Everything You Need to Know About Crested Geckos
Introduction
If you want a fun, not-traditional pet that's piece of cake to intendance for, the crested gecko is an fantabulous choice. These dashing little lizards come in a diversity of striking colors, live long lives, and are incredibly interesting to watch.
Of course, given that many people have never endemic pets also cats and dogs, you lot may non know the proper protocol for caring for a crested gecko. Below, nosotros'll provide you with everything y'all need to know about to keep one of these cute reptiles happy and healthy.
Quick Facts About the Crested Gecko
| Species Name: | Rhacodactylus ciliatus |
| Family unit: | Diplodactylidae |
| Intendance Level: | Low |
| Temperature: | 65°-80°F |
| Temperament: | Calm, docile |
| Color Form: | Cream, yellowish, olive, red, black |
| Lifespan: | 15-20 years |
| Size: | 5-viii inches |
| Diet: | Crickets, mealworms, fruit |
| Minimum Tank Size: | twenty gallons |
| Tank Set-Up: | Glass terrarium with screen for ventilation; plenty of objects to climb on |
| Compatibility: | Depression |
Crested Gecko Overview
Today, crested geckos are i of the most popular pets for reptile lovers to own. Information technology wasn't e'er that way, withal — they were really believed to exist extinct until 1994!
Fortunately, these animals are easy to breed, so while their numbers were depression at ane fourth dimension, they apace came roaring back. These lizards are big business nowadays, as countless owners have fallen in dear with how resilient and low-maintenance they can be.
This makes them excellent options for children who want their own pet just aren't fix for the demands of caring for a domestic dog or cat. Even better, if the kid becomes bored and the task of caring for the cadger falls to you lot, crested geckos won't take upwards a bunch of your time and money.
They're also a good fit for novice reptile owners who are dipping their toes into the hobby. They may not be the near exotic reptile that you can buy, simply they're not finicky, and you won't take to worry almost constantly petty with their habitat or trying to encourage them to eat.
In nature, crested geckos are found exclusively in the rainforests of New Caledonia, an isle off the coast of Australia. However, most all crested geckos that are sold today accept been bred in captivity, as the capture of wild crested geckos has been banned past the New Caledonian government.
How Much Do Crested Geckos Cost?
You can probable detect a crested gecko for somewhere between $50 and $100. The toll will vary depending on a host of factors, including the gecko'south historic period, gender, and morph ("morph" includes their pattern, size, and coloring).
Some crested geckos with especially rare or exotic morphs can go for $500 or more, but these are express to hardcore enthusiasts. If you're just starting out, you shouldn't need to pay more $100.
Typical Behavior & Temperament
Most crested geckos are fairly laidback and docile, but they tin be skittish if they feel threatened. This means they commonly don't relish being handled, but they can come up to tolerate it if you do and so responsibly. They tend to run when scared, but they may also bound away, drop their tails, or bite. Their bites are ordinarily not serious and seldom interruption the peel, merely they tin certainly startle you lot.
The biggest concern when handling them is that they'll escape, so don't accept any chances.
Appearance & Varieties
Colour
Crested geckos are extremely varied in terms of appearance. They tin come in just about any color of the rainbow, although they're well-nigh unremarkably brown or cream. They're seldom one solid colour, though, and they're usually patterned with dark spots or lateral stripes. Their coloration isn't genetically stock-still, and so you can't guess what a baby crested gecko will look like by eyeballing their parents.
Related Read:
- Dalmatian Crested Gecko
- Pinstripe Crested Gecko
Physical Features
While their coloration tin can vary wildly, all crested geckos have a pronounced crest that begins on top of their head and moves downward their dorsum. However, the size and length of the crest can vary from individual to individual. The crest looks spiky, giving the lizard a somewhat violent appearance. It's not painful to handle, however, but you lot should yet leave it alone equally much as possible.
Their feet have rounded toe pads that make information technology easier for them to grab onto vertical surfaces. They're talented climbers, but far from the best in the lizard world. Still, you should give them plenty of places to climb and explore inside their terrarium. They have large eyes and no eyelids; instead, a narrow slit covers their eyeball. Like many lizards, they'll lick their own optics to moisten them and remove debris.
Crested geckos are incredible leapers, then you'll want to give them plenty of infinite to jump around. They especially dearest to jump from branch to branch, and their prehensile tails help them attain lift-off with ease.
Gender
Most juvenile geckos are sold "unsexed," and then y'all won't know what gender your new pet is until they fully mature. However, you tin can also purchase identifiable juvenile males and females, although these will ordinarily exist more expensive. Females are usually more expensive in general, but that's because they're ameliorate suited for grouping living than males. You lot can keep three or 4 female crested geckos in 1 enclosure, but information technology's rare to find many males that will tolerate living in close quarters with 1 some other.
How to Take Care of Crested Geckos
I of the biggest selling points of crested geckos is a low-maintenance lifestyle. Even so, there are a few things that yous demand to be aware of earlier calculation one to your menagerie.
Habitat, Tank Conditions & Setup
- Tank/Aquarium Size: You demand at least a xx-gallon tank to firm an adult crested gecko. You lot tin can use a smaller tank when the cadger is still young, provided that you lot graduate to the larger model once they fully mature. Y'all'll too desire a separate tank to go along them in while cleaning their primary habitat. There needs to be at least one screened side to the tank, equally this provides both ventilation and a spot for your gecko to climb. Some enthusiasts go along their geckos in completely screened-in enclosures.
- Temperature: Crested geckos are cold-blooded, so they need aid regulating their body temperature. During daytime hours, the tank should be kept between 72°F and 80°F, just at nighttime, those levels should drop to 65°F to 75°F. Keeping a proper temperature is important, so you should invest in a temperature judge. Overheating is specially bad, as information technology stresses them out and causes all sorts of health problems.
- Y'all'll need a estrus lamp in the tank, and you lot may want to buy a heated rock or something similar. However, they'll also need a spot to escape from the heat, and so provide them with a hideaway also.
- Substrate: Almost owners employ coconut fiber bedding, moss, or peat as a substrate. Some also utilise newspaper or paper towels, simply this isn't recommended because many crested geckos consume a chip of substrate while eating. Gravel, pebbles, and other rocks are generally discouraged, as they're difficult to make clean. Also, sand and non-organic substrate should exist avoided, as they could harm your cadger if ingested.
- Plants: These lizards need quite a few plants in their terrariums, as they use them to climb and explore. Make certain your crested has branches, vines, bamboo, driftwood, or similar objects positioned throughout their tank. They also like to hibernate, and y'all should include thick leafage that allows them to practise so. This lets them get away from perceived danger and cool off if their tank gets too hot.
- Lighting: There'due south no need for special UVB lighting, equally crested geckos are nocturnal animals. However, many experts recommend adding a low-level of UVB lighting all the aforementioned. While some geckos enjoy light, they'll also want to go away from it at times. Make sure their hideaway allows them to practise so.
- Cleaning : Information technology's important to clean your gecko'due south tank every solar day. This reduces the risk of disease while also providing them with a cleaner (and less noxious) tank. Also, the more ofttimes you clean it, the less formidable the task volition exist. At a minimum, you'll demand to remove feces and uneaten nutrient every day. Once a calendar month, you'll need to remove all the decorations and substrate and clean the plants and tank with a reptile-safe disinfectant. The substrate should be inverse regularly — either weekly or monthly, depending on the fabric.
Are Crested Geckos Practiced Tank Mates?
There'southward a sure amount of disagreement every bit to whether crested geckos desire companionship inside their tanks. It's generally agreed that they don't need some other animal to share their habitat with, but some geckos — particularly females — seem to tolerate having friends effectually.
Nevertheless, be careful nigh what kinds of animals you pair with your crested. 2 males should never be put together, equally they'll fight over resource and territory, just equally many as three or four females tin live in harmony.
It's more often than not not advisable to put other reptiles in the tank with them. If y'all innovate whatsoever dissimilar species, make certain it's not something that volition meet your crested equally prey (such as toads or sure insects). Y'all may be able to include sure types of harmless insects, like millipedes, simply there'south e'er the chance that the gecko will then see them equally a snack.
Information technology's important to understand that crested geckos don't really need other animals around for emotional support; however, they may savor having them for stimulation. If you want to enrich your gecko'southward tank, the best manner to do it may be to put another animal (such as fish) in a separate tank next to the gecko's habitat.
What to Feed Your Crested Gecko
Similar most lizards, crested geckos rely heavily on insects to make up their nutrition. You'll want to take a fresh supply of crickets, mealworms, and waxworms available for them at all times, and you can feed them daily. You can also give your gecko small-scale bits of fruit similar banana, peach, and mango, or many pet stores sell nutrient specifically made for crested geckos.
Just considering your crested eats insects, that doesn't mean they'll eat any insect you throw in the tank. Resist the urge to feed them annihilation that you can grab, because many insects can harm your gecko. This is especially truthful if they're left in the tank with them too long.
Make sure yous don't feed them anything venomous, like spiders, and avert large insects that may injure them in a fight. It's best to just stick to insects that y'all can purchase at a pet shop.
Since crested geckos are nocturnal, yous should only feed them one time every dark. And so, when yous wake upwards in the morning, yous tin can remove any food that they didn't scarf down.
- Related Read: What Exercise Crested Geckos Eat in the Wild & as Pets?
Keeping Your Crested Gecko Healthy
Crested geckos are hardy animals, and then it's relatively like shooting fish in a barrel to keep them good for you. At that place are nevertheless a few things that yous should know in order to preserve their well-existence, however.
The easiest fashion to ensure that you lot accept a healthy crested gecko is to start with a good for you crested gecko. Just because someone is selling crested geckos, that doesn't hateful they know how to take care of them, and y'all may get sold a sick or weak gecko simply out of ignorance (and occasionally malice).
When shopping for a crested gecko, make sure information technology'due south alert, curious, and stable. Make sure there isn't any discharge effectually their eyes, nose, or vent, and check that their hip bones and ribs don't protrude. These are all signs of disease in a gecko that you've endemic for a while too, and then don't just check for these things before making a purchase.
The ii most of import factors in keeping your crested gecko good for you are nutrient and stress. Make certain they take plenty of food to eat, but don't let them to become overweight.
As for stress, there are many factors that can play into information technology. Dehydration puts a great bargain of stress on them, so make sure they take access to clean water and mist their enclosure with a spray bottle every nighttime. Minimize your intrusion into their earth, which ways not picking them upward or interacting with them unless admittedly necessary.
Too, make sure the tank is properly ventilated. If all yous do is provide moisture with no ventilation, and so mold tin form, leading to respiratory issues for your lizard. You should also pick up their waste product every day so bacterial growth doesn't get out of paw and perchance sicken them.
Breeding
Every bit you might expect, given the fact that the species went from about extinct to readily available in the span of a few decades, crested geckos are easy animals to breed. Even consummate novices tin can successfully create baby crested geckos on their outset endeavor.
It's important to wait until both animals are sexually mature, though. For females, this means they're at least 1 ½ years one-time and counterbalance at to the lowest degree an ounce. Males need to exist a lilliputian older (effectually two years or and so), but they tin weigh a scrap less.
The actual breeding process will vary depending on the male person involved. Some males are quite gentle, merely courting the female with head bobs and chirps. However, others can be quite aggressive, biting the female by the crest and pinning her down to mount her. Both are normal behaviors and no cause for concern; in either example, the two animals will stay locked together for several minutes while copulation occurs.
Yous tin go along a breeding pair together year-round, but it's not necessary for breeding purposes. Females retain sperm for several months, so a few breeding sessions a year is all that's necessary to ensure successful reproduction.
Females will lay a clutch of eggs every xxx to 45 days during their breeding season. When she's ready to lay her eggs, the female will discover a moist spot to do and so. Providing her with a special egg-laying box will brand her more comfortable while also making it easier for y'all to find the eggs once she's finished.
Are Crested Geckos Suitable for Your Aquarium?
If you already have an aquarium and are considering adding crested geckos to it, make sure that the tank is large enough and that there are no other animals inside that will pose a threat to your lizards.
You may need to buy a few supplies that you don't already have on hand, such as a UVB bulb or a thermostat, in order to make your aquarium suitable for your new pet. For the most part, though, crested geckos don't require much in the way of special gear.
But by and large speaking, it'southward all-time to purchase new stuff for your new lizard. Virtually fish aquariums aren't ideal for crested geckos, as they need at to the lowest degree one side to be made of mesh in order to provide ventilation, although you may exist able to become away with only providing a mesh lid.
If you're looking for a low-maintenance pet that's still capable of providing tons of entertainment, then crested geckos are a wonderful option. These little lizards are always doing something interesting, and they need little in the way of care or supervision.
They make great pets for children and reptile lovers, but be aware that they live for equally long as 20 years, so they're non a delivery to be taken lightly. Then again, they're and so much fun that 20 years doesn't really seem similar enough time to spend with them!
- You may likewise be interested in: Crested Gecko Names
Featured Image Credit: No-longer-here, Pixabay
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Source: https://petkeen.com/crested-gecko/
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