Crested Gecko Care Sheet

Crested geckos are a very popular first time reptile for many reasons, they are full of personality, easy to care for and they can come in a variety of morphs (morph refers to the different colours and patterns of a reptile) depending on the morph wanted you can end up spending between £50-£1000. One thing that will either be a deal breaker with these geckos or will make them more appealing is the fact that they jump, this can be a little intimidating to new owners. 

Housing

Adult crested geckos do very well in a  24 x 13 x 17 glass terrarium and Baby crested geckos only need a terrarium of around  24 x 9 x 13, because these are an arboreal species you will need a enclosure that is tall rather then wide to give them the natural climbing space they need.

You can cohabit these reptiles together as long as they are the opposite sex, for example if you had a large enough enclosure you could keep one male and one female or one male and two females, it is best to avoid keeping males together as it can lead to agression.

Heating/Lighting

These geckos enjoy having an area to bask in, to help give them one specific area you can use a heat mat on the outside of one end of the terrarium, you will want to keep the basking area at a temperature of around 23c and the cool areas of the enclosure are to be kept in the low 20's.

In regards to uvb it is optional, the uvb is needed to provide your gecko with the proper vitamins however if you feed your gecko a diet that contains vitamine d3 uvb is not needed. Lighting a geckos enclosure is very simple you can either buy a light that you can place in or above the enclosure, you will want to use a timer so that your gecko gets the correct day to night cycle it needs, or you can place their enclosure in an area that provides natural lighting.

Humidity 

Crested geckos are a sub tropical species and so require a high humidity level of around 50-70%, this humidity is best achieved by daily misting of the enclosure, you want to be careful that you dont soak the enclosure in water and if you find that you over mist you should leave it a day or two before another mist. Crested geckos dont normally need a humidity/shed box because their whole enclosure will be very humid.

Substrate

There are a few things that work well as substrate for a crested gecko, because these geckos will spend most of their time up high, climbing in their enclosure the substrate used on the ground is not as important, for example paper towels, sphagnum moss and eco earth all work well as permanent substrate. 

Food/Water

Crested geckos feed mainly on insects and powdered fruit, the most popular insects to feed your crested gecko are crickets and dubia roaches, make sure that any leftover, uneaten crickets are removed from the enclosure as they can potentially harm the gecko. For the powdered fruits ( called MRP's) you simply need to mix the powder with the flavouring and then add water, this should be provided to your gecko daily, so an elevated bowl should be placed into the enclosure. 

In regards to water your gecko wont use a normal bowel of fresh water and will instead drink from the droplets of water provided with the daily misting. 

Cleaning 

It is important to try and spot clean your crested geckos enclosure once every day, this is to remove all poo, leftover uneaten food, any wet substrate and general dirt. 

Once a month you should fully deep clean the enclosure, a deep clean involves removing all decor, throwing away all substrate, and removing all food dishes, then  disinfecting everything including the cor and food bowls.  If you have a bio active enclosure for your gecko then you need to spot check everyday but you wont have to do a monthly clean out, it is still a good idea to do a full clean out a few times a year however. 

Decor

Decor for your crested gecko should be anything that can be used for climbing on, like branches, logs, bark and magnetic shelves, you may also want to provide a stick on feeding ledge where you can place any bowls used for feeding.