first time owner of a crested gecko, i have some questions

[rocketqueen]

hello everyone! i am new to the board, i signed up for it because i am a first time owner of a reptile - a crested gecko.

he/she is only about 3 weeks old according to the guy at the reptile store, so i cannot tell the gender yet.

i have my terrarium set up with bioactive substrate, and so far i have some things for my gecko to climb on and a dish for his food.

i want to add live plants to the terrarium too. what are the best type to start with and where could i purchase them? the guy at the reptile place suggested snake plants, but i am not sure where to buy them because the reptile store did not have any. also, will live plants make my room (thats where im keeping my gecko) smell bad? i cant see the gecko and the tank itself being a problem, but i have read that sometimes real plants can produce an odour. i dont really understand why that might be so maybe that isnt correct info.

how exactly to i put the plants in the tank? im sorry if this is a dumb question, but will the plants root themselves in the substrate?


also, i have been spraying my tank once in the morning and once in the evening with water. its generally just a light misting over the glass and substrate...it leaves water droplets but they obviously do dry up so i am wondering if what im doing is enough to keep the humidity level in the tank at a proper level. is there anything else i should be doing to keep the humidity levels comfortable for the gecko?

one last question, the food dish for the gecko is a bit deep...maybe about 3/4 inch deep and im worried the gecko wont be able to find his food...will this be an issue or not really?

sorry that this is so long, but thank you so much for your help

 

[Hannibal]

Congrats on your first crestie! I would provide a smaller food dish since your little one is still real tiny and you don't want them to take a swim in it's dinner; maybe use a soda bottle cap then upgrade to the larger food bowl as it gets bigger. Do you have a humidity gauge? You want the humidity to be around 80% and drop down to about 50-55% during the day. You don't want a constant high humidity because it can cause mold/bacteria in the enclosure and health issues for the gecko. The top of the soil can dry out some between mistings.

Adding live plants can also help maintain a proper humidity range. Good plants for cresties include: Bromeliads, Pothos, Schefflera arboricola, and Snake Plants....there are a lot more, but these are the most common ones. You can purchase them at any place that sells live plants, but it is best to find ones that are organic with no fertilizer. Since it is very hard to find organic with no fertilizer on the plant/soil, then what you will need to do is wash the roots, stems, and leaves of the plant really well with a light dish soap and rinse the soap off really good. Set the plant aside in organic soil or some of the bioactive soil you used in the terrarium for at least 1 week, then you can plant it inside the terrarium for your gecko. The plants will not have any issues growing in the bioactive soil. As long as you maintain you plants and pull any that appear to be dying then you shouldn't have an issue with any smell.

 

[rocketqueen]

thanks so much!!!

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Congrats on the new acqusition, and welcome to the forum!

-Wes

 

[rocketqueen]

thank you! i love my new gecko, i can totally see why these little guys can become addicting!!! i have a couple more questions actually, if you guys wouldn't mind helping me out

1. how do i know how shallow to make the water in my gecko's dish? if its too deep could it be a danger to him?

2. how in the world am i supposed to find his poop? i imagine it must be so tiny, and the substrate i have is like dark brown mulch so im worried i wont be able to tell if hes pooping or not.

3. will bioactive substrate ever smell bad? theres no odour emitting from the terrarium right now...but im worried that as time passes a smell may develop in my room...

thanks again for your help!

-laura <3

 

[Metal_Gecko]

1. how do i know how shallow to make the water in my gecko's dish? if its too deep could it be a danger to him?

As long as he can't drown in it, you're fine.
They prefer to lick up the droplets from the misting anyways....

2. how in the world am i supposed to find his poop? i imagine it must be so tiny, and the substrate i have is like dark brown mulch so im worried i wont be able to tell if hes pooping or not.

In my expreience(which is limited), it's white in color, and not very large.
They tend to do it alot when stuck to the wall/objects.

-Wes

 

[Hannibal]

1. water dish - You just want something shallow or small enough that they cannot drown in it if they happen to crawl through it. You could use a soda bottle cap for the water, or how about a contact lens case. I put water in both side of the contact lens case for my babies (1.7g-10g), but you could actually put water in one side and CGD is the other side.

2. poop - Yeah, baby gecko poop is really really tiny. I keep my babies on papertowels until I move them into their juvie 10g with eco earth. With the bioactive soil you have, you could add isopods like springtails and sowbugs/rolly pollies and they will help breakdown some of the poop and dead/dying plant matter. But you should spot clean the best you can, mine like to go in the same area usually. As the older/bigger the crestie gets then it will be much easier to find.

3. smell - It shouldn't smell unless you have a dying plant/plant with root rott, or an over abundance of poop (especially if you decide to add crickets into the diet...hecko poop after eating crickets can smell rank..mostly in adults though). You could change out the the top 1/2 of the bioactive soil every 6 months and that should help guarantee no smell.

 

[rocketqueen]

thanks so much everyone, your replies are helping me out a ton.

i actually noticed in his food bowl a liquidy white substance which i assume to be gecko poop or pee? lol

after some reading online it doesn't sound like a white poop would be normal...it resembles bird poop...is my gecko okay ?

-laura <3

 

[Hannibal]

That the urate aka pee. It's very normal and a good sign that it's hydrated.

Sometimes they just pee and sometimes they have a pee & poop together.

 

[rocketqueen]

ah thank you, i'm glad he's hydrated and doing well.

this board is fantastic! so helpful!

i really do appreciate the replies