# Crestied Gecko Exo Terra setup



## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

Here is my current Crestie setup.























































My mate helped me build the custom shelf made out of worktop cut to size. I'm still trying to work out a way of housing the cables neater as it's a little untidy for my liking. Since the last pictures I've added the light bracket to hold the ceramic heater cage and the Habistat pulse thermostat with built in night eye. I'm not really happy with the cheap short cabling system on it which limits where I can place it. Im using the 40watt heater at the minute but due to my bedroom being cold it's struggling to get the temperatures I'm looking for. Mostly stuck at 66f unless I put my central heating on it can push it up to 68f max. Any questions or words of wisdom are all welcome. Thanks for taking the time to check it out. :2thumb:


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## jasonm96 (Aug 30, 2015)

Really nice set up, would add some more plants for climbing and hiding though, either the artificial hanging plants or some ficus is ideal if you can take a plant out. 

Place the ceramic over the branch, and take the basking temp from there. It should be 26-28C to as low as 22C at the cooler side. 

The problem with the CHE and fixture you have is that a lot of heat is wasted around the lamp rather being directed down. You would be better with a trough ceramic and reflector. If you're room is cold then adding fluorescent lighting rather than LEDs would help as well, at least til summer.


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## casuk (Oct 12, 2015)

Agree with above get rid of the caged fixture and get a dome to reflect the heat down in to the tank they cages are only good if inside a viv, ID also add some kind of foliage round the top so he/she can hide 

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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

jasonm96 said:


> Really nice set up, would add some more plants for climbing and hiding though, either the artificial hanging plants or some ficus is ideal if you can take a plant out.
> 
> Place the ceramic over the branch, and take the basking temp from there. It should be 26-28C to as low as 22C at the cooler side.
> 
> The problem with the CHE and fixture you have is that a lot of heat is wasted around the lamp rather being directed down. You would be better with a trough ceramic and reflector. If you're room is cold then adding fluorescent lighting rather than LEDs would help as well, at least til summer.


Thanks a lot mate I'm glad someone likes it. Encouraging to hear I'm doing something right :blush: I guess I could get a ficus soon and swap it for the front one which is Aquintum something or other. I posted elsewhere that I wanted to add air plants but was wondering if a few adhesive clips would be strong enough to hold them up. Interested in your opinion on that one. With the CHE i was thinking I would a dome lamp holder not have the prospect of melting or something ? If you can recommend a safe dome to use which the Exo Terra Heat Emitter that would be great. I was thinking if I got a higher wattage on the Emitter then it would work better against the winter cold not sure tho. Ive got th sensor on the surface of the substrate which I've set for 72c and as I said it gets to 68c or slightly above if the heating is on. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs though. 



casuk said:


> Agree with above get rid of the caged fixture and get a dome to reflect the heat down in to the tank they cages are only good if inside a viv, ID also add some kind of foliage round the top so he/she can hide
> 
> Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


Any ideas how to add said foliage around the top and where abouts. I'm open to suggestions aslong as I don't need to glue/silicone any fixings. 

Thanks to both of you for your advice please let me know any further advice you can give me to help me implement your ideas.


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## casuk (Oct 12, 2015)

Cakes86 said:


> Thanks a lot mate I'm glad someone likes it. Encouraging to hear I'm doing something right :blush: I guess I could get a ficus soon and swap it for the front one which is Aquintum something or other. I posted elsewhere that I wanted to add air plants but was wondering if a few adhesive clips would be strong enough to hold them up. Interested in your opinion on that one. With the CHE i was thinking I would a dome lamp holder not have the prospect of melting or something ? If you can recommend a safe dome to use which the Exo Terra Heat Emitter that would be great. I was thinking if I got a higher wattage on the Emitter then it would work better against the winter cold not sure tho. Ive got th sensor on the surface of the substrate which I've set for 72c and as I said it gets to 68c or slightly above if the heating is on. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I use suckers with plastic hooks and I drilled a hole in the branches so they are securely mounted I have some fake plants (check eBay) mounted at the top on suckers too (they came with the plants) and two vines wrapped around the branches, I will be changing it all when make my own background with all branches ect permanently secured to the background and real plants in some places,
















I use a dome set to 27c pulse stat probe is just under the dome that sits on two small pieces of wood so not to heat up the mesh the stat is stuck to the outside of the viv on adhesive velcro that he likes to sit next to (acts like a small heat mat) 



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## wagg (Feb 6, 2014)

Exo terra do a dome. Night glow think its called. Pretty good and they also do some sort of light stand. It sticks to the back and comes up to a 90 degree bend. About a tener. Some sticky black plastic on the back and the side closest to the wall would tidy it right up. : victory:


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

wagg said:


> Exo terra do a dome. Night glow think its called. Pretty good and they also do some sort of light stand. It sticks to the back and comes up to a 90 degree bend. About a tener. Some sticky black plastic on the back and the side closest to the wall would tidy it right up. : victory:


Only problem with that is it says the heat Emitter would be a fire hazard if not used with the cage. I gotta say I'd prefer to listen to that seeing as I'm leaving it unattended all day.


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## jasonm96 (Aug 30, 2015)

The problem with the heat emitter you have is that the design is not the best for use with reflectors and can of used with a cheap reflector cause a fire hazard, but I'm sure this case is very rare and they only recommended against this so that no claim against the manufacturer can be made. Go for the type in trough form, used for chicken heating. These can safely be used with a special reflector designed to hold them but keep them away from the annoying plastic on the ET terrariums. Dart frog have them available and give marc a phone, he will advise. The whole point of a ceramic heat emitter is energy efficient heating due to all power being used as heat, but the wire light fixture just makes them even less effective than a heat lamp and defeats the purpose. As an alternative, you could use an incandescent bulb. The moonlight ones are fine, especially the habistat ones. They barely produce any light and any light produced is similar to moonlight and probably benefits the animal. The red bulbs are no good though and produce excessive unnatural red light


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## casuk (Oct 12, 2015)

If you use a pulse stat you want have to worry about fire hazard unless your heat emitter is used at 100% at 100% of the time 

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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

jasonm96 said:


> The problem with the heat emitter you have is that the design is not the best for use with reflectors and can of used with a cheap reflector cause a fire hazard, but I'm sure this case is very rare and they only recommended against this so that no claim against the manufacturer can be made. Go for the type in trough form, used for chicken heating. These can safely be used with a special reflector designed to hold them but keep them away from the annoying plastic on the ET terrariums. Dart frog have them available and give marc a phone, he will advise. The whole point of a ceramic heat emitter is energy efficient heating due to all power being used as heat, but the wire light fixture just makes them even less effective than a heat lamp and defeats the purpose. As an alternative, you could use an incandescent bulb. The moonlight ones are fine, especially the habistat ones. They barely produce any light and any light produced is similar to moonlight and probably benefits the animal. The red bulbs are no good though and produce excessive unnatural red light


Thanks a lot for the in depth advice about CHE heaters and their workings. I checked the dartfrog website but it says the Trough Heaters have been discontinued, unless you know someone there personally that is ?


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## jasonm96 (Aug 30, 2015)

I seen a website called chicken-house.co.uk sells them and the fixture but I think they're currently out of stock. Amazon has everything and so you will probably find them there as well. They're a lot cheaper than the branded "reptile" ones at pet stores


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

After much deliberation with the 'Mrs' she is refusing to consider the Trough Heater after the horror stories she read online about fire hazards. My only possibly left would be to get a 60watt or 100watt heater for the cage and hope for the best. 

On a side note could I use a Ficus Pumila as my background hanging/creeping plant ? If so what's the easiest way of adding it to the viv without stressing the crestie too much ?


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## jasonm96 (Aug 30, 2015)

Any heater is a hazard, low but with the internet full of people, you will hear the unfortunate stories. I would highly recommend the habistat moon heat lamps and use them in a dome, these will be more effective than what you've got and won't disturb the crestie. I wouldn't add it, it will make then enclosure look nice, but it could be of any use to the Gecko for climbing.


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

jasonm96 said:


> Any heater is a hazard, low but with the internet full of people, you will hear the unfortunate stories. I would highly recommend the habistat moon heat lamps and use them in a dome, these will be more effective than what you've got and won't disturb the crestie. I wouldn't add it, it will make then enclosure look nice, but it could be of any use to the Gecko for climbing.


Sadly that's not really reassuring, saying you don't think it's likely to go wrong. Seeing as everyone is saying the cage is the most safest option I'll feel more at ease to stick with it. 

The real question is can I use a non branded Heat Emitter in the Exo Terra Cage fitting ? 

Also I found that Magnaturals make Plant Ledges that hold
Plants in the exact way I'd like my background to look. Is there anything in the UK I can use ? Paying customs costs is just on.


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## jasonm96 (Aug 30, 2015)

You can use other bulbs in the wire light fixture, however it will dramitically reduce their efficacy. Again, the best is to just get a light dome and a low-wattage nocturnal incandescent bulb, these are tried and tested, safe unless misused. 

I'm not sure on this, but someone else will hopefully chime in


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

jasonm96 said:


> You can use other bulbs in the wire light fixture, however it will dramitically reduce their efficacy. Again, the best is to just get a light dome and a low-wattage nocturnal incandescent bulb, these are tried and tested, safe unless misused.
> 
> I'm not sure on this, but someone else will hopefully chime in


Would it be a better option if I cut back my grapevine and dropped my CHE above it inside the vivarium ? I could stick it inside a heater guard to stop the crestie from getting burned. Then it would become more efficient and generate more heat for the vivarium. Has anyone tried this themselves ?


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

Any suggestions on whether I should do as mentioned above or not ? I would love a second opinion before I go ahead and hack away at my branches. Please don't be shy any ideas one way or the other is much appreciated


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

I would not, these lamps get super hot, a guard will not stop burns as heat radiates,


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## Cakes86 (Dec 15, 2016)

Arcadiajohn said:


> I would not, these lamps get super hot, a guard will not stop burns as heat radiates,


So anything like this would be bad for a crestie setup ?


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## reptile junkie (Jan 31, 2017)

Hey man if you need some more cheap cork bark come drop by https://www.reptilejunkie.ca/


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