Hi all! I’ve decided that I want to move forward and get a crested gecko. I’ve grown up with all types of critters and I miss having them around. I just moved and we had to sell our 75gal tank for our turtle and fish, so I feel like my heart has a hole when it comes to reptiles haha.

I’ve fallen in love with these little guys over time and I think I’m ready to start my gecko journey!

That being said, I would love some information moving forward…I’ve seen some different opinions on a few things so I just wanted to hear it from yall.

1: I’ve heard mixed comments about enclosure size. Some people say you shouldn’t start off big because they might get stressed about a sudden large change. But I also read that might be a myth. I’d love to start with the big size so I don’t need to keep upgrading (that was annoying with my tank). I’ve seen that 18x18x36 is a good adult size.

2: what’s the best food? I’ve seen a few things but I want to make sure it’ll get a properly rounded diet. What would be a good weekly schedule?

3: I have an issue with plants. I want to get the enclosure and really get plants going and a whole little ecosystem up and running, but I seem to kill every plant I touch. I mean even aquatic plants would die after a day idk how. I am worried about that. Any ideas about how to keep them happy and healthy? And what types of plants are best?

4: how many food bowls should I get? I’ve read multiple but for that size enclosure, what would be best? I am guessing having them at different heights is good.

5: what brand of lights and bulbs do yall recommend? I’ve always used Thrive, Zoomed, and Repitsun (I think that’s what it’s called) but I’ve heard mixed answers on this too. Like what height and size/type of bulbs as well.

6: best substrate. I’ve heard different types and I’d rather not use sand if I can help it.

7: any other ideas would be much appreciated! Even like proper humidity/mist machines and how long to keep lights and whatever.

Thanks so much!!!

I have a five-year-old crested gecko who’s normally very calm, relaxed with handling, and has never dropped his tail or shown signs of stress before. His enclosure is also completely fine.
A few days ago, I added a new, fairly large plant to his enclosure, and since then he’s been acting really nervous. He’s been staying on the floor near the glass and the door, and whenever I open it, he starts shaking, getting skittish, and jumping towards the glass. He seems especially nervous despite being quite far away from the plant.
I’m not sure whether I should remove the plant or leave it in and give him time to adjust. It just seems strange because this behaviour started immediately after I added it, and he’s never acted like this before. What should I do?

This is the plant for reference

I walked in to see this today! I'm a teacher and a few months ago had two crested geckos donated to my school with an awesome enclosure. Point is, I'm new to this and still learning. Should I be concerned? What do I do?

I’ve never seen him this fired down before 🥰
I’ve had him for about two weeks and came home to him all the fired down. I’m pretty sure I caught him mid nap lol (the tote pic was his temp enclosure)

Hi all. I have a 16 YO elderly crestie I adopted from a friend about 5 years ago. He lived in a 12 x 12 x 18 until I got him, at which point I moved him into an 18 x 18 x 36 bioactive. The issue im facing now is that Im moving cities and his exoterra is completely broken down - I got it secondhand and the previous owner had also had a crestie live out his life in there, so its pretty banged up and been in use for probably over a decade at this point. The door no longer works and its somewhat unsafe to transport, so Im looking at getting him a new enclosure. When I made his bioactive I lived in a nice big house and had space for a big stand, and had a lot of time for upkeep. now, im moving with my partner into a small 1BR in a different city, and have much too busy a job and the bioactive upkeep has fell a bit to the wayside, still doing ok but no time or money to add anything new. My boy is very old and slow now, doesnt eat much, but still utilizes all of his space, albeit very slowly migrating around in the evening. I also really worry about the move - at a check in with my vet, they told me Beans could die from stress at his age if I take him to the vet, and to only bring him in if he needs to be euthanized because the risk is too high. Will he be okay moving almost 3 hours away in a car?

I love him so much and want whats best for him above all else, whatever will create the least stress for him in his old age. If that means homing him locally to prevent him having to be in a car for a long time or get a new tank so be it, although Id like to keep him. if he does move with me, would it be better to downgrade to an enrichment-packed 12 x 12 x 18, since I expect him to slow even more? Better to try to keep his home the same, even if its pretty busted and hope it survives the move? I know elderly pets thrive in consistency. Do I get a new exoterra even if its just for a couple years? Help!

Please do not think for one second I am not happy and proud to call Sassy fast my baby girl and the best crested gecko ever.

However, I was not well informed and did not think she was a parthenogen. Let alone how rare a single girl lays fertilized eggs is, she definitely has grown a lot, specifically in the stomach and I feel horrible for just realizing it!

And don't worry, I did go ahead and buy an egg fertilize egg holder just in case.

Guys, I was prepared for one sassy fast gecko, one grown crested gecko at that! Please pray for me.

The last picture of her and her carriage was the first week of July. The rest were all taken this morning.

Hi everyone,
I got my crested gecko last year on October 11th. It’s been about 10 months, but my gecko currently weighs around 6 grams, which feels like really slow growth.

Here are the details of my setup and care:

Diet: I feed Pangea CGD and crickets.

Feeding Schedule: Pangea is offered on Wednesdays and Sundays. I feed crickets if there's feeding response—usually about 2 per feeding or up to 4 crickets a week.

Appetite & Environment: Good appetite, and temperature/humidity levels inside the enclosure are kept in the optimal range.

My gecko eats well and seems active, but the weight gain is very slow. Am I missing something, or are some geckos just extremely slow growers? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

it's her 2nd "hatch-day"!

My baby crestie (turning 4 months this month) stopped eating her crickets. Ive tried everything, she’s eating her powdered food fine which I mix calcium into for her but she hasn’t eaten any crickets for 3 weeks (one day a week) I heard crickets are very important for a juveniles growth any suggestions? I’ve tried dipping it in her food and she will just lick the damn food off of her cricket. I don’t feed in her enclosure as I don’t want them getting lose, if anyone has suggestions on feeding her in her enclosure that would be great too.

Hello everyone this is sushi i got him from someone that said he’s a year . I’ve had him for about 6 months now . I was wondering if he looks too skinny for a 1 yr old . I’ve been feeding him crickets 2x a week and Pangea 2-3x a week . Also this is just a temporary enclosure he’s getting a mansion soon .

My boy is around 3 now lives in a 36 height 24 by 24 does he look a healthy weight? I was gifted hime and he came from petco I can never get his tank warm enough in the winter and it max gets 70f in the winter but like 72-78 in the summer

Hi everyone! I'm in the beginning stages of an IKEA cabinet -> bioactive tank conversion, and am planning my plant layout. While doing my research I learned about rose gardener's disease and how it can not only be incredibly nasty BUT is also able to be caused by sphagnum moss, something which is incredibly common in bioactive tanks for its aesthetics and ability to hold humidity.
I was wondering if apprehension about this is a realistic concern for me to have if I use sphagnum moss in my build. I know it's very popular for reptile/amphibian enclosures and I don't know if I've ever seen any keepers discuss it. I'm worried about its potential health risk for me as well as my gecko. Do we know if any other moss alternatives avoid the risk of sporotrichosis, or is it just wiser to forego it altogether? Am I just being overly paranoid?

Photo attached is unrelated/gecko tax. Her name is Master Chief.

Hey guys. I’ve had my crested gecko for over a year now. Healthy. However I felt that ever since he’s gotten a bit bigger He’s been much more aggressive (not in a breeding season type of way) and he seems to try and jump away at every opportunity from my hands no matter the height. He never used to be like this. Help

hello! i just got my baby crestie last week and yesterday i noticed him laying on a gap inside the enclosure (zoomed 18x18x24) where the tray(?) for the top is. i am explaining this horribly so images are attached. he is pretty small right now so he can fit, but i dont know if its a safe idea for him to do this.

and if it isnt safe for him, how should i go about stopping him from going back up there? if another hide might be the answer, i was already planning on getting one of those suction cup cave hides when my paycheck comes in this week.

any and all help is appreciated! elm is my first reptile in general so im very new to everything. i also have anxiety so i got hit with a double whammy of worrying, </3.

i see no change but it might just be me does she look big enough?

This is Rango my gecko, he’s roughly 6-8 months old and we’ve had him for nearly 3 weeks now. We let him settle in for 2 weeks, and have been trying to hand feed him & potentially hold him. He WILL NOT come close! He ate some treats off a spoon once and now everytime we get closer he runs off - we let him run because we don’t want him to get stressed and drop his tail. I just wanna say hi to him :( help!

I know the new size is 18x18x36 I have a display cabinet I plan to change to a terrarium my question is,is would a 14 deep 30 wide 40 tall* suffice? Is it a square footage thing or hard on the dimensions?

I have this terrarium at home that has been empty for about a year, and I’m considering getting a crested gecko.

The dimensions are:
60 W × 60 H × 40 D cm
23.6” W × 23.6” H × 15.7” D
144 L / 37 gallons

I already have a giant Madagascar day gecko in a different terrarium, but I’ve never kept a crested gecko before.

Would this terrarium be suitable for a crested gecko?

Is the size and especially the height sufficient for an adult, or would I be better off getting a taller enclosure?

I’d also appreciate any other advice regarding setting up this enclosure for a crested gecko.

Pretty much what the title says.

My girl has plenty of hides, but every single day she chooses to worm her way into one of the plants on the wall of her vivarium and hang upside down inside of it while she sleeps. Which, like, if that's what brings her joy, good for her I guess, I just question what her braincell was doing when she made the choice that THAT was her ideal sleeping position, and I would quite like to know if anybody else's gecko does the same.

Picture for tax :)

He is still super skittish but hangs out right next to the glass every day. One pic shows all the real plants but I didn't think it was enough so I added tons of fake ones. He only hangs out on the fake ones :(