Crested Gecko Care, using T-rex & Exo Terra products

Over view & Suitability

Crested Geckos make ideal pet lizards, being tame and extremely unlikely to bite (if they did it would not require any special first aid), easy to feed, small, colourful and with great characters. They are relatively easy to obtain and ALL available animals will be several generations Captive Bred. Prices range from plain, single coloured babies at £35 up to £300 for females of certain colour morphs. Basically you get what you pay for, so the more colourful and spectacular the gecko then the higher the price. Females always command a higher price than males too. You can keep several females together but males are best kept on their own or with females.

Average Size - 15cms from tip of nose to tip of tail (20cms max size)

Life expectancy - 15 years plus!

Housing Requirements

We recommend Exo Terra glass vivariums with the mesh screen top. These seem to provide a good air exchange and also help with creating the right humidity. Size of vivarium should ideally be 45cm x 45cm x 60cm. In this size vivarium you could keep 1.4 quite happily if you provide enough hides and visual cover.

Substrate & Decoration

For a great looking display and natural set up, we would recommend a deep layer of 'moss' peat substrate, 3" min. This should be compacted down and then kept moist at all times (mustn't go dry and dusty but also mustn't have water puddles either!). Moss peat bought from a garden centre is fine so long as it has no chemicals added. You can then add various cork tube hides

Live weeping fig plants or plastic plants can also be added. We recommend a good amount of plant cover and cork hides, the more animals the vivarium contains the more cover and hides the set up should have.

Lighting

No additional lighting is required for the health of your crested geckos but if you are using live plants then it would be an idea to add a daylight UV tube above the vivarium or even better a Compact UV light and reflector.

Heating

Crested Geckos require only a moderate temperature and if kept in a warm room would not require any additional heating. Ideally you should keep them in the temperature range of 74f - 82f. If you did need to boost the temperature a little, a small low wattage heat mat can be used behind the vivarium, just check that the polystyrene backing (of the exo terra) lets enough heat to provide a warm surface area.

Food

Crested Geckos are very easy to cater for, you can choose to use a NON INSECT diet which consists of pureed fruit or Crested Gecko Diet (made by T-rex) or insects or a combination of both. We currently fed the CGD three times per week and house crickets 3 times a week (we skip one day a week).

Water

A shallow water dish should be available with fresh clean water every day, if feeding crickets it's important to use a bowl that crickets can climb back out of otherwise you will end up with lots of drowned crickets. You can also spray the vivarium 3 to 4 times a week with tepid warm water. Do NOT spray the geckos directly as this can stress them out.

Vivarium Maintenance

This will involve mainly keeping the glass clean for your viewing pleasure, glass is best cleaned with warm water a kitchen tissue. If moss peat is used you can spot clean weekly and replace every few months (depending on number of geckos you keep). Plastic plants should also be removed and washed when they appear dirty.

Total cost of setting up (excluding geckos)

Exo Terra (45 x 45 x 60) = £55

Compact UV lamp = £24 (optional, only required if using live plants)

Compact UV holder & reflector = £25 (optional, only required if using live plants)

Cork Hides = £10 for 1 kilo

T-rex CGD powder food = £3.95

Moss peat (from garden center) = £4

Live plants = £10

Plastic plants = £10

Total with UV lighting = £132

Total without UV lighting = £83