What do your crested geckos lay in?

[Gecko411]

hey everyone my names Derek use to breed crested geckos about 10 yrs ago on a very mature level when i was 15. i got out of the hobby when i started college and here i am at 25 at it again. years ago everyone i knew and talked to used a nest box with vermiculite, now i breed poison dart frogs i vendor shows and end up next to some crested gecko vendors and we talk and they all told me their crested geckos lay directly into their substrate of various soil types. some say they dont incubate they just leave them and collect the babies befor the parents eat them and i say well how when most vivs dont keep stable temps like a incubator? others say they just collect the eggs as they go. well how do you find the eggs when their laid?

the few that use nest box most of them dont incubate they leave them on a high shelf in a room untill they hatch.

im looking for someone to walk me through this because i have a 1.1 flame crested gecko pair that i got for my fiance as a gift and they just laid their first clutch on the substrate which i have is not really for them. its more of a multch bottom then a soil type bottom. so im setting up a 18x18x24 exo terra for the pair. any advice for setting it up? lighting? heating? i have all the supplys at my home because like i said im major in to the exotic hobby so i breed dart frogs on a large scale along with leopard geckos.

any advice is appreciated thank you in advance. :biggrin:

 

[LoungeLizard]

Derek the Dart Frog breeder, not the first I've met.

Since you were at it 10 years and are finding all this new information it should show how far crested keeping has advanced in that time. Let's see 10 years ago cresties were in the hobby for about 5 or 6 years, infancy if you will. And with all these different methods of egg collection/rearing then it only proves how excellently hardy cresteds are in captivity.

Basically you can do what you wish, let them lay on the substrate or nest box and collect for "incubation." I use quotes there because if your house is at a constant temp between 70-79 degrees Fahrenheit then an incubator is a waste of money for crested eggs. My cresteds are sub adults but I plan to use a nest box with vermiculite and keep the eggs in sight so I can watch them for any bad signs.

 

[sikorae]

I use lay boxes with peat inside. I have never had one of my females NOT use the box

 

[Gecko411]

i have a nest box in there filled 3 quarters of the way up with verminculite and she just dropped the 2nd clutch right on the floor again lol.. shes taunting me!!!

but yes i do see how far they come.. their abeautiful animal and a great pet to work with. friendly and so exotic looking.. i like my cresties as much as i liked my leachies.. i love the gargs too hell i love the whole damn family of them :biggrin:

 

[rizaroo]

I use eco earth in my lay boxes.

 

[thehotchik1000]

Hi,
I have live setups for my cresties. The subsadrate is a mix of organic soil an Eco earth. I work nights so when I come home my cresties are out and about. I've noticed my girls drop their eggs around the same time each month. I start watching them for digging around that time. Where they are digging I usually just poke around in there and grab the eggs out. If you do this within a pretty short time of the girls laying you don't have to worry as much about accidentally rotating the eggs as if you do you can easily fix that by candling. After I grab the eggs out I mark the lay date on the egg and put it in vermiculite in my closet and check them every once in a while to open the container for fresh air and check it more frequently as the expected hatch date gets closer. That's my method in a nutshell anyways.
Hope this helps.
Morgan Weiss

 

[Turtlestork]

I keep my cresteds in a massive (a 120g tank I inherited massive) live enclosure. I keep a lay box with a coco fiber/sand mix in there for them; however, they have never laid in that. In fact, they tend to lay under it. I currently only have two females (I plan to have more like eight eventually) and they both tend to have their favorite spots. The substrate is a mix of coco fiber, fir bark, and leaves and they love laying in it. There are only a few spots where the soil is deep enough to lay in, so I just check these monthly (They lay around the same time) and transfer the eggs to cups where I keep them until they hatch. I don't keep mine in the tank. The first hatchling I ever found was in the tank, and his brother was not. I think the adults ate him. I must have missed that clutch. Since, I make sure to check the ENTIRE tank.


TS