Hi all- recently I got a crested (about a month ago), he is about 6 mon. old. Today I thought for sure he had gotten out of the viv somehow. I looked everywhere, pulled all the fake plants out and could not find him. I then realized he had buried himself on the floor in the "forest bedding." I wondered if this was normal. Also it is probably a bit cold for him. Our house is kept at about 68 or 69 degrees 24 hours a day. Is he doing this for warmth? If this is the case how would you suggest heating it but not overheating his cage. Thanks!
i had a stick on heating pad once. you just sick it on the bottom of the tank and plug it in. It dosen't get very hot and it won't heat up the whole enclosure but if it is too cold for him somewhere he can go and lay on top of it. It dosent get very hot but it will help. Make sure to put it on the outside bottom of the tank. Also the tank has to be buseted so the pad won't ruin furniture. You want to put it somewhere so that he has a choice to lay on it or not. Don't cover the whole floor with it. mine was an Exo Terra Heat Wave. It worked really well. Good Luck.
yup...hes doing it for warmth...but its perfectly normal, in the wild some have been nown to sleep under leaves and what not on the ground floor, then at night go into the trees, maybe just get a low wattage bulb and put it on a basking point in the cage, should warm him up...its also good for thermalregulation, all reptiles need it, this just means one hot side, one cold side, since their cold blooded they need to regualte their temp by going from warm places to cool places when needed....in the summer i put oak leaves on the ground of my viv for my crestie to sleep under...he seems to like that...maybe u could do that too (just make sure u dont use toxic leaves), maybe he jsut likes to sleep on the ground
I had the exact same thing happen a few days ago. I woke up and couldn't find her anywhere. I looked in the leaves, in her tree, begind teh water fall, IN the waterfall. . . nothing. Eventually i had to give up the search to go to school, but resumed it when i got home and found her in her substrate. I don't think they would go down there for warmth, cause heat rises, but it is a possibility. But you could put a heat pad underneath like what kima said. Exoterra generally has good prducts.
yea id guess they do it for heat or maybe moisture...check the humidity rate. heat does rise, but body heat would become insulated under ground making it warm....i think
Except for the fact that they don't prduce any body heat. They are doing that because it is a place to hide from predators. It's normal to a point. Only one of our geckos likes to sleep on the ground while the rest would rather sleep up higher. Just the geckos preference really. To heat go with a low wattage bulb, red or black(purple). My only worry about a UTH would be that they do get fairly hot, we hove one on our snake's tank and in the summer we need a dimmer on it to keep the ground temp under 90 which is way to high for a crestie.
Thanks for the help. I just wondered why he did it so suddenly. I'm confused as to why he might be afraid he hasn't really been handled in a week or so. Anyway, thanks again.
They don't do it for warmth. Mentioned above, heat rises, therefore its colder down there. You said they are insulating themselves. You mentioned they have no body heat aswell, so how can the insulate themselves? Have you seen snakes or bearded dragons burmate? They burry themselves and go to sleep when it gets to cold. They don't wake up in a couple days because their body heat raised their temperature making them warmer. So why would this be for cresteds? I have had geckos curl up under leaves and stuff, you put in a hide off the ground, they are sleeping there. So I pressume it is the securest place they can find. Kit loves to be covered by something, I never handle her, so its not because she is afraid. She would sleep under the paper towel, but now she sleeps in a hammock, above the ground covered by leaves: I have had some geckos bury themselves under the substrate as well, and it is colder down there, While another gecko in the exact same enclosure will sleep out in the open. I pressume it is where the gecko feels secure for the day. Also to raise the temp, a low wattage bulb will also work.
they seem to like tight spaces.i have a bamboo tree and one stick curls around another and he goes in the space between.that and he always sticks himself in a synthetic tree that has hundreds of vines
yes I agree its not for heat unless you have some form of heat source under the tank like kima does if you have a light then they would be closer to the top unless its too hot which would make them go to the ground as feild hockey gal said... try placeing a groung hide for your gecko nothing fancy just something like a plastic container with a hole in it or even some paper towel for them to go under... I have a ground hide when none of my guys use however I put some fake leaves on the ground and the next day the gecko I tried it with was on the ground inder the leaves... I have also had my guys hide under the papertowel subtrate or even just sleep right on the floor curled up by the water dish (which is shaped like a leaf).... as for some extra heat you could do the UTH or just get a low watt bulb all in all they will cost about the same
Thanks so much for the help. So if it's only a couple degrees under 70 you would use heating? I mean it's literally 69 degrees right now.
no you dont need it really... some people here use no heat source I use lights but it brings the top of the tank to 76-79 the middle to 72 and the floor to around 67 my house is 67-69 most of the time except at night where its around 65... my geckos spend most of the time in the middle or floor however I have found them basking for a short time in the "morning" sun closer to the top before they retreat to sleep... do you have any sort of lamp you use? if not what is there light source? and how much day light do they get each day? but as for more heat like I said you don't really need it
Maybe it is instinct. They will hide in substrate, just for hinding. However has anyone ever dug into a mulch pile or something around those lines, well if you dig into it, there is heat. The decomposing of mulch creates heat. Maybe they will dig into substrate in an attempt to find this heat instinctively.
That makes sense. It isn't the safest in the light for their colouring and the extra heat is needed. Gargs don't have as bright of colours which would be why they can come out during the day and bask without worrying too much. Good thinking BigZ.
I think what he means is that with their bright colours they stand out like a sore thumb during the day (light), and with the extra heat (in the wild the ground could be decomposing) its a 2 for one deal to bury themselves. A secure place to hide from predators, and a warmer hide. Gargoyles come out to bask during the day, and their dull colours blend in very well to bark and stuff. So they can bask, while the cresties hide. I don't know how many cresties in the wild will have bright colours, or how many predators will have colour vision. But I guess it is just that lighter shade that makes them stand out.
oh ok I thought it was that the light might have damaging effects on the colouring of the gecko... thought that would be a bit weird but maybe you never know... thanks
No it is what my sis said. Their colours would stand out like a sore thumb. Now the bright colours and patterning aren't found in the wild but that could be an instince for them since those morphs could turn up. Granted they probably not last that long. A bright red fire would probably stand out at night aswell.