Crested Gecko Tips

Crestfield

Crestfield

New member
I’m new to reptiles and in the near future might be getting a Crested Gecko and I wanted some tips on a two things.

Coconut Bedding vs Terrafauna
Supposedly Terrafauna is meant to retain and drain moisture easily and provide high nutrients for plants and “Tank Janitors” such as springtails and isopod.
From what I’ve found out through research Coconut Husk Bedding is a useful substrate for burrowing and digging reptiles and expands to cover more space. Unfortunately, I’ve gone to many websites and people have said that it molds very easily.
Does anyone have any advice on this.

Also I know that Crested Geckos like to climb things and I purchase a cool-looking bamboo tube that wasn’t too expensive. The tube is rather wide and doesn’t reach very high, but I was wandering if I could use this in my terrarium.

If anyone has any advice on these things I would be happy to hear it.
 
Aimless

Aimless

Super Moderator
as for substrate, there are a great many choices. I would go to the DIY forum and read through the threads about tank builds.

your gecko will be happiest if a) he has a lot of cover so he can hide when he needs to feel safe, and to sleep. and b) if he has plenty of structure in the upper portion of his tank. foliage, branches, etc. you can maybe tie or otherwise attach the bamboo higher up if needed.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Welcome to Geckos Unlimited!

Josh's Frogs currently sells bamboo ~2 inches wide. Sometimes garden stores carry thinner bamboo. My crestie uses his diagonally placed wide bamboo as his sleeping bag.

Cresties love to survey their world from above. A nearly horizontal bamboo stick can be attached high up with Adams' suction cups on either end or with aquarium-safe silicone.

I spray my crestie once per evening about every 2 days. His environment dries out between spraying.

Here's a good resource for additional tips:

If you have more questions, please ask.
 
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Crestfield

Crestfield

New member
Thank you both for the tips and I'll continue doing research in the future! Another question I have is what fruit should I feed a crested gecko and can they drink tap water.

I normally have a variety of grapes, bananas and apples and was wondering if any of these fruits would be healthy for a crested gecko.
 
Elizabeth Freer

Elizabeth Freer

Well-known member
Crestfield said:
Thank you both for the tips and I'll continue doing research in the future! Another question I have is what fruit should I feed a crested gecko and can they drink tap water.

I normally have a variety of grapes, bananas and apples and was wondering if any of these fruits would be healthy for a crested gecko.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Tap water is fine. I've been using tap water for all my geckos ever since 1988.

Papaya, mango, blackberries, strawberries, blueberrries, and apples are especially nutritious for crested geckos.
 
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GeckoLeen

GeckoLeen

New member
I just went bioactive in my tanks and so far it is working well. I used hydroton, a mesh divider, and BioBedding from Josh's Frogs. I feed my cresties various flavors of Pangea powdered crested gecko diet (CGD) (mixed with water), and occasional dubia roaches (one of them refuses to eat bugs, though). I use purified water here since our tap water is high in nitrates. Some city tap water has a lot of fluoride in it. I swap out fresh food every other day. I mist them once a day. Bamboo is good for them to climb on and sleep in. I use T-Rex AquaVines and AquaRoots for climbing as those stand up to humidity and don't mold, and I also found a nice big aquarium decor piece at PetSmart that has hidey holes in it, and one of my geckos LOVES to sleep inside of it. Lots of foliage, the more the better. Congrats on your new crestie!
 
TarzanicusRex

TarzanicusRex

New member
Hello, I've read before that mushy overripe fruits are best, but I assume you should avoid offering fruit if it's even sightly moldy?
 
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