you dont give them huge ones

3) Not sure about the baby food brands..good question though, i would love to know, since this is going to be the other main food i give mine.

4) If i remember correctly, the night time temp can drop to mid to high 60's (possibly a little lower??) and they should be fine. Just make sure that they are mid to high 70's during they day.

5) Not sure on this one either. I planned to get one of those moon lights for the tank. since they are active at night it would be nice to give them a little light, plus its cool to watch at night (i use the moon light for my cal king) Not sure about the red light, i dont believe they can see this light

im mostly sure my answers are accurate, but i would love to know the answers to 3 and 5

[HeatherRose]

Hi :D

1. Hatchlings can be kept in smallish Kritter keepers, but not for too long...cresteds are arborial, so height is most important. When your cresties get bigger, they'll need more height and lots of stuff to climb...I'm not sure about a screen enclosure though, hopefully someone else can answer.

2. My cresties love mealies :D it's really neat to watch them eat them, but not too often, ad they are mostly fat and offer little protien.

3. Heinz is fine :D try to get the flavours that aren't full of filler or sugar...lots of them are just pureed fruit anyway :)

4. 60 is a little too cool....I'm not sure how cool exactly is alright, mine never gets under 70-72...they can take the cooler temps better than the warmer ones for sure though.

5. I had a black or 'moon light' on mine and it was fine :) it didn't heat the cage up much though :|

Hope I helped! Good luck with any future cresties :D

4.

[Aaron_S]

Temps can go down as low as 65. I wouldn't go any lower then that though.

I don't think a baby crestie could eat a regular mealie.Well maybe a small one but fresh molt,I don't think baby cresties have the power to break through the exoskeleton of the mealie.

Correction: Mealies are high in protein and not in fat. Waxworms are the ones that are high in fat.We all make mistakes sometime:P must have been real late for you Heather. No coffee I assume.

I've kept my hatchlings in critter keepers and they do well in them.

The red lights and moon lights a crestie can not see. I don't know how well they work cause I have never used them.

[RaVeNo888o]

they cant see the moonligts? its not an actual black light..just has some bluish coating.

[katev17]

Aaron, au contraire, mealies ARE high in fat. .. but you know, "we all make mistakes sometimes" ...

[Aaron_S]

I guess we do make mistakes....oh well now I learned something...thanks kate.

[katev17]

Anytime Aaron

[HeatherRose]

Why thankyou Kate! Mealies are now high in fat and low in protein, just because we say so. Aaron should lose 'priviliges' :mad: but I just can't stay mad, look at my new cute little crestie :D He's so awesome <3

ANYWAY, I've used 'moon lights' or black lights or the blue-y coated light or what have you....it doesn't add much light, unless you want to use it at night, it's better than total darkness if you want to see them as they're quite active at night.

They don't offer much heat though, not enough to use it 'just in case' it gets cold in the winter...the kind I used, anyway :)

[RaVeNo888o]

i took the moonlight off my cal king cage and stuck it ontop of the crestie cage and it is just enough to be able to see what he is up to..thats really the reason i bought it in the first place..to be able to see em at night. Im not really worried about the heat cause my mom barely uses the a/c and its always like 28* C in my house during the summer (we had a hot spell the beginning of summer for like a week and my mom refused to put a/c on..she said just open the windows, so it was 32* in the house) anyways..rambling on..

[Aaron_S]

http://www.wormman.com/giants.htm

http://www.anapsid.org/resources/preynutrients.html

[RaVeNo888o]

what are you trying to show us? just places that sell em or something else?

[HeatherRose]

He's attempting to prove that mealies ARE mostly protein, not fat...

Perhaps we can AGREE (*squeezes her stressball*) that maybe one of the sites says they're more protein than fat....but it's not too big of a difference, and it still means mealies are fattening.

Crickets are better all around anyway.

[Aaron_S]

yes,Heather is correct. Crickets are all around the number one choice. My babies grow rather quickly on a cricket based diet.

Actually BOTH sites state mealworms have more protein. But the fat content is higher then I expected.But they certainly are not low in protein as someone stated. "We all make mistakes"

[HeatherRose]

:medsly: ....alright! You win ;) I still think mealies aren't as good a source of protien as crickets, and that crickets are all around better...
:) We agree on that, right?

[Aaron_S]

yes we agree on that crickets rule. WOO HOO I WIN!

[damzookeeper]

Baha, you guys are nutts!!lol

I was asking about the mealies because I don't usually buy much for crickets unless I have baby beardies. And when I buy I have to buy in quantities of 1000. But I'm sure I could figure something out. What size crickets do you start hatchlings out on and roughly what age do they change to bigger? Is it same rule as leos 2/3 the size of their head or do they need smaller?
Also, I know I can use baby foods, what about real fruits like peach, banana, or pear? Can they eat it if it is cut up in cubes? or should I put it in a blender?
What percent of insect to fruits should they have as hatchlings nad juvies and what percent as parents or is this a factor with them?
Thanks for all your help.

[HeatherRose]

You hear that? We're nuts :O

I think the 2/3 of the head rule is the same....or you can just use pinheads or 'small crickets' for hatchlings.

I go to Petsmart usually, so I get the 'small' ones. Today I went to a different store and got pinheads, which seem to be fine for my smaller crestie :)

I think some eat real fruit, you'd need to mush it up or put it in a blender....or just use babyfood :)

My crested loves banana (watch out for banana due to the potassium) 'mixed fruit', blueberry and peach :) These are all babyfoods though.

In the wild, the crested geckos live on something like 90% fruit, but I'm not sure if it differs between adults and juvies. Hopefully someone else will answer :)

[Aaron_S]

Nuts! I've been called worse.

My babies start on pinheads then move up to 1/2in at about 4-6 weeks then I would move them up to 2/3rd at about 10-12 weeks.

My babies live solely on crickets until they are juvies where I start to give mealies and other worms along with babyfood. Adults live on crickets,mealies,silkworms,waxies and babyfood.

[damzookeeper]

Thanks Guys. Really appriciated! Now I just have to work on temps in the basement, and where I'm going to keep them. lol. Since I put the herp room down there I brought the temps up from 75-85 in that part of the basement, on the other side it is between 70-78 during the summer but I'm not sure how far it goes down in winter yet. :(

[alan]

I have fed my cresties crickets, mealworms and babyfood since I got them. I didn't change the diet so far but I do feed them more as they grow. I also tried feeding them silkworms once too but they don't seem to like it.

[RaVeNo888o]

you can just blend up the fruits if you want. last night i blended up a wholde mango and it made enough for like 25 meals.
The baby food i bought had added sugar so i need to take it back and get the stuff without sugar.