New Crestie+Question

[PDDM]

Today I bought a Flame Crestie thats around 4 Months old. I was out tank shopping for my beardie and saw him/her at the store at 129$ special (which is pretty good here even normals go for 140$+ and ive never seen one this size in pet stores usualy they sell only hatchlings) so i was thinking. i have some fake plants at home, a hydrometer(i bought accidently instead of a thermometer) and a empty 20 gallon that the beardie used before. unfortunately my tank was costing me 180$ and my aunts were buying it for me for my 16th birthday i had 35 with me so i negotiated my aunts to put in the difference and that i pay them back tomorrow when i get my birthday money from my other half of my family. its odd because the night previously i had been looking into crested gecko caresheets and today by dumbluck i ran into one. so on the way home it pooped in the box it was in it wasnt watery and looked healthy so i take that this means its a healthy gecko (unfortunately i had bought a hatchling when i was 14 and it was ill and passed away after a month of me trying to care for it..). Anyways "Comet" is now in a 20 gallon tank(its both tall as it is wide) with a long vine strenching diagonaly from the bottom of the tank to the top into the fake plants it also has egg cartons leaned up in acorner, substrates paper towel and im testing humidity and temps right now, and before i left 4 crickets in and im left with 2 so im pretty sure its eating (already too and i just brought it home) his pics will be up tomorrow



Alright so i read my crestie needs temps between 72-75 but my thermometer read like a 65.. is that goodfor night? Cause i kinda freaked and looked all over the house for a black light or red butb was out of luck anyways tonight I put a heat bad (a medium sized one i suppose) on the side of the tank.. i dont know how much good it is, sghould i put it underneath the tank or on the side? i figure since there aboreal the side but I want to make sure (ill be getting the red/black bulb tomorrow this is just a one night thing)

Thanks For looking

[HerpAddict]

Congrats on your new buddy!

Depending on the heat that the pad gives off, I wouldn't put it on the tank. You can burn these guys easily with a heat pad, as they are not like bearded or other basking herps that can stand that sort of heat. Using a red or black bulb will not work at night because they see it plain as day, and so it will disrupt their sleeping patterns. Your best bet if you want to raise the temperature is either a bulb for daylight only, and then let your night temps get down to 65 (which is perfectly fine for this time of year), or you could try to heat the room more, by either a space heater, or putting the tank nearer a heat source (but be REALLY careful with both of these options). It is coldest near windows and the lower you go in a room/house. I keep my guys on walls furthest from windows, and higher up on their 'rack', and keep the crickets/feeders and other supplies on the lower racks.

Rule of thumb with these guys is that if the heat feels more than luke warm on the glass, then you are getting it too hot.

Goodluck, and let us know how it goes!

[PDDM]

Well how about those aboreal lizard heat pads there selling now anyone ever try them? Im worried about 65 cause its gonna most probably get alot colder, and the heater in my room decides when it works (its kinda old) soi figure the only thing was a purple/red bulb. even the ones designed for reptiles like the heatlamps and moonglow purple things will keep cresties up?

[HerpAddict]

I've been told that they can see them, you can prove it to yourself by holding one of them near (but not too close) to your gecko at night, and you will see their eyes close, because they are blocking the light.

The arboreal heat pads are just as warm as the desert ones, it's just a marketing ploy. Their wattage (8W) is identical, and so is everything else about them. They just are trying to get arboreal people interested in them. If you are going to use it, then you need to put a dimmer switch on it, so that you can moderate the heat it gives off.

I own a desert one and an arboreal one, and they both get too hot for cresteds (without a dimmer) in my opinion. I never use heat pads with them. Your best bet would be to buy a new heater if you are worried. I picked one up at Canadian Tire for $40 that has a thermostat on it, so it won't over heat the room while I'm gone. Or turn up your furnace.

If you were to use a heat pad, the only way I would suggest it would be to put cocofibre in there about 3 inches thick as a substrate, and then put the heating pad under it. Otherwise I think there is a good risk of burning your little one.

[PDDM]

Also ive heard on another forum that my Thermometer the exoterra ones can be off by 20 !
So tomorrow im going out with 190$ to spend on enclosure items probably a bunch of fake plants and a good reliable thermometer, Perhaps a water fall and hammock but what should i buy for the heat thing? A Ceramic heater dome thingga-majig?

Also while im here rather then making a new topic i have a question

Im feeding the crestie Banana baby food.. The guy who sold me him a worker in the pet store said strangely that the crested hated anything to do with apricot but loved anything to do with banana.. i tried feeding him a mix of something n banana he wouldnt take it but when its just banana alone he goes nuts hes ate quite a bit in the two days ive had him but has yet to eat insects ( i only leave the cricks in for half an hour at night after ive misted) can i just give banana baby food or is it not good(i mean like for the babyfood just banana i know i have to feed him cricks)?

[HerpAddict]

Absolutely DO NOT buy a ceramic heat emitter! You will be almost guaranteed to overheat/kill your crested with one of those. They are meant for desert reptiles, such as beardies.

Waterfalls are something to watch out for because if you don't clean them well and often, then they can be a breeding source for bacteria. Also, you might find a lot of crickets drowning in it.

Your best bet for accessories are real/fake plants. Real ones like pothos or snake plant. Also, lots of branches (can't have too many!) for it to jump around on.



As for your feeding question:
Banana normally is a hit. Keep in mind cresteds generally don't like anything citrus, such as oranges, apples, kiwi (basically anything high in Vit C).

You should be leaving those crickets in there all night at the very least. Sometimes cresteds aren't ready for the hunt right away, especially depending on their day/night cycle.

Just banana for the rest of its life will obviously not fill all the nutrient requirements. I would recommend investing some of that money into a supplement. A really good one is Miner-All I (black and yellow label). That way you can help your crested get the nutrients he needs. Also, a quality gutload for your crickets is a must. This ensures they have a high nutritional content when your crested consumes them.

For heat, if you are going to buy anything, then buy a space heater with a thermostat on it. That way you will not overheat your crested, or interupt its day/night cycle.

[PDDM]

Alright thanks, Yeah well i never heard of the mineral all thing but would CGD or GGD be alright instead? My cricks are all gutloaded on zuccini, squash and carrots and the occasional odd extra ill get for making a beardie salad. Yeah im gonna go with alot of those grape vines maybe 4-5 in the tank i got one thick one going from bottom to top. i suppose if i go with a water fall itll be the smallest size,also is there such a thing as too much foliage? i mean i dont want the gecko to be looking around for crix for hours lol

[PDDM]

Oh and today using the heater in my room i was able to get thecresteds temp up to 78 in the cage but my door had to be closed i dont know how good of ventalation that is :S

[Topaz]

how big is he? any pics?

My new guys are my first cresties, I am mixing GGD in with a fruit purree and giving them crickets about twice a week. I have them in a five gallon so they don't have to go far for their food, but hope to move them to a 10 gal when they grow a lil more. Mine are only 3 months old? maybe a lil less.

Good luck!

[HerpAddict]

You don't need to keep your crested at 78F this time of the year. Anything a 70-75F is perfectly fine.

I have to keep the door closed with my heater, but we have a furnace that circulates the air, and I leave it open for a little bit once in a while. I find that once I have my computer on, and am in the room for a while, that the computer and my body heat help the room warm up, as I notice that the heater comes on less often after I have been in the room for a couple hours, compared to if I've just come into it.

I would say that you should still use Miner-All on top of the CGD. It is a personal decision to make.

I guess you could have too much foliage, but it would take a bit to get there. If you can post pics of your set-up, then we can let you know how it is. I generally have one pothos (vine-like plant) and one snake plant (long vertical leaves) in each set-up, with several pieces of wood, depending on the size of the enclosure.

Make sure you have something to spray down the cage with. Also, I tip I was given is that if you use distilled water, it won't leave water marks on the glass. If you do things this way, then you should make sure you're adding minerals into their diet, as regular water normally has them in it, but distilled does not.

For gutloading crickets, I go as far as to buy cricket gutload. The veggies are great, and they do get nutrients out of them, but they mostly get their water from them. Gutload is more of a food, so it's denser with nutrients.

Let us know how it goes!

[galad]

reptiles cannot see infra red light. If you buy a low wattage infra red bulb for night time heating it will be fine. It has to be infra red though it cannot just be a plain red coloured bulb.

Anything over 84 degrees and you could give your crestie heat stroke.

good luck with him

would love to see some pics

peace
ws

[PDDM]

Yeah the pics are coming soon tomorrow most probably, so ive figured that i could get the cresties temps at night between 66-70 pretty easy and in the day its fine, ive been using distilled water but not distilled in the water bowl. but i hear that tap water sucks the calcium (or might be some other vitamin or mineral) right out of reptiles,i still havent decided on a mineral brand to mix in yet im dusting crix with vit d3 and changing up the babyfoods and i bought the cricket gutload thing. so in the tank now there about 3 plants hangin down from the side, three vines goping from top to bottom and a blant that seperates into many branches with big leaves at the end of each in the corner, unfortunately i wasnt able to find a thermometer :(

[mccracken]

Using a red light for the night wouldnt be a problem seing that cresteds are nocturnal anyways, but 65 is fine at night as it is. If you do choose to feed banana, do not feed with it all the time, bananas contain alot of potassium which can be harmful in large amounts, i feed a homemade crested gecko diet ( there are many different recipies, you can prolly find one online or even from someone here) hope this helps