[rickyjwebb]

I've had my Crested Gecko now for 1 month and I think he was roughly a month old when I got him. I did lots and lots of research on CG behaviour and habits before I got him and have been asking many questions on his current wellbeing at my local reptile centre.

I currently have a theory that Link (yep that's his name) is perhaps a runt of the litter, as it were. I still love the little guy to bits but I'm just interested to know if he's gonna need extra special care to have a good quality of life.

I came to this conclusion from the following points:

1: He doesn't climb very well. I've seen other CGs his age climbing on glass with great ease, speed and agility but Link seems to have trouble gripping on to even slightly glossy surfaces. I read somewhere that the only surface that Geckos cant get purchase on is Teflon...

2: Hunting. I've sat and watched him for hours on the hunt. Although, to my delight, I have seen him catch one or two crickets and smugly wolf them down, I have spotted a few predatory fails. When misting the tank, water drips down the glass and he chases it and slams his face into the hard surface from time to time. He also picks the worst spots for ambushing prey and sometimes waits for ages for something to stumble by only to completely miss the golden opportunity when it finally does come. I've even seen crickets walk right in his strike range and bumble around for minutes and he seems to be oblivious (not disinterested as if he was full, just purely unaware)

I think he's eating roughly 1 or two crickets a night and I was told that they should eat tonnes while they're growing.

Now these issues are relatively minor considering that he looks healthy, he handles well on most days and seems to be excreting normally too. The only reason I bring the subject up is that his siblings who are still in the reptile shop are all stunning acrobats and eating lots. They also get through a lot of CGD whereas Link is stubborn as a mule with it. So what I'm after is for a few people to share their experiences with CG adolescence. Has anyone experienced a similar thing? Will the situation improve or are there perhaps things I could do to help him out a bit? Should I just leave him to it (and let another little bowl of mashed banana go off each night)?

Oh and for the record, I'm keeping the humidity as high as I can get it (65-70) and the temperature at 75f in the day and 65f at night.

[lauraleellbp]

I think there's a few husbandry issues here that need to be addressed.

First off, Diet- are you feeding crickets every day? You should feed crickets at MOST once or twice a week (I feed 1x/week at most and usually more like a few times a month). Don't feed bugs at all unless you are sure that your Crestie is eating MOSTLY CGD. In the wild, fruit and nectar is the majority of their diet, so the CGD is much more balanced nutrition for them. It's been documented repeatedly that Crested geckos that are fed primarily bugs rather than CGD will develop serious and often permanent deformities, especially Metabolic Bone Disorder. I own a rescue myself who is horribly deformed because her "breeder" fed her mostly bugs rather than CGD. If your gecko is holding out for bugs right now rather than eating CGD- then you need to stop feeding bugs until he's well established on the CGD or risk his health.

I have several Cresties who refuse to touch bugs- and this is actually fine and normal, they don't REQUIRE them as part of their diet, unlike the primarily insectivorous geckos.

A Crestie's stomach is only as big as one of its eyeballs, so they don't eat much and don't necessarily need to eat every day.

Second, humidity- are you maintaining 65-70% humidity all the time, or have you established a cycle ranging between 80-90% at night drying down to 40-50% during the day? Cresties need a cycle rather than constant high humidity. Too much humidity can cause shed and stickiness issues the same as too little humidity.

It sounds odd to me that you cannot get your Crestie's viv higher than 65-70% humidity. What type of gauge are you using to measure humidity? Digital are typically much more accurate than analog dials. What type of enclosure do you have him in? Crestie enclosures do need some ventilation, but should be primarily closed in by glass, acrylic, etc to help maintain the high humidty they need at night.

Every location and enclosure is set up differently so husbandry regimens must be adapted based on trial and error and what works for your particular setup. Personally, I only have to mist all my Crestie enclosures once at night and then they dry out all day, and the humidity cycle is perfect. On rainy days the humidity often will stay up over 60% so I won't mist at all on those days, just make sure the Cresties have fresh water in their bowls for drinking or soaking if they want. Some people have to mist 2 or even 3 times daily to prevent their humidity from dropping below 40%, though.

Lastly- Growth Rates- growth can and will vary dramatically from Crestie to Crestie. I have some siblings who are maintained exactly the same way in enclosures right next to each other who one is almost or in one case more than 2x the size and weight of the other. This is actually pretty normal.

As long as a gecko is eating, pooping, and not showing any symptoms of distress- it's fine. I weigh each of my Cresties once a week and keep careful records; this is one of the best ways to track overall health for most herps. IMO a good digital scale is an essential husbandry tool for them.

Your temperatures are within normal ranges, but that nightly drop to 65 F may be keeping your gecko's metabolism down. As we're headed into winter it's pretty normal for geckos to start slowing down this time of year, but you might consider finding a way to keep him a few degrees warmer at night if you're concerned about his growth. And you'll definitely want to make sure that the temperatures don't drop any lower as the weather keeps cooling now.

[rickyjwebb]

Right,

Yeah, the humidity gauge is a cheap analogue hygrometer from 'Exo Terra' so perhaps it isn't giving me a very accurate reading and I should purchase a digital, more reliable one before worrying about the humidity. The room he's in is a nice comfortable temperature and humidity for people so his tank in theory should be a little warmer and more humid in the terrarium (which is a 45x45x60 'ExoTerra' terrarium by the way).

My local reptile centre gave me crickets to feed him and said a whole box would last him a week so I guess I was expecting him to eat lots but I'll be moving him to the CGD immediately. I just hope he's not been spoiled on live food.

I think I'll also be purchasing some digital scales too. Never thought of weighing him but it makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for taking the time to help me iron the kinks out.

[stellarawesome]

That scale will be your best friend. Its addicting weighing babies each week to see if they've grown!

When you do feed your gecko crickets, I've found that popping off their back legs enables the babies to more easily catch and eat the dusted crickets (crickets also seem to slow down a bit after a good dusting).
Get some good tweezers, and if you pinch at the 'thigh' the legs just automatically flop off.

Also the crickets should be no larger than the width between the crested's eyes so you may have crickets too big (a great way to freak out some of mine! lol). Try asking for or purchasing pin head crickets.

[rickyjwebb]

Ace!

I'll give that a go when the next feeding time treat comes around. Will have to get some tweezers too then. I don't fancy wrestling cricket legs off with my fat fingers.

[Melissa]

Hello,

You've been given some good information, and I agree that you ought to
back off on the crickets. Just make sure Link gets the CGD every other
day for a while.
Crested geckos do grow at different rates, and I have a couple who are
very slow growers, and probably will remain smaller geckos. You'll be
surprised sometimes at how slow they can grow. The inability to climb
could be due to a dietary deficiancy, or just not enough humidity as posted,
or perhaps a developmental thing.
Enjoy your little guy.
Best wishes.

Melissa N.

[rickyjwebb]

I'm happy to report that link has been eating up the CGD happily with mashed banana and his temp/humidity is being much more accurately monitored.

I didn't think it would be so hard to weigh him though

"Stay still link!!"

[Doublet74]

Originally Posted by rickyjwebb

I'm happy to report that link has been eating up the CGD happily with mashed banana and his temp/humidity is being much more accurately monitored.

I didn't think it would be so hard to weigh him though

"Stay still link!!"

The easiest way to weigh a small lizard is to place them in a small bowl. Place the lizard in the bowl on the scale then remove lizard and weigh just the bowl. Subtract one from the other.

[lauraleellbp]

I have several who weighing proves to be an exercise in Extreme Gecko Wrangling, too. LOL