# new cresty, with pics!!



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

yesterday i went to the lrs not expecting to buy anything but i seen this guy there, i asked to hold him and he was soo awesome i couldnt pass him up. hes my first crested, i think hes a harlequinn?? mettle let me know. im going to paint 3 sides of the tank black sometime this week until i find a taller tank on craigslist. any advice on how to get some humidity in the tank? also do i need any type of heat source? all suggestion are welcome


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Yeup, that's definitely a harlequin or "harley" as many cresie enthusiasts refer to them.

Care is extremely easy. They don't need any special lighting as they're nocturnal, but if they're in a dark room that gets no natural light it's not a bad idea to have a fluorescent light on a timer so simulate day/night cycles. They don't need any heat unless it gets extremely cold in your home. And even if addind some extra heat a 10w bulb for a fish tank is usually enough.

Food is easy too. Since this one was in a pet store it might not have been fed properly over time so you'll need to get it on a proper regiment. I recommend something called "Crested Gecko Diet" (aka CGD). You can buy it in most pet stores or online. It's a complete diet made by a guy named Allen Repashy who keeps the largest crested gecko colony in the world. He also supplies about 75% of PetCo's cresteds now... Anyway, this is an easy "add water" mixture. You can then supplement with crickets dusted with calcium w/ D3 powder once a week or so. The CGD can be left in there for two nights generally without issue.

The recommended tank size for an adult crested gecko is a 20 gallon tank. You'll also need WAAAAAAY more climbing spots for this gecko if you want to keep it happy. Fake plants along the sides are good. You can also get those bendable fake vines from the pet store but I tend to just use bamboo from garden suppply shops and walmart cut to size. Crested geckos like to climb and jump. So it's a balance between branches and open space for them.

You can increase vertical space by standing the tank up on its end so that the screen is facing out as the front of the tank. I did this with a 20 gallon tank for one of my males and it works just fine. Also planning on doing it most likely with one of my empty 40 gallon breeder tanks.

For humidity just mist once or twice a day with room temp or slightly warmer water and you'll be fine.

Any other questions just ask.

And... Congrats!


----------



## pyrokingbrand (Nov 30, 2004)

WOw thats a cool harley! any close up pics?


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

thanks for the info







now i understand why you have so many.
went to petsmart today and they had a sweet deal on the exo terra kit so i got it for my new guy.


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Haha. I have _too_ many. I'm likely going to be selling some off in the spring to make way for some gargoyle geckos and focus my breeding projects a little more.

The new enclosure looks a lot better. What size is it? 12x12x18? You might want to get one more of those ebndy vines to put in there for just a bit more climbing surface. And maybe another fake plant for the other top corner for the gecko to hide in. Other than that looking really good!


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

Mettle said:


> Haha. I have _too_ many. I'm likely going to be selling some off in the spring to make way for some gargoyle geckos and focus my breeding projects a little more.
> 
> The new enclosure looks a lot better. What size is it? 12x12x18? You might want to get one more of those ebndy vines to put in there for just a bit more climbing surface. And maybe another fake plant for the other top corner for the gecko to hide in. Other than that looking really good!


i cant wait until you post pics of the first baby gargoyles








i was thinking the same thing about the bendy vine thing, but im going to have it in a higher of the tank. i have this stuff called crested gecko diet made by t-rex is that the stuff you were talking about and if so how often should i feed that? thanks for all the help bro
and yea its 12x12x18 i will upgrade if i decide to get a female for him in the future


----------



## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

nice pickup. you'll probably get addicted like mettle.


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

Those bendy vines are versatile. You can connect them to each other even. Just gotta get a bit creative.

And yes, the Crested Gecko Diet is what I was talking about there. You only need to feed a small amount of it. Like maybe a water bottle cap full. For feeding. I would feed, leave it in for two days, remove, and then on the third day feed nothing. Then every second "third day" toss in about a half dozen crickets coated with Calcium with D3 powder. That's similar to the schedule I have now... With the food, remove it earlier if you notice it starting to mold or get fuzzy. This can happen with high humidity.


----------



## joey'd (Oct 26, 2005)

great pick up sapir, i like how the next day, pretty much you went and bought a whole new habitat lol, good one man.
he loks happy in there, best of luck to you both, and keep us posted!


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

joey said:


> great pick up sapir, i like how the next day, pretty much you went and bought a whole new habitat lol, good one man.
> he loks happy in there, best of luck to you both, and keep us posted!


yea man i had to do it








heres the last update for a while. got another plant on the side of the tank like mettle suggested and another one of the bendy vines. also got a bulb for the fixture that came with the tank so now my fish can have theyre light back lol.


----------



## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

^ this guys definitely a responsible pet owner, i SALUTE YOU.


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

That's a fantastic little set-up for your new crestie! Looking good.









What wattage is the bulb? You don't want to overheat your crested gecko.


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

thanks for the compliments guys








the bulb is a 26watt uvb, the tanks temp reaches 75 at the most with the humidity at 60-70%


----------



## psychofish (Jun 5, 2004)

Great looking gecko and set-up, now your gonna catch the "I need more fever" haha


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

The thing with geckos, especially cresties and their fellow _Rhacodactylus_ family members, is that you can rarely keep just one. I only wanted a few. Then all of a sudden there's like 30 here. And now I'm getting into gargoyle geckos. And looking at a couple other cousins of the crestie. They're just so easy to care for it's like "why not?"









Just so you know, cresties don't necessarily need uvb. They're nocturnal. However, I have heard of cases where using a uvb bulb has helped those cresties with metabolic bone disease (a calcium deficiency). So it definitely won't hurt. And they don't emit much heat so that's fine... Cresties are really tollerant of temps. Their native habitat ranges from 60F to 85F over the course of the year. So it approximates our room temps quite well. Humidity is generally good so long as you mist once or twice a day.


----------



## sapir (Jun 20, 2008)

Mettle said:


> The thing with geckos, especially cresties and their fellow _Rhacodactylus_ family members, is that you can rarely keep just one. I only wanted a few. Then all of a sudden there's like 30 here. And now I'm getting into gargoyle geckos. And looking at a couple other cousins of the crestie. They're just so easy to care for it's like "why not?"
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i can already tell theyre will be more to come








yea theyre super easy to take care of and theyre just awesome pets to have. 
i got the uvb light for viewing purposes instead of a heat lamp which is no good if youre trying to keep the temp under 80. im planning on putting together two 10 gallon tanks on top of each, siliconing it together into one tank and hopefully get another crested.


----------



## Mettle (Dec 29, 2003)

If you get sub-adults or juvies a 10 gallon tank can do for quite a while as a home. You can also use things like rubbermaids and such from Walmart. I have those as backups when I get too many cresties happening. LOL.


----------

