An adult crested trio can be housed in a 18x18x24 tall enclosure. I  keep single males in a thirty gallon and multiple females in a seventy  five gallon glass enclosure with a screen top. I  keep hatchlings and  juveniles in 3-5 gallon  tall (show-offs ) sterilite tubs on slide-in-style  shelving. The key thing to remember is that these geckos are arboreal ,  so height is more important than length . Cresteds like to have enough  room to jump and climb and are more comfortable when given places  to curl up and  hide during the daylight hours. For easy clean up paper  towels are a good choice for substrate and I have found that they love  to hide in stacked egg crates and silk or live plants. If you choose to  use another form of substrate keep in mind that while hunting there is a  good chance your gecko will at some point ingest it. This has caused  choking or impaction and has even led to death in some instances.  Your enclosure will have to have a secure lid because these geckos are  great at climbing nearly all surfaces.

Diet and Gut-loading insects

Diet - Repashy Superfoods makes a powdered gecko diet (*MRP) that is a perfectly balanced meal (*meal replacement powder) containing a complete balance of nutrients and supplements. This is a great choice for those choosing to eliminate using feeder insects and leaves little room for error. It is important that your gecko get a proper diet with enough calcium supplementation  because of the rapid bone growth and development it faces in the first year. Failing to research what you feed your gecko or making poor diet choices can cause severe  problems in your pet's development. Hatchling and breeding geckoes should be offered food nearly every day. Non breeding adults can be fed 3-4 times a week . All of my geckos are feeding regularly on the new two part Repashy Superfoods (*MRP) product as well as occasional roaches dusted in Rep-Cal Calcium powder with D-3. I also use a multi-vitamin dust less frequently containing no D-3. I vary their diet in hopes that they will acclimate well to your choice of a healthy diet as quickly as possible. Crested Geckos are known to take several days to begin eating in a new environment so be patient with them while they are adjusting. Other food items such as kefir( A high protien yogurt like product that can be found in the organic dairy section of your local grocery store) , pureed peaches , bananas , and mangos make a great treat once in a while. Live prey items include wax worms , silk worms, and phoenix worms, Dubia roach nymphs, Lateralis roach nymphs, and crickets . Never feed your gecko house flies or bugs you have collected from outside as they may be carrying herbicides or pesticides on them . There are also certain bugs that are themselves poisonous to your gecko.

Gut-loading insects-This refers to what you feed your feeder insects 24-48 hours in advance to feeding the insects to your gecko. I offer mine fresh non citrus fruits, collard greens, romaine, carrots, zucchini, squash, grains, oats, spirulina, and bee pollen. You can also buy different gut-loads pre-made if you like. Make sure you wash and rinse fruits and veggies thoroughly to eliminate any chemicals that may be lingering on them.

Water- Tap water should not be offered untreated. There are products that dechlorinate tap water for reptiles and amphibians or you can use purified or bottled water. Clean water in a shallow dish should always be available, however your gecko will probably drink most when you mist it's enclosure at night. Small milk caps work great for tiny hatchlings to drink out of and bigger plastic lids work well for adults.

Temperature and Humidity

  Crested Geckos do not do well over 82 degrees . Using a nice  digital  thermometer will insure that you know what temperature  your crested's  enclosure reaches mid-day. 72 - 80 (F) degrees is  recommended for  daytime with a night-time range of 65-75(F). If your home reaches cooler  temps than these a 50 watt red light can be used on one side of the enclosure to allow your gecko to regulate it's own temperature. The red  light will not disturb your geckos and may even give you a sneak view of  their nocturnal activity. Because these geckoes are nocturnal no lighting is  required , but a low watt house light that does not bring the cage temperature above 82 degrees would not hurt and would be beneficial to  any plants you may have. Live plants are an excellent way of maintaining   humidity for your geckos and giving them a quality air supply. I use live  pothos in almost all of my enclosures. Below this care sheet is a list of  toxic(red) and non-toxic(green) plants. Make sure your plant of choice is  on the green list. Crested Geckos thrive in 65-75% humidity .This can be accomplished several ways. Most keepers mist the entire enclosure once or twice daily. The geckos will drink from the plant leaves and cage sides or furnishings late in the evening. You do not want the cage to remain dripping wet for the entire day . The goal is to moisten everything enough that it stays moist for several hours and then completely drys and then to moisten again. Environments that stay wet and soggy can create bacteria or mold that will be harmful to your gecko. Humidity is key to shedding especially in younger geckos. If you are having a hard time maintaining humidity you can give your gecko a moist -box , a container with moist sphagnum moss or paper towels inside and they will utilize this as needed.

Handling

One of the traits that makes Crested Geckos so popular is their calm and easy going nature. Cresteds do not seem to mind being gently handled and some of them will even greet you at the top of their screen at dinner time. Many of them will sit on your hand while licking their food off of a spoon. I have one that loves to sit on my shoulder when I look online . She even seems to enjoy her crests being rubbed . Although most do not seem to mind being held , different geckoes have different personalities. Some are much more skittish than others. It is important to be gentle with them because when startled or dropped they can lose their tails. Crested Geckos do not regenerate their tails like some lizards do. In the event your gecko drops it's tail it is not the end of the world. Just keep them on clean paper towels for the healing process, they will take care of the rest. Almost all wild Cresteds are in fact tailless! Young cresteds are especially quick and have a tendency to leap into the air when being handled. They are fairly sturdy creatures but can still be injured in this way. In order to prevent injury you can continually place one hand in front of the other to allow them to keep moving and become more at ease with you. Geckos are great climbers and disappearing artists . Once, a young male of mine was loose for five days before returning. I found him hanging out on the females' screen licking up water droplets . I was lucky to get him back and misplacing a gecko or leaving a lid ajar is a great way to lose your gecko for good. 

  

Morphs and colors

  Because of the short amount of time these geckos have been  in captivity, and because of their many color and pattern  variations there are already many keepers currently developing  and improving their own signature morphs. With each season  of selective breeding for desirable traits we see cresteds with  more and more intense pattern and color. Our goal here is to  produce healthy and high quality Cresteds with outrageous  colors and patterns. We emphasize the importance of true  crested structure and hope to deliver to you the complete  crested package. Many of my current breeders were  purchased as hatchlings or juveniles from top breeders all  over  the country. As you can see I have been extremely  blessed in  the way they have turned out. I based my decision  often times  not on what the gecko looked like at 6 weeks of  age ,but by  what the parents looked like . I have kept  meticulous notes to ensure that you as the buyer can see as much of your geckos bloodline as possible . Geckos with exceptional potential will normally be held back , but if you see something you like let me know and we'll go from there. I will do my best to help you find what you are looking for even if I don't have a particular request.   

 

The hatchlings vary in color up until a year

Sexing- Sexing of adults is quite easy as the males have a post anal bulge. Females are fairly flat down there. Young geckoes can be sexed with a 10x jeweler's loupe around  the 8 gram size by looking for enlarged pre-anal pores. Geckos available on my site are only guaranteed males or females if they are visually sexable. Looped is my honest opinion but not guaranteed, at least not until I've done this a few hundred more times. When sex becomes obvious males should be separated and housed singly. This will insure that no violence between males occurs and no breeding prior to proper breeding weights occurs.

Breeding

Breeding-Females should be an established weight of 35 grams before being introduced to the male. Even if your female reaches this weight in a year , it is best to wait until she is at the very least 14 months old to breed. It takes time to build up their calcium levels to be ready for egg production even on a perfect diet with proper supplements. It is far better to wait an extra month or two than to have to see your prized breeder go through a calcium crash. After being introduced - maintaining daytime temps between 75-80(F) and nighttime temps 70-75(F) and a little extra misting will usually induce breeding. Breeding females should always have access to a nest box so they may lay their eggs when they are ready. Peat moss, vermiculite or a mixture of the two is a good choice of substrate for a lay-box. If you take a weekly weight reading of your females you should be able to keep track of their health and laying schedule. The egg box should be checked daily .  When you do find your first set of eggs carefully make a mark on them with a non-toxic marker so you will see what side to keep up. Set them carefully, in a container filled halfway with moistened vermiculite,so that the mark you made is still facing straight up. The egg should be about 2/3 of the way buried. The container should have an airtight lid and one tiny hole drilled in the side. Care should be made that the substrate is neither too moist or too wet. My hatchlings usually "pop" around the 90-day mark , but others hatch a little sooner or later .

   Cooling is necessary to end the laying cycle for female cresteds. They need to take a couple months off in order to recover and build up their calcium levels.  The breeding Female geckos diet should be supplemented with calcium and vitamins more often to ensure healthy hatchlings. 

Hatchling Size.
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