# I picked up my new baby crestie yesterday.....a little advice please!



## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

I have a few questions for my new addition to the family. Malekko is 5 months old and being such a wee little fella and never having had a crested gecko before, i'm a bit worried that i'm doing something wrong or not looking after him properly.

how do i know he is happy and content, what characteristics tell me he is not happy or uncomfortable

how often to i spray the faunarium, he has plastic plants and vines inside which he seems to happily walk about on, i use kitchen roll as a substrate and when i spray it seems to dry out really quickly......i sprayed it 3 times last night and he had a drink each time but stops drinking as it obviously dries up and i am worried that he is not drinking enough, but research tells me i should only spray either once or twice a day, what should i do?

how can i tell if he is eating there seems to be quite a bit of the CGD missing in the middle of the bowl, but i'm not sure if this just means it has dried up???

how do i know my crested gecko is asleep, he curls up under a leaf,but his eyes are open, how can i tell the difference between sleep and him being unwell??

what are the two holes either side of my cresties head, i'm guessing ears, but not sure??

Many thanks everyone for your help and advice.

: victory:


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## darwin2 (Mar 20, 2010)

Malekko said:


> I have a few questions for my new addition to the family. Malekko is 5 months old and being such a wee little fella and never having had a crested gecko before, i'm a bit worried that i'm doing something wrong or not looking after him properly.
> 
> how do i know he is happy and content, what characteristics tell me he is not happy or uncomfortable
> 
> ...



well i'm not an expert but i can answer a couple of questions :s

with regards to spraying, i don't think it matters how often you do it as long as your monitoring the humidity within the faunarium it should be around 50-70 (i may be a bit out here, only had mine 3weeks!) i find spraying morning and night does the trick. 

with the CGD put less in the bowl then its easier to see, use a bottle top or something similar, i've got a bottle top with a bit of water in for mine too if your worried about yours drinking you might wanna do this.

ermmmm yh hope this helps :blush:


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi
Grats on getting cresty:2thumb:

As you only got him yesterday, he's going to take a while to settle in, so try not to worry too much.

The holes on the head are ears yes With spraying, evening and night should be fine. Do you have any extra heating? What temperature is the faunarium?

Too much spraying can cause damp rather than humid conditions.


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

Thanks guys....appreciate the comments and advice, i'm worried i'm spraying too much now, but feels like it dries up too quickly for him to drink very much?? So have put a little dish down too, but at least when i spray i can see him drink.

I dont actually have a thermometer/hygrometer yet, but it's in the post, should be here in the next couple of days, but the little flat we have is quite warm, and the weather's been quite mild over the past couple of days, so i'm not too worried about the temp too much.....but i will also invest in a heat mat and stat in the next couple of weeks, i'm sure the weather won't stay great.

Any other advice, would be great!!!

Thanks so much : victory:


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi

The only reason i asked about the temps, is that if the faunarium is drying out that quickly it could be too warm. You dont really want the temps going higher than 80f in the daytime

With the crested gecko diet just put a small amount in a milk bottle top like Darwin said. Its easier to see if any has gone Leave in for 2 nights then refresh. Will you be trying him on little crickets? 

As I said, it may take him a few days to settle in:2thumb:


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

I'm pretty confident it's not too warm.....the kitchen roll isn't really drying out....it's just the plastic sides of the faunarium and the plastic leaves and vines that are drying up quickly because the water doesn't really stick to the plastic and because he drinks from these places i was worried that unless i spray a few times each night he won't get to drink much before it dries up.

I was thinking about maybe one or two locusts a week....don't really want to keep crickets in the house....they don't really have that great a reputation....smelly, noisy, can get loose...no thanks! Although i have been told that people do feed the wee fellas solely on the CGD, would this be ok??

Many Thanks
:2thumb:


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi
Yeh, they can be fed Repashy only without any problems. You can also use fruits like mango, papaya and melon:2thumb: As long as the locusts are small enough, its not going to hurt. Our two cats do a good job of keeping the escaped cricket population down lol

The sides of faunariums do dry fairly quickly. These little geckos dont drink an excessive amount, and also get moisture from their foods.

Do you have any pics of the little guy yet?


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

I live in England and I don't use a heat mat for weather like we have now I have one when it starts to get colder.. 

When I use a heat mat I put it on the back wall not the flooring as cresties spend very little time on the floor. 

I have a water bowl, a dripper and I spray the tanks every night with a hand held mister (£1 from a garden shop)

I put the food in a little milk bottle top, but I use smoothie or baby food with the crestie diet mix as my cresties refuse to eat the mix added with water.

when they are asleep their pupils will be like little black slits, they dont have eyelids. when they are awake their pupils are huge and black and more rounded.

happy cresties will be out and about at night I have fitted a red bulb (not heat lamp) to mine as I like to watch them at night. Lizards see in black and white so they can't see the red light so they treat that as total darkness.

in the enclosure, put as many tall plants or branches as you can on the forum there is a crestie safe plant list.

I don't use anything for the flooring but I do have a chinese tub i keep wet filled with moss so they can get wet to ease shedding ( you prob wont see your crestie shed as they do it so quick and eat the skin)

Crickets - I do not feed crickets to mine they never eat them (i have old cresties) and if you get crickets that are too big they will cause harm to your lizard. If you feed crickets feed the crickets on things like lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, apple but re fesh the food every night, if ur crickets eat moldy food you then could harm your lizard. I used to put the crested diet mix in with water for the crickets in a milk bottle top, and then put damp or wet cotton wool in water for them to drink. crickets r stupid and tend to drown their selfs in bowls of water... 

Enjoy your crestie: I get mine out most of the time, he comes to the kebab shop with me and out for walks to my friends house, but mine are over 5 years old and never jump away from me they curl up n go to sleep.. 
Cresties are very loving, I dip my finger in water or baby food and let my cresties lick it off I do this when Im worried they havent eaten or drank water. 

If you live somewhere hot or ur house is warm:
get a thing called a little dropper, they are really good by dropping water continuous on to a leaf you know they will have water. 
Fogger: I have a massive tank and use a fogger water will sit on the leafs and they have acces to water that way and it keeps humidity up.

Well I hope this works I have old Cresties that are 8 years old, I believe they can live up to 15 years but they were only re introduced as a pet in the mid 1990's. Cresties will get bigger but not seem to put on weight, my 1 year old is huge but only weighs 23g but my 6 year old weighs 35g but its taken him ages to get that size and weight. my tiny ones weigh 4g and they are 5 months so don't panic about weight or size


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

*housing*

if you can try getting something a bit bigger, I keep one crestie per tank ( I only have males) in a 20inch x20inch x20inch he has room to jump about, they like height to be as big as possible, these were once wild animals I like to give them as much space, and real plants as possible.
but i think something that is 12inch x12inch x18 inch is really the smallest they should be in.. 
look at the Exo Terra glass range 
Exo Terra Glass Terrarium 30x30x45cm (h)

you can pick one up for about £30-40

but if you get a bigger tank means you could have breeding trio


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

adivallender said:


> I put the food in a little milk bottle top, but I use smoothie or baby food with the crestie diet mix as my cresties refuse to eat the mix added with water.


To Malleko - I would stick with the Repashy only, or use fresh fruit (as mentioned previously) to mix the Repashy base powder into. There are more baby foods that cant be used than can.

IMO baby food is for babies.....of the human kind, although there's no substitute for fresh food:2thumb:


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

ok I didn't mean baby food as such.. 

I puree fruits down for the baby (a human) and give some to the cresties. if I buy baby food I only buy organic fruit ones and I look for no added on the labels - tho this turns out very expencive £1 a small jar 

ive had my cresties 8 years and never killed any they don't like the powder stuff and after tasting it myself I see why. lol .
thats why I use puree fruit, and i never use tap water as I live in a house built in 1600's and my water comes out the tap white and we have been advised not to drink it from water board untill they can sort out the piping etc.
my sister never uses banana as she was told by a breeder that the potasium levels are too high - im not sure on this fact but i hardly use banana anyway.


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Yeh. banana is something to avoid really We use liquidised fruits to mix with the repashy base powder, although we have also used the Complete Repashy, without the fruit, and ours liked that too:2thumb:


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

is there other brands i can try? shops here are really crap, and back in yeovil they sell the animals but no mixes!! pretty wrong. I use this one for mine 

Komodo Crested Gecko Complete Diet Powder 75g with FREE Delivery from 5.75 and other Reptile Dry Foods

and they don't touch it if i use it on its own.. bloody fussy things I have..


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Apparently the Komodo stuff is rubbish. Repashy seems to be the best diet:2thumb:


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

is this the stuff??

T.rex Sandfire Super Foods - Crested Gecko Diet Mrp 50g


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## adivallender (Mar 21, 2010)

oh no wait there is something that comes in 2 parts :/

oh how confusing ... 
http://www.stickyfeet.co.uk/Shop/Shop.html its under dry foods 
maybe I should buy it all and then see what they eat without having to add fruit etc?
or ill trade all my cresties for ones that aren't so fussy


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

This is the Repashy.

Stickyfeet.co.uk - Home of Crested Geckos in Sussex

The smaller bags are fine if you only have a couple but with all my little mouths to feed I get the larger bags from here. 

Pangea Reptile Supplies Home Page


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*Wow...thank you all so much!!!!*

Your advice has been priceless :notworthy: i've got him on the repashy mixed with water at the moment, but am liking the thought of mixing it with melon, papaya or mango, (are these the only fruits i can use?) and if i was to buy the organic baby food, how long will it keep seeing they eat so little?

I have got the 45x45x60 exo terra at the ready but feel he is too teeny to stick him in there just yet, i stuggle to find him in the faunarium as it is :lol2: and i'd like to try and keep an eye on his eating and pooping habits at the mo.

How often and for how long is it ok to handle him, he's really not interested in me at all and runs in the opposite direction, when i did manage to coax him onto my hand he jumped and jumped and didn't seem happy at all until i put him back in the tank and even he seemed to be shooting me filthy looks :devil: will this change over time, will he start to trust me?

Any other comments and advice gratefully received too : victory:


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

You can use any fruits as long as they're not citrus fruits. Mine seem to prefer Melon but will also eat Mango, Papaya, Peach, Pear etc. I personally would steer clear of human baby foods. 

As you've only just got your little one I would leave him completely for at least a week to give him chance to settle in. Once he's eating and pooping nicely then you can start handling but limit to about 5 mins at a go to start with. 

They do settle down in time but some can take longer than others. I had baby that would poop on me everytime I handled her, within seconds :lol2: but now she's an adult and is lovely and calm and no more poop!!


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi

Yep, the Exo you have ready will be brilliant:2thumb: He should be ready for it when he's around 15 grams, which can be anywhere from 7 to 9 months normally.


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*I do have photos but.....*

I have no idea how to to add photos on here, i'm a bit of a technophobe really, can just about work out how to reply. But i bought him from Neep_Neep on here and i can highly recommend, i will definitely be buying my next one from her too, service and advice absolutely second to none. So if you want to see photo's i'll have to paste the link to her thread and let you know that my little Malekko is FR5 :flrt: http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizard-classifieds/494665-crested-gecko-juveniles.html

Adivallendar - I absolutely love that you take your little mate to the kebab shop hahahaha, how cute is that, what does he order? Where does he sit when you take him out then? On your shoulder? so does that mean he actually likes to be handled, cos quite a few people have mentioned to me that they dont really like to be handled at all??

Just one last thing (for tonight anyway lol) Do they need stimulus at all, am a bit worried that he's gonna get bored just sat on a vine all night, and my partner seems to have found a game to play with him, he taps the side of the tank and Malekko jumps and tries to grab his finger, is he just annoying him or is he seeing it as a game?

Many thanks :2thumb:


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## Sweetcorn (Aug 2, 2008)

Awwww very cute baby :2thumb:

I think he'll probably be finding your husband very annoying (no offence hubby):lol2:

I have had babies hit the sides when they've been hunting crickets and ended up with a swollen lip for a few day so I would get him to stop.

I've also got an adult female that will jump for moving shadows sometimes when I walk past. The crestie is probably thinking that hubby's finger is something to eat and to do it repetitively is a little mean. I think I would get annoyed if someone dangled a cream cake outside my window that I couldn't get to lol


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## darwin2 (Mar 20, 2010)

a quick note about handling.....
i started to handle mine after about 10 days of having him and he now loves coming out, i've only had him 3 weeks tomorrow! he'll sit on my leg and just look around then have a little wonder a jump onto the bed, he even sat on my netbook last night staring at the screen! he's a very confident crestie


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*Bit worried now that i've scared him....*

I've tried to take him out a couple of times and he's not been impressed at all......this was before everyone on this thread told me to leave it a while to let him settle in....am a bit worried now that this means he'll decide that he will always dislike me now.....have i scared him for good? I will leave him now for about a week or so to let him settle in....i just want him to be ok.

Thanks : victory:


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*Cleaning.....*

I took him out to clean his tank today, and he wasn't happy, i know i'm not supposed to handle him for a week or so so he can settle in.....so how often should i be cleaning out his tank then? i don't want him to become more and more frightened of me!

Thanks : victory:


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## Klymax (Apr 18, 2010)

To be fair you sound like your worrying FAR! too much, clean him/her out as youve read, or put something between your hand and the animal for instance if its stood on a log or something, then use that to calmly lift him/her out of the tank so that you can clean it up and use the same method to put it back in? would this work?

im purely speculating as im new as well so im kinda following this thread closely lol


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*i know you say i'm worried FAR too much but....*

this is the 3rd night he's been here and he's not even made an appearance  the 1st night he was out and about, last night we was a little slower and dubious, now he's not coming out at all and not eaten or pooped since he's been here. I've now mashed the CGD with melon hoping to coax him out....am so worried he won't settle and is unhappy.

I'd rather be far too worried than not worried enough and have the wee fella get really ill or die.


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

Hi
I find young crestys can be a little awkward to get out their enclosures sometimes. I normally place one hand in front and gently use the other hand to coax them.

As long as your ambient temperatures are ok, and he's not in a draught, I'd give him a day or two longer to settle. Daytime temps between 72-78f and night time can be ten degrees lower, although around 65f is fine.


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

One other thing Is the cresty in a room where you spend the evening? If so, the lights will affect when it comes out.


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

*Hi Andy*

Yeah he is in our living room, we have the tv and a table lamp on and his pupils are fairly large, which i'm sure is good thing? I've just given him a bit of a nudge and offered him his food on a pen lid.....which i'm so happy he's taken and seemed to really enjoy :no1:

So day 3 done and we seem to finally be getting somewhere, thanks everyone for all your help and priceless advice, without you all i'd be a lot more stressed over the past few days, so thank you!!!
:notworthy:


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## andy007 (May 13, 2008)

That's why he's not coming out, because of the lights and tv noise. Is there another room he could go into? 

Our reps are in a separate room, so it starts to get dark at around 8'ish and the cresties start stirring.


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## Malekko (Apr 10, 2010)

He could go in the bedroom....we'd never see him then though  Will he get used to the TV and table lamp and come out eventually?

Thanks


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