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Setting up my viv for my new cresties - Advice please

 
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Carol
Contributing Member


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Wiltshire

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:45 pm    Post subject: Setting up my viv for my new cresties - Advice please Reply with quote

Hi everyone -

Scott has reserved us three cresties and has kindly answered a fair few of my newbie questions - Thanks Scott.

However I still have a few and hope you guys can give me some pointers.

We have ordered our Viv (Exo-Terra 60x45x60)and rest of the kit, and it is arriving tomorrow. We are going to spend the weekend getting it set up and making sure heat/humidity are right.

We've bought a blue night-glo lamp for watching them at night and for some extra warmth overnight in winter. - does anyone know if they are any good?

In the viv we have got some bark pieces and exo-terra vines with several silk plants to give them cover and some places for them to chill - will post a picture when done so you can whether it is okay.

Cos its a big viv we have got three small bowls for water/food but would this be enough and would the ready-made bowls be too big for the babies?
If so what could we use instead and how many - we were thinking small plant pot saucers?

We have also got a small cricket rock - but will be feeding CGD as well - what ratio of CGD to crickets will they be used to and how often do you feed each - if we were feeding CGD would we still have to dust the crickets?

We have also had conflicting advice about substrate - the consensus on the forum seems to be Eco-Earth so we have bought some and were intending to put a deep compacted layer (for soft landings too!) but have also read that when they are young we should just use paper towels.

Sorry there are so many questions we just want everything to be right for the new arrivals!!! Any advice would be really appreciated

Thanks a lot - the forum's great and I have been reading your posts and checking out all your pictures all week.

We can't wait for the babies to arrive and will post some piccies when they've settled in

Cheers,

Carol x
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Phil1988
Captivebred Communist


Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 1589
Location: Manchester

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Setting up my viv for my new cresties - Advice please Reply with quote

Hey Carol, I'll try and answer as best I can - I'm sure you'll get a fair few responses though.

We've bought a blue night-glo lamp for watching them at night and for some extra warmth overnight in winter. - does anyone know if they are any good? - In my opinion I don't think that your cresties will really need any additional heating and I don't think those blue night glo lamps really produce enough light to see anything at night (if the one you have bought is the exo terra one anyway), my cresties don't have any additional heating or night lighting and I can still view them when it gets dark. It doesn't have to be pitch black for them to start to emerge from their hiding places.

Cos its a big viv we have got three small bowls for water/food but would this be enough and would the ready-made bowls be too big for the babies?
If so what could we use instead and how many - we were thinking small plant pot saucers?
- When my guy was small I just used milk bottle lids for the CGD paste and if you wanted you could use shallow plant saucers for water. The milk bottle caps work great because then you aren't wasting a lot of CGD by having large amounts not being eaten which would probably happen if you used bigger bowls for hatchlings.

We have also got a small cricket rock - but will be feeding CGD as well - what ratio of CGD to crickets will they be used to and how often do you feed each - if we were feeding CGD would we still have to dust the crickets? - I don't really know what a cricket rock is but with baby cresteds I would make quite a high percentage of their diet crickets and roaches etc and then as they get older more CGD than bugs. Try bowl feeding the crickets so that they don't all escape all over the viv - just find a high sided tub that the crix can't just out of but that the cresties can get in and out of and put the crix in there when you want to feed. I always dust the livefood lightly with calcium dust but if the crix had been fed a good variety of food and the cresties were also eating CGD then it wouldn't really be necessary to dust all the time.

We have also had conflicting advice about substrate - the consensus on the forum seems to be Eco-Earth so we have bought some and were intending to put a deep compacted layer (for soft landings too!) but have also read that when they are young we should just use paper towels. - You will get mixed responses on this one but personally I would use the eco earth. Just make sure that it is all expanded fully and then compact it down real well to reduce the risk of any getting accidentally eaten (although if you are bowl feeding then this risk is lowered even further). I don't like paper towels as they don't hold water/humidity very well and bugs can easily hide under them.

Good luck with the new cresties and feel free to ask as many questions as you like. Cool
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PaulG
Captivebred Colonel


Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 3996
Location: North West

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phil has done a great job of answering the questions for you.

Just a couple of points.

○ The exo terra's come with a fake rock background made out of
polostyrene, at the back there are 2 gaps that run paralel to run cable into
the viv. . . . these are not needed and are very annoying. you can either
block them up as the bugs and even the young cresties will hide
behind there. . . . or you could {what I would do} is just throw it out.

○ People say that cresties dont need aditional heat but I think it
does benefit that they have a hotspot to theremoregulate.
You can use a hot spot light as you are or just a heat strip at the
bottom of the Exo just for a bit of heat.

As I said I agree with what Phil has wrote. . . . . Very Happy
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Regards, Paul.

:.Rhacodactylus.:.Eublepharis.:.Stenodactylus.:.Nephrurus.:
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Phil1988
Captivebred Communist


Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 1589
Location: Manchester

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SmallPaul wrote:
or just a heat strip at the
bottom of the Exo just for a bit of heat.


I'd disagree with that as I'm pretty sure cresties would move 'down' to get out of the heat and so putting heat at the bottom of the viv rather than the top would just mean they couldnt go down to escape the heat. If you were going for a heat mat I would put it on the back or one of the sides of the OUTSIDE of the tank up at the top.

Paul's right about the background's tho - remove it or plug up any holes Cool
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Carol
Contributing Member


Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Wiltshire

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:37 am    Post subject: Thanks Guys Reply with quote

Thanks for the great advice guys

Have already decided to take out the Exo-terra background as I don't want to be constantly panicking that the geckos have gone missing when they're just hiding behind it - plus what's the point of having them if I can't see them! We want to be able to keep an eye on them really easily when they are little.

Do we need to provide a humid hide? we figured that if we had eco-earth on the floor we could just make a hide with some bark on the floor. It would be there if they wanted it or they could just climb on it!

I think for now we will just keep an eye on the temps before we get a lamp for the day, my house is always really warm - I think there would be more danger from overheating than under, particularly in Summer. Luckily we have an air-con unit which heats and cools, so we will always be able to regulate the room temperature up or down. Having a boyfriend who's an air conditioning/refrigeration engineer has merits!!

For feeding - the cricket rock is from Exo-Terra, you put the calcium in along with the crickets, put the lid on and shake it to coat them all, then there is a plug which you remove and the crickets climb out the hole. Any leftover calcium stays in the rock and the crickets always come out the same place so hopefully the cresties will soon learn where to look. Don't know how well it works but seemed to be a good idea. I think we just went a bit spend happy and bought loads of stuff, the OH wants a waterfall as well!!!!

I think I am going to leave the cricket husbandry to the OH - will it be too cold for the crickets in our shed? I don't really want them in the house, although it will amuse my cats having a box that chirps!

Thanks again for your help - I am currently waiting in for my viv to be delivered - will try and post a picture of the set up when we've done and you can give it marks out of 10!!! Very Happy
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Phil1988
Captivebred Communist


Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 1589
Location: Manchester

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Thanks Guys Reply with quote

Do we need to provide a humid hide? we figured that if we had eco-earth on the floor we could just make a hide with some bark on the floor. It would be there if they wanted it or they could just climb on it! - I don't think you would need a humid hide in particular, if the substrate is going to be eco earth then a good misting of the whole viv at night will be sufficient for the humidity. If you did want to make a humid area then I would just spray a corner of the eco earth substrate a little more every few days rather than introduce stuff like bark chippings or moss that are easily eaten by accident.

I think there would be more danger from overheating than under, particularly in Summer. - Yep you got that one spot on Carol, too hot is no good for cresties. I go for a range of about 70-80F in the day (up to 85F in Summer but I try and keep it down if it gets this high as for long periods of time high temps like these aren't really good for them) and then at night they can drop right down and my tank usually goes down to about 64F (anywhere between 60-70F would be fine I would think).

...then there is a plug which you remove and the crickets climb out the hole. - I haven't ever used a rock like this but I would be a little unsure as to whether the crix would actually come out of the hole? Maybe someone else can help out on that one. I think I'd stear clear of any waterfalls just yet as I hear they can be a pain to clean and just become a bit of a bacteria breeding ground

will it be too cold for the crickets in our shed? I don't really want them in the house, although it will amuse my cats having a box that chirps! - I think it might get a little too cold for the crix out in a shed at this time of year, I just keep my bugs in tubs/little tanks on a shelf out of the way. A tip with the crix is to keep them dry as if they get damp they tend to start to smell really fast.

Phew I'm done Cool Can't wait for the pics.
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jakeus
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Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 664

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have used one of the cricket rocks, they are very good for dusting crickets and they do come out of the hole in there own time, makes it more natural i think!
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Carol
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Joined: 24 Oct 2007
Posts: 102
Location: Wiltshire

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 2:59 pm    Post subject: Cricket rock Reply with quote

Thanks - we'll see how it goes!
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PaulG
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Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 3996
Location: North West

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cant wait for the pics! Smile
_________________
Regards, Paul.

:.Rhacodactylus.:.Eublepharis.:.Stenodactylus.:.Nephrurus.:
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