getting a crested

well, im getting a crested gecko in the next few months, as soon as i save up for everything, cage, plants, gecko.
does anyone know any good sites to get one?
and im a bit confused about hides. do i need one? or are alot of plants good enough? ive read loads of caresheets and have heard it both ways.
can anyone post a pic of their tanks so i can see how dense to make the plants? thanks
and one last thing, ive heard some sites say they get up to 10in an others say they get 7in long. so which is it?
sorry to ask so many questions.

 

Hides are not needed, as they hide in foliage (that's why you need some)... height = safety in a cresties mind, so a ground level hide is not a "safe place", but a cluster of leaves high up is...
Search through this forum, you'll see plenty of pics of setups, with comments on aspects that are good, and areas where improvements could be made...
Length is going to depend on the individual, but 7-8½ inches is the norm.

 

I bought my first crested from Loren at www.sundialreptile.com I've gotten lots of compliments on Harley. I bought my second baby crested from www.reptiledepot.com (hopefully she) is very beautiful as well. I'm very pleased with both of them. The only reason I didn't buy the second gecko from Loren as well is in case I wanted to breed, I wouldn't want any chance of them being related.

It's always good to have a hide at the bottom of the cage. You will find that they will mainly spend a lot of time in the plants, but they use the hides as well, especially the younger ones.

I for one don't use real plants. I use a mesh exoterra instead of glass, so it would make growing plants a little harder. I have a ton of fake plants and they both do fine on them.

Here's Harley's cage. It's not recent, I put more vines in the corner, but other than that nothings changed. Gives you a general idea. Lots of foliage! And trust me he has 3 favorite sleeping spots.


As for length, they can get 7-10 inches. Males are generally larger, that's why it varies.

Edit: Bryan beat me to it hehe.

 

ok thanks. so they can climb on mesh too?
i hope to get one by may, but i may have to waite till summer, so leading me to another question, would it be ok to get one shipped in the summer? or would that be too hot? it usually gets in the high 80s-a bit over 100 here in the summer.
and how do you tell when they are alsleep, my friend wanted me to ask because we are about to get a place to share and she thinks they are creepy

 

Wet glass is about the only surface whey have trouble climbing...
Some breeders wont ship in hot months, others will use a cool pack...
Their eyeballs sink back into the sockets, and the cilii roll forward some, when they're asleep.

 

oh man, that shoud really freak her out lol. i dont think ill tell her that untill after i get one
and another question, sorry for asking so many
do they need uv lights at all? cause once again, ive heard it both ways. and also would a baby be ok in a 20 gal? or would that stress it out too much, because ive read from some one place that you need a 10 gal. for the babies. it sounded kind of weird so i thought i should ask about it

 

and yet more questions. do gargs regrow their tails? i know cresties dont, and once again, my friend finds it weird. she thinks the gargs are cuter so she wants me to ask about them, so how big do they get? and do you care for them the same way as you do a crestie?
im still planning on getting a crestie no matter what she says though. took me weeks to get her to day yes to something that doesnt blink. she said no tokay because they are little monsters. she is so picky lol

 

Yes, gargs do regrow tails. And they get about the same length but usually weigh quite a bit more than cresties. They're... round geckos And the care is just about the same for them. Just make sure you're either supplementing crickets with the food or feeding the two-part crested gecko MRP. They need a bit more protein than cresties, but the two-part provides that. My garg is far too lazy to hunt crickets these days, so I gave up on that. Haha.

 

are gargs less active then?

 

UV is not needed.

 

Personally it's better to put babies in 10 gal until they are close to 4 months old. I have my baby in a 10 gal and it's hard enough finding her in it let alone a 20! Just make sure to put babies on paper towels.

It's probably better to get him either in the spring or fall to be honest. Cause it gets really hot in the delivery trucks, I'm sure if he survived you would have one very stressed gecko. So if you can't get him in the spring, I would wait till fall, just to be safe.

My friend is going to be my roommate as well, she could care less about all my herps to be honest. She thinks cresties are ugly and weird. And I admit when I first saw a crestie I thought they looked weird, but when I opened my box to find Harley I was on cloud 9. If your friend sees him enough, she will get over it. Unless she's one of those prissy types, then you will have a problem lol.

 

lol, she is just starting to get used to my leo. i think she would rather me get a hamster, but they are just so mean.
if i cant get one by early june i think i will just wait till fall. not like im in a rush to get one. so do adults have to be on paper towl as well?

 

No, they don't necessarily need paper towl. I prefer coconut fibre for aesthetic and maintenance reasons.

 

I use coconut fiber for my juvenile male. I just say to use paper towels for babies because they are rather clumsy and impaction can be a greater risk for them. But there are people who do use paper towels for their adult crested as well, so there's no question at all for impaction. I really don't worry about it much with my juvenile since I feed him crickets in a jar, and he's got his cgd in a dish so there's no reason at all for him to be eating the substrate.

Crested Geckos are way cooler than hamsters. Hamsters stink too.

 

thats what im planning to do with the one i get. do their tails come off easily? i mean, should i be more careful than i was when my leo was a baby? or would they be about the same

 

I'm much more careful with my baby than with my juvenile. I've read where they just drop them sometimes for no reason. The second night I had my baby Evie, she decided to shed. Well she was in a body suit of shed so I had to soak her and try to get it all off. I kept talking gently to her especially when I got to her tail. I gently pulled and she left me get it off her tail with no problem at all. The tail and toes are the trickiest. If you leave the shed stuck on either of those areas it will eventually take them off. I might have just been lucky, but I like to believe my sweet talking helped a little hehe.

I haven't had any problems with her shedding since. She's able to do it herself. Humidity definitely helps with that. (you only need to spray them once a night up to 90% humidity then let them dry out until the next night)

Just be very careful until s/he gets to know you first. At least till s/he gets tame. Harley will let me touch his tail, he even likes wrapping it around my fingers. Evie will even wrap hers around my fingers as well, but I'm still really cautious with her.

I would be more careful than you were with your leo, you always had in the back of your mind that your leo's tail would grow back. The cresties won't come back, but it won't hurt them not to have them either. I am just really cautious cause I would rather mine have their tails.

 

yeah, true. i always did have that on my mind. does the spraying scare them? i just want to be super careful. and i read that if you put a piece of your clothes in the tank then a reptile will become tame quicker. ive never tried it, but do you think its true?

 

Really unless you surprise them and grab them or close their tail in the door they shoudnt have reason to drop it. Unless they're really stressed out or feel threatened there is no need to worry. My baby leo was more jumpy than my baby crestie ever was. You should be careful with both of them, as long as you are gentle it will be fine.

 

yeah but im paranoid.

 

I've noticed with baby cresties they are a heck of a lot quicker than juveniles. Evie can climb my hair better and quicker than Harley. Harley will also take a little longer to decide where he wants to go, and well Evie just is more of a living on the edge type. If I don't pay attention I would lose her real quick.

As with spraying it doesn't really scare them, I've noticed with mine they will move and hide under foliage so they don't get soaked. Then they will lick up the droplets. So I try not to spray them directly. Also, it's better to use lukewarm water than cold.

As with the clothes, I know with some animals it's proven to work. I've just never tried it with reptiles.

I'm glad I've been able to experience owning a baby crestie and a juvenile. I'm much more careful when holding Evie because she's just a little bit bigger,(not by much) than my Viper Gecko (that's roughly 3 inches). And well Harley is huge compared to her, so holding him is more comfortable, he doesn't seem as fragile as her. That being said, if you are really paranoid, you could look into buying a juvenile. (4 months and up) I also found my juvenile to be much more tame when I got him than my baby. And they are still young, just not babies. But I wouldn't trade either of them for the world