new cresties

[procman]

hi there,new crestie owner with a few question's.I just purchased a collection of crested gecko's.Don't know what sex they are yet.I got 6@9 months old,3@6 month's old and 3 @3 month's old.Came with 12 10 gallon tank's.I intend to make some melamite glass fronted display case's with live plant's branch's maybe some kind of misting system.would 18x18x36high be big enough for 3 cresties in one case???Any ideas on type of plant's e.t.c???Also i keep reading that they love fruit baby food -they won't touch it.Tried peach, apricot, banana.tried the t-rex gecko food, nope to any of it.Tried this for about 4 day's(changing it daily)Then tried cricket's, thankfully they ate them.I'm worried that if i can't keeep a steady supply of cricket's at home they will starve even if i put other food out for them.Any suggestion's as to what else to offer them???At the moment i'm feeding them 3 appropriate sized, dusted cricket's every night and misting them 3 time's a day.Is this enough cricket's???Had them 2 week's now,got paper towel on floor of tank's. strip's of egg carton's,screen lid's.Room temp 65 f to 70 f.I wanted a hobby for home and this opportunity came up.Hope any one can help.sorry about the long winded letter i won't bore you again.Promise!!

[Ptindy]

First off, congrats on the additions. That size of enclosure you mentioned would be a good size for 3 adults. Much more generous in space then some I've seen or heard of. You can house the 9 month olds together as long as there isn't more then one male in a group and you can house the 3 months together for a couple more months then start watching for males to drop hemipenes. Seperate them immediately. I have heard of females fighting even after a couple years of living together so if you want a one male and two female adult group make them an enclosure the size that you mentioned so each has it's own little area. I would house the 6 months separately however until you are aware of their sex if possible. As for plants I like pothos for cover and Dracenia's are nice. I'm kinda looking for plants myself right now. They do love baby food, just ones who aren't raised on it don't know anything about it as they've never seen it. I've had a couple that didn't see any before my care and now they all eat it. Just place some on the tip of their nose and they will lick it off, then place some more on there. Then offer them the bowl in front of their face and they may start to eat it. Don't feed to much banana as it has lots of phosphorus which will affect their calcium intake. Crickets and baby food are all that mine see. For the 9 and 6 month old cresties I would feed them every other night and alternate the dustings, one calcium, no supplements, and then every two weeks do a vitamin dusting. Breeding females supplement them with more calcium. You'll find a pattern that works for you and the cresties will be healthy. As for the 3 months I would feed two days in a row then skip a day, then two days in a row then skip a day. I would feed them with calcium more then the older crested geckos as they are still growing a lot more. 3 dusted crickets a day works well as I feed mine 6 at a time every other day. You'll figure out your own feeding schedule I just stated what I do above. Is it possible to boost the temperature of your room above 70 for the day? 65-70 is okay at night but it should warm up a little during the day. This is an addicting hobby so brace yourself! Best of luck with them and don't be afraid to pm me or email and questions at michaelpytyck@hotmail.com. Take care,

Mike

[little_dragon_]

wow that's a lot of crested's to buy on impulse. You should never buy an animal without knowing its basic care first. I suggest you do some of your own research before asking others for answers.

Where should we start....
You are going to need enough crickets to feed 12 cresteds at least 3 times a week if you want them to grow up nice and healthy. Alternate with babyfood. Their stomachs are not big a teaspoon is fine. Most lizards need time to adjust in new homes. No matter if they are in the same tanks as the previous owners your house temp and humidity is a lot different. 65-70 is not good for raising cresteds, that's a night temp or a winter cycle to decline breeding behaviour. If you want them to grow quickly keep temp at 78-80. With high humidity. Live plants work well for cresteds pothos, snake plants, ficus, joesphs coat, the list is endless. Make them feel secure, egg cartons are excellent for hides. Use the t rex mix with the babyfood you don't need to mix in a lot. leopard gecko icb works well as a supplement of calcium with d3. The leo icb contains most of the ingredients from the cgd. goodluck.

[procman]

thank's mike for your reply and suggestion's.I had already tried the finger in the food method e.t.c but they did'nt seem really interested.I don't mind feeding them crick's just trying to find something else they like for them.I'm going to make up a batch of the home made blended stuff i've seen on another thread and freeze them in ice cube tray's.I did'nt impulse buy the crestie's as someone else suggested been thinking about this for a while. i must have done some research on them as prior to getting the geck's i got a load of baby food, t-rex formula and a thousand crick's.sure i got quite a few for a first timer but it was a take it or leave it deal from a marriage break up situation.I also got 6 beardies with 6 fully set up tank's,and yes i did some prior research and stocked up with food before i picked them up.No problem's with them eating.As you look around the web site's at the various care sheet's out there. a lot contridicte each other-e.g use sand,don't use sand.feed them this don't feed them this -put water in box ,don't put water in box.I just posted my question's to get a feel for how you guy's are caring for your own crestie's in your own home that's what i thought this forum was for. If -in a few month's time, i get bored with them i could alway's put them all on the barbie, the bare foot bushman Rob Bridle say's they make real good tucker.Only kidding, I'll just feed them to my dog.thanx

[DragnDrop]

As mentioned, the general temperature should be a bit higher during the day, for night it's okay. They'll probably be better off in the 10 gallon tanks until you can sex them safely. Setting them up individually for the first few months works well, removes the stress from a bossy roommate. If you have room for all those tanks it's ideal. The 18x18x36high tank would be able to safely house a 1.3 group, don't need an auto misting system though, they're not that particular about humidity to need it.

As for the feeding, I wouldn't worry too much as long as they're eating something. Since they're cold blooded, they don't need as much food as we think they should, so we tend to panic about how little they eat. Unless the gecko definitely isn't eating much, I don't worry. If they're growing, eating something, then I let them decide if they're hungry and how much to eat. Some are gluttons, some eat like birds. I've never seen a healthy gecko starve itself to death, they just go through stages of eating and fasting.

[Stevo26]

Originally posted by procman
I'll just feed them to my dog.thanx

;) I KNOW your just kidding, but seriously, if you ever want to let any go.....well I could never have too many cresteds :)
beardies too? i want beardies! you say you might get bored with them, well I doubt it.

[little_dragon_]

cocobark will help maintain humidity and it's a very good natural substrate.