Colleen T!

[Tom]

@ColleenT

Talk to me about crested geckos! I was going to PM you, but figured other forum members might find the info interesting too. I "discovered" cresties and leachies at the reptile show this weekend. I'm going to wait a while on the leachies, but I'm ready to jump into cresties in the next few weeks. My daughter wants one and she's got a birthday coming up. I've been watching YouTube videos and reading every site I can find for days now and they seem great. I understand diet, temps and housing now, but what else do I need to know? What can you tell me that I might not have found on some of those other sites? Any insight from someone with your level of experience would be great!

 

[Longhorns1187]

Crested geckos are awesome. Obviously very common in the hobby, but still a great reptile to keep. We've got 3 crested and 2 leachianus geckos. All 3 of ours are near adult/adult size (weight), so we keep them in their own individual 18x18x24 bioactive Exo Terras. They are easy to handle, some can be a little more jumpy than others. We have one male, who we call Major Tom (he would just jump with no landing place in mind). He was a bit flighty when we first got him. But, with some work, he has calmed down a ton.

Here's a pic of the 3 crested gecko enclosures, Major Tom, and our large female leachie, Sweet Potato.

 

[TriciaStringer]

Our family calls those zombie geckos. We were in the pet shop and our then three year old was going from tank to tank. She then said, “Look Daddy. It’s sooooo cute.” My husband said he looked in and kind of flinched. He said, ”Out of all the things she looked at, she picked one that looked like it died and then came back.”

 

[wccmog10]

My daughter wants one and she's got a birthday coming up.

I wonder if I could convince my wife that our dog has a birthday coming up- and she wants a tortoise for her birthday... sounds like a good plan...

 

[ColleenT]

Sorry i took so long. Yes they are a great kids gecko. they rarely bite, and they can be trained to be handled. The do not need a heat source, unless your house is on the cold side. Easy to feed, you can feed either repashy or pangea, and dusted crickets on occasion. The crix should be no larger than the space between the gecko's eyes. i was breeding them, and so i never used substrate bc they can ingest it when hunting for crickets. But it is a personal choice. I always gave them a plant, like pothos, kept it in the pot, and a hide, and misted 2x daily, sometimes more if it looked like the enclosure was drying out.

Leachies are great, but too expensive for my blood. plus, being larger they need more room, and i just don't have much more room in my house.

This was my big male, Pepper, he came from LLLreptile and was the best. He was easy to tame.

 

[ColleenT]

BC i was breeding them, and had a lot of cages to clean, this is how i kept the cages. rubbermaid liner on the floor of the cage, pothos plant, hide, water dish this had a cricket ball in it bc the crickets would drown in the water. BUT you can do a more elaborate cage if you like. there are a lot of ideas on youtube.

 

[Tom]

I wonder if I could convince my wife that our dog has a birthday coming up- and she wants a tortoise for her birthday... sounds like a good plan...

She is a very nice dog. Certainly deserving...

 

[TriciaStringer]

@ColleenT

Talk to me about crested geckos! I was going to PM you, but figured other forum members might find the info interesting too. I "discovered" cresties and leachies at the reptile show this weekend. I'm going to wait a while on the leachies, but I'm ready to jump into cresties in the next few weeks. My daughter wants one and she's got a birthday coming up. I've been watching YouTube videos and reading every site I can find for days now and they seem great. I understand diet, temps and housing now, but what else do I need to know? What can you tell me that I might not have found on some of those other sites? Any insight from someone with your level of experience would be great!

Completely off of geckos but I had a question. We are going to a reptile show this weekend. About how much time do people spend at the show? My daughter has a class that day so we can’t get there until 1 and it closes at 4. Do you think that is enough time to see everything and enjoy it?

 

[ColleenT]

Completely off of geckos but I had a question. We are going to a reptile show this weekend. About how much time do people spend at the show? My daughter has a class that day so we can’t get there until 1 and it closes at 4. Do you think that is enough time to see everything and enjoy it?

Yes, i think so. But might not be a lot of stuff left.

 

[Tom]

Completely off of geckos but I had a question. We are going to a reptile show this weekend. About how much time do people spend at the show? My daughter has a class that day so we can’t get there until 1 and it closes at 4. Do you think that is enough time to see everything and enjoy it?

Really depends on the show and what you are looking for. That would not be enough time for one of the big shows if you want to see everything. I once went to the reptile show in Louisiana and 3 hours was enough to meander around and check out everything I wanted to see.

 

[ColleenT]

So Tom, have you started the enclosure? Have you found a gecko?

 

[ColleenT]

Bueller? Bueller?

 

[Tom]

Bueller? Bueller?

You gotta tag me or "reply with quote". I didn't see your first post.

Here is the enclosure. 12x12x18. The light is only there for the picture. There is no light over it where it sits.


And here is the lucky little man:


We have two types of Pangea diet already, and two types of Repashy on order. My friend who brought him to me has been keeping crested geckos since 2003, and he recommends feeding more insects than what most people recommend. Up to half the diet.

We love him. We left him alone for about a week, but now we handle him for a few minutes every other day or so, and he's totally cool with it. Very mellow.

 

[TechnoCheese]

You gotta tag me or "reply with quote". I didn't see your first post.

Here is the enclosure. 12x12x18. The light is only there for the picture. There is no light over it where it sits.
View attachment 263480

And here is the lucky little man:
View attachment 263481

We have two types of Pangea diet already, and two types of Repashy on order. My friend who brought him to me has been keeping crested geckos since 2003, and he recommends feeding more insects than what most people recommend. Up to half the diet.

We love him. We left him alone for about a week, but now we handle him for a few minutes every other day or so, and he's totally cool with it. Very mellow.

Super cute! Is that the final enclosure size, or will you be moving up to 18x18x24 or larger later on?

 

[ColleenT]

Looks Great. Very good looking Gecko. Congrats. I gave a lot of insects for mine bc they loved hunting. But it's always great to have a gecko that doesn't need to have them, on times when you run out. Pangea and Repashy are awesome.