Crested Gecko Care Sheet

The crested gecko is becoming a popular pet due to the relative ease of their care and the fact that they are so interesting to observe and easy to handle. Crested geckos have several characteristics which make them endearing to owners. They will change color or ‘fire up’ at different times of day, often there will be stunning color changes from dull brown to bright orange or reddish hues.

Like other arboreal (climbing) geckos, have sticky pads on their feet enabling them to walk up the walls and across the ceiling of their enclosure. They are also accomplished at jumping and will make full use of the available space.

It is great fun to watch them exploring their cages and also hunt crickets if you feed them on live food.

Handling them is fun as they will jump from hand to hand if you put a hand up in front of them. They feel very soft to touch and their skin has a velvety texture.

Housing

This kind of terrarium is ideal as it is made from glass with a screen top. Cresties need quite high humidity (85%) so glass is preferable, as it will not be affected by the moisture as wood would.

For substrate it is best to use something that will retain moisture to keep the humidity up and also something that provides a soft landing in case they fall down. A coconut fibre soil type substrate works well as does orchid bark mixed with sphagnum moss. Sand and drier wood chippings are not really suitable.

Their enclosure should have lots of fake plants, branches and vines for them to climb on and hide in.

Cresties also do well in naturalistic vivariums with real plants. There are several plants that will do well such as Bromeliads, but check first that anything you plant will not be harmful to the geckos.

Heating, Lighting, and Humidity

If your house regularly drops below this temperature at night then you will need to provide additional heating on a thermostat such as a heat mat on the side of the enclosure or a low wattage heat lamp above.

Over heating is more of a problematic for these reptiles than under heating. Prolonged exposure to temperatures in excess of 85 degrees may prove fatal to crested geckos. It is very important, because of this to use an accurate thermometer (digital is best) and to ensure that any additional heating is on a thermostat.

As cresties are nocturnal they do not really benefit from UV lighting and have been kept successfully for many years in captivity without any additional lighting.

Crested geckos do require quite high humidity (85%) this can be achieved by spaying the enclosure with water once or twice a day. You will need a hygrometer to measure the humidity of the enclosure.

Crested Gecko Feeding Time!

Some people have reared crested geckos feeding pureed fruits and fruit baby foods as well as live foods. If you choose to do this then you will have to ensure that your cresties are receiving the correct levels of supplementation. All fruit puree and live food should be supplemented with vitamins, minerals, calcium and D3.

In my experience people often find it hard to achieve the best levels of supplementation needed to prevent Metabolic Bone Disease in their Cresties. I would always recommend using the complete Crested Gecko Diet as it has been proven to provide everything needed for the health of cresties.

They will need to be provided with a shallow water dish although you may find that they will drink from the glass and plants when you have sprayed them.

Health

A cresties calcium reserves can be checked by gently opening their mouths and looking at the roof of their mouth. You should be able to see two white sacks, which are their calcium stores.

Crested geckos will drop their tails when scared or to escape predators. Their tails do not grow back once they have been dropped. It does not hurt the gecko and should not cause problems if you keep your eyes open for signs of infection and clean it. It is quite common for cresties not to have tails and in the wild very few keep their tails their whole lives.

Breeding

Provide the female with a laying box filled with damp moss to lay her eggs in. Once she has laid them remove them into a container of vermiculite. Eggs can be incubated at room temperature, but if you want to be sure of success it is best to use an incubator.

It has been found that incubation temperature affects the sex of the hatchlings. For a mix of males and females incubate the eggs at between 76 and 78 degrees. If you want females you can incubate for the first 3 weeks at 68-72, and for males 80-85, before returning to a regular temp of between 76 and 78 for the remaining time. Incubation time can vary from 60 days to 140 days.

Article Contributed By: Becky Moss

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