My first crested!!! + pics, question on morph

So this would now be my 2nd addition as far as my gecko collection goes, having bought a Tokay a few months back. I love the Tokay to death, but I wanted to get something that was pretty much the total opposite as far as temperment, and I knew a crested was the way to go. I was first introduced to the cresteds a couple days ago when I was at a Reptile shop, and one of the workers had one just crawling up his arm. From seeing that, I knew a crested would be the way to go. The one he had was labeled as a "rare" something or other, I forgot the exact morph name. But he wanted $200 for it, which was a little out of my price range. So after some calls, I found a store that had a male for $80. After going there, I found out they actually had 2 sub adults as well, which were each $60. I ended up getting one of the sub adult males, and here he is...




Those were about the best pics I got of him. My buddy gave me a free 10 gallon tank, which I just turned vertical, and it seems plenty big for him currently. As you can see, almost immediately after I put him in his new home, he started lapping up tons of water from his dish.

I know theres so many morphs out there, but Im really curious what this guy is. From all the cresteds Ive seen in person, this is the only one I've seen that hasnt been the standard brownish color. He's definately a lime green/yellow-ish color, with a few assorted black spots. Any ideas of what he could be, or do I need better closeup pics???

Im concerned if my substrate is alright though? Its coconut bark, and for now I plan on getting him the Crested Gecko diet food, so theres no risk of impaction...But do you think I should change it to something else, or should it be ok??? And when I get this food for him, should I just put it in a little dish?

Thanks for looking, and I appreciate the help anyone gives me!

 

omg dude, its sooo beautiful! amazing! ive never seen a morph like that, may i ask how much it cost you?

 

He was $60.

 

cool color but he looks really underweight.

 

Put his food in like a Apple sauce jar lid or something of the sort. thats substrate is fine if you do not plan on feeding crickets. just CGD. also what store did you get him from? are you from Washington? i live in bellevue.

 

Looks like a yellow tiger with dalmation spotting, but the view makes it hard to tell.

 

Hes very pretty but hes underweight.
I also dont think its a good idea to have wood chips as a subsitrate just my opinion.

 

Alright, well like I said guys, I just got him yesterday, so I'm still trying to see what I can do to make it best for him. He doesnt seem to be doing too much of anything, looks to be pretty much staying in the same places, relatively hidden. I did see that he went to the bathroom already, and drank some water. I got him the T-Rex CGD today, and mixed up a good silver dollar sized amount and put it on the flipside of a fruit jar. I dont think he's had any of it yet..

Now I do agree, he does look underweight slightly, but like I said, he was labeled as a sub adult...So how old would that make him, like 4-5 months??
And what could I do to get him a little beefier?? I mean for now, it seems like I'm really doing all that I can, I dont wanna stress him out during this time period or anything. Any additional help would be appreciated!

EDIT: Also, I just changed his substrate. I figured if Im gonna beef him up he needs some crickets right?? And that substrate would risk impaction, so I switched it to just paper towels. That should be ok?? I also noticed, unlike Tokays, these guys seem to actually pee??? I saw a little trickle of some liquid running down the glass!

 

Paper towel is good. i use it in all of my enclosures. Do you have a scale by any chance you could weigh him? Make sure you gutload your crickets or they are worthless for him. as for not seeing any of his food gone he will most likely eat when you are not around and it is night time. every single one of mine start to eat when it is pitch black in my room and when i wake up all food is gone. also you can put a little CGD on your finger and let him lick it off. other than regular feeding and crickets every once and a while not really much else you can do to "Beef him up" How often do you mist his enclosure? what are temps and Humidity?

 

Actually I dont think I have a scale where I could do that, but I know someone that may. I usually have been misting the enclosure just periodically, maybe 2 or 3 times a day. Im not sure about the humidity cause I havent invested in an in tank thermometer yet, but I have an outside one that tells me my room is usually about 75-80 degrees.

So when I get the crickets from Petsmart, they dont come gutloaded??? What do I have to do for that, just stick them in a little jar with some bread to feed them?

 

Humidity and Temp are pretty important for Cresties so that should be next.

No pet stores do not gut-load crickets. I buy all my Crestie food and Cricket Gutload from http://www.pangeareptile.com/products.htm#gutload

You have to gutload the crickets UP to the time you feed to your crestie. if you don't gutload it is like feeding an empty shell. you can also buy some Cricket load at a pet store but i prefer the gut load and CGD from Pangea. Also it would be smart to Dust the crickets with some Calcium D3 vitamins. i use Sticky Tongue Farms Vit-All to dust my crickets. also can be found at some pet stores.

 

Well, he ate!
I had my room completely dark and I caught him eating some of the CGD I made him. He seems to be using the bottom of the tank more now that I changed the substrate to paper towels. Right now he's just layin on them and staring down one of the crickets I put in there. I just found the smallest one I had in my dozen, and tossed it in there hoping he may eat it.

So, since you guys believe he is underweight, what does this really mean? He seemed pretty well taken care of from the place I got him...So then if he is underweight, what can I do to help the situation?? I only want whats best for the little guy, so whatever more I can do, I'll do it. But for now I think Ive done the most I can do until he settles in..

 

Thats an interesting fact because my petstore gut loads crickets, infact all 4 in town do.

 

What pet store? i was sort of meaning Petco, Petsmart chains. i should have stated that.

 

And i know for a fact the 5 closest petco's to me and the 4 closest petsmarts do not. and me and seattle live in the same city so my fact would be a little more beneficial to him than whatever state you are in as i am sure he will not travel to your pet stores to buy crickets.

 

So then its normal for him to be sleeping on the paper towels???

 

1 of my guys like to eat then lay on the ground for a little while after they eat. think they are just full heh

 

i work at a petco and we gutload them.

 

Yeah, actually Petco and Petsmart DO gutload their crickets. At Petco, we have both food and water in the bottom of our cricket bins... so I don't know if they just don't know it's called gutloading, but they are. I've seen food and water in Petsmart, too. If they weren't feeding and watering their crickets, they'd be dead in a couple days.

With a lot of good food and better care, he should fatten up soon. He's gorgeous

 

yeah, really underweight. but beautiful color, for $60!!. i wish i could find one like that for $60