Crested Gecko Care Sheet

Hatchlings can be kept in a 6 quart or similar size tub to avoid any injuries from falling and it is easier to monitor feeding and droppings. 

Once they put on a little size and reach about 5+ grams and are eating and pooping regularly, they can be moved into a larger tub with a little more depth or you can move them straight to their "juvenile" enclosure shown below.  Just make sure to monitor their feeding and add plenty of plants/cover and branches and ledges. 

At 10+ grams, they should be moved into a larger arboreal (vertical) enclosure, such as a 12"x12"x18" glass enclosure or a similar sized plastic tub that is turned on its end, so it stands up tall.  At roughly 20+ grams, move them to their final adult enclosure.  Minimum adult enclosure size is 18"x18"x24" arboreal or a similar sized plastic tote stood on end.

*Drill or melt airholes in any plastic totes to provide good ventilation.  For 6 quart tubs, add a few nrows of holes on each side for cross ventilation.  Small 1/8" holes are great.   For larger totes that are stood on end, we add larger holes (about 1/4") on both tall sides about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. We drill 3 rows on each size going from the front to back.  On top, add as many holes as possible.  We have started just cutting large slits on the sides and the majority of the tops out with a Dremel tool or razor knife and hot gluing pieces of screen.  We have found that this allows the enclosures to dry out between mistings and allowing them not to get too wet.

*Weights can be measured by a cheap kitchen scale, or any scale that can measure grams.  If you are having a hard time getting your gecko to sit on the scale, try adding a small prop for them to sit on, just make sure to zero the scale before adding your gecko to the prop.*

Paper towels are perfect for their "starter" homes are ideal.  They are cheap, easy to replace and makes it very easy to monitor their droppings.  

As they get larger, you can keep the paper towels due to their ease of changing and cheap options.  If you are wanting to go bioactive, we recommend a high quality, nutritious substate, such as Reptisoil for the commercial side of it.  Coconut coir is not a good option as it tends to mold easily and doesn't have much nutrition for your clean-up crew or plants. You can make your own substrate with a cheap, organic top soil and a little bit of play sand mixed in.  This works great for your plants and clean-up crew to thrive in and is a great budget friendly option. 

If you are wanting to go with a substrate but are not wanting to go bioactive, you will need to do substrate changes so we recommend that same as bioactive substrate.  The most budget friend option is just to get a cheap, organic top soil.  Reptisoil and Jungle Mix are great commercial substrates as well.

For their smaller sized "starter" enclosures, a small artificial plant just set in the bottom will be adequate for them to climb and hide in.  A cut up paper towel tube, a piece of pool noodle or pipe insulation makes a great little hide for them to crawl in on or on.  You can also take the noodle or pipe insulation and cut it just long enough to squeeze between the sides and they make great little "branches" for them to climb on. 

For larger enclosures, add plenty of real and/or artificial plants and vertical branches for them to climb, hide and rest on.  There are plenty of hide options for them available.  Hanging coconuts, a larger piece of pipe insulation (can be found at Home Depot or hardware stores and looks like a large, black pool noodle) that can be purchased from home depot (looks like a large, black pool noodle), Etsy has plenty of hanging reptile houses that are being 3D printed to choose from (we recommend the magnetic over suction cups) but they both work well.

*Plastic totes are amazing to decorate as you can just drill holes wherever you need them and can zip tie your decorations to the sides and can even carefully run screws into corkbark pieces if you want to hang hides and ledges (just use caution the screw isn't protuding anywhere to avoid injury to the resident).  NEVER use tape or adhesives inside of your enclosures as it can pose a very dangerous threat to the inhabitants if it comes loose and gets stuck to them.  Magnets and hot glue are good options, or commercial hangers made specifically for this purpose. 

Powdered commercial diets are very readily available and perfect for these geckos.  We do recommend staying away from the ZooMed crested gecko diet and sticking with primarily Pangea and/or Repashy crested gecko diet.  Lugarti gecko diet is another good option.  For growing, younger geckos, Pangea Growth and Breed mixed with another flavored powder is what we offer ours.  We mix 1 part Growth and Breed and 1 part flavored and then mix it with water to create a "ketchup like consistency".  Some geckos may prefer a thicker consistency while others make prefer a thinner mix.  You can play around and see what your specific kiddo prefers.  We feed ours a variety of flavors so they are well rounded and have a little enrichment.  Some may like and dislike some flavors as well. 

Hatchlings should be offered food once a day.  A pea sized drop of food is plenty for these little babies.  They won't eat it all and it will make it a little easier to see if they are eating.  They don't eat much so it may be kind of difficult to see if they have licked any up so the smaller the drop, the easier it will be to see.  

Juveniles can be fed every other day, but any left over food should be removed after 24 hours.  Again, these guys don't need a ton of food.  A .5 ounce cup filled about halfway is plenty. 

Adults can be fed every 2-3 days.  Leftover food should be removed after 24 hours.  A .5 ounce cup filled full should be plenty.  You can monitor how much they're eating as well as body condition and adjust as needed.  

BUGS - while they are not necessary, they can be beneficial for growth and supplementation.  We feed a couple dubia roaches dusted with calcium WITH D3 once a week.  Since these guys are nocturnal and don't require UVB, calcium without D3 will not be absorbed correctly. 

*They may not eat for a period of time after getting introduced to new surroundings or going through any amount of stress, so don't worry if they go a few days without eating* 

 Crested geckos do best between 60 to 80% humidity.  This can be maintained with daily misting and a moisture-retentive substrate. Make sure to let the enclosure dry out in between mistings to around 40 to 50% before misting again as constant moisture will provoke mold and mildew growth and can make your gecko sick.

Misting is also the best way to make sure your gecko stays hydrated.  They will occasionally drink out of a dish, but they greatly prefer to lick water droplets off the plants and enclosure walls.  If we're not using an automatic mister, we use a pressure sprayer from Amazon and it makes misting so much easier. 

Depending on how well your terrarium holds humidity, mist at least once a day in the evening and again in the morning if your enclosure is under 40%.  Don't over mist so your enclosure is staying too moist all the time.  If it is too wet, try misting every other day until it starts to dry out to ideal levels, then go back to misting at least once a day, with shorter mists. 

Keep track of the humidity levels with a quality hygrometer.  Digital is by far the best.  You can get hygrometer/temperature combos so you can monitor both with one unit.  We have found Govee units are accurate and fairly prices, and they Bluetooth to your phone via their app.  Govee also makes light timers that will automatically turn their day/heat lights on and off that you can set for specific times. 

Crested geckos are nocturnal, so they will sleep during the day and are usually hiding in a darker area.  This means they do not require UVB. If you are wanting to provide a UVB, use a very low power bulb such as the T5 Arcadia Shade Dweller.   They do however benefit from having a day/night cycle though.  This doesn't need to be provided via UVB, an led light or low wattage incandescent bulb will work great.  A grow light if you have a bioactive great too.  Just make sure that whatever day bulb you are using doesn't raise the temp in the enclosure above 80F and never put them close to or in front of a window or anywhere any sunlight will be directly on their cage.  A 14 hour cycle of light will help regulate their circadian rhythms, seasonal cycles, and improves activity, appetite and overall health. 

They require little heat, if any at all!  In fact, anything above 80F for a length of time can be fatal to your gecko.  Their ideal temperatures are between 72 and 78F.  They can tolerate a nighttime drop to 64 and it can even be healthier for them to have a nighttime temperature drop than providing heat at night.  If your house or room is cooler than 72, you can add a low wattage daytime bulb whether it be reptile specific or an incandescent household bulb.  You can even use a low wattage ceramic heat emitter or deep heath projector.  They don't produce visible light so they would still need to be in an area that will give them sunlight or have a visible light to give them a day cycle.  Make sure the light is low enough wattage or hung far enough above the top of the enclosure that it doesn't get hotter than 80 degrees at the top.  This will provide a gradient so if they get too warm, they can go down to the bottom as well.  A digital thermometer is the best way to gauge this, others are not as accurate.  A thermostat is always a great idea as another protective measure as well.  Make sure to check the temperature with an additional thermometer, as some of the probes on the thermostats aren't correct.

We have found Govee units are accurate and fairly prices, and they Bluetooth to your phone via their app.  Govee also makes light timers that will automatically turn their day/heat lights on and off that you can set for specific times. 

Like the majority of reptiles, these guys are more for looking at and not cuddling.  They will tolerate handling, but they don't enjoy it.  They can be extremely flighty and will jump without warning or really direction or care where they are going.  Hold them close to the floor so if they do jump, they won't go "plop" on the floor from a few feet up.  After getting your new baby, it is extremely important to let them settle into their new surroundings for a bare minimum of a month before trying to handle them.   Try to avoid handling for extended amounts of time as they are very sensitive to heat.  Your body temperature is 98.6F and they don't tolerate anything over 80F well, so keep handling times to a minimum.

*Every gecko will have it's own personality.  They can bite and it does hurt, so use caution and watch their body language.  Their attitude can change throughout the year too.  Males can get aggressive during breeding season and will snap, some will even try to mount your hand and will do a "mating nip" where they will grab some skin like they are holding onto the female's head.

Crested geckos have the ability to drop their tails, but once they do, they don't grow back.  They become "frog butts". for the rest of their lives. They can drop their tails for a number of reasons, or quite frankly, no reason at all, but usually it is from undergoing some sort of stress.  People have reported their geckos lost their tails due to fireworks, from dogs barking, kids screaming or any loud noise for that matter.  They can drop their tails during shipping, being moved to a new enclosure or from being handled too much.  Heck, they may even drop if you look at them wrong or they don't like the food you gave them!  That's a low possibility, but it does happen!

If your gecko does drop his/her tail, there is nothing further you need to but let nature take its course.  It will heal on its own without any medicines, topicals or assistance from you.  If you are using substrate, you can lay paper towels down over it and change them daily to minimize infection, but there's plenty of people who don't do that and have been just fine.  If you do notice anything abnormal or any signs of infections or rot, you will need to make an appointment with an exotic vet that treats crested geckos.  When it is healed, it will have a small protrusion that pokes out where the tail used to be.

Dropped tails don't affect quality of life or health of your gecko.  They can still do everything a crestie with a tail can do and they wills still live long, happy, healthy lives.  The only difference between a crestie with a tail and one without a tail, is they just look different, nothing more, so there's no need to panic.