My 1st Crested

[Titaniumtrax]

Hi,
I'm currently settin up in readyness for my first Lizard, a Crested Gecko.
Have bought a 2nd hand 18" cubed exo terra, with 1x sunglo 25 and 1x 5% uvb compact fluorescent bulb.
Will this be enough for him/her heat wise? Or shall I put the heat rock that came with it in also? (10w exo terra, only seems to get slightly warm?)
I've also ordered a waterfall and fogger to help with humidity, presume that was a good idea?
I was recommended to use orchid bark as substrate by local store, is this ok?
Thanks and any other advice appreciated
Cheers,
Dave

[missk]

hi there,
please do not put the heat rock in, your crested could burn its toes on it. how old is the crested gecko you are getting? Do you have a thermometer? Without knowing what temperature it is in your tank with your bulbs, no one can tell you if it is ok. It depends what temperature the room is in which you are putting your tank. Also, DO NOT use orchid bark. Crested geckos are clumsy eaters, if it grabs a piece of bark along with the cricket, it could swallow it and die. The waterfalls tend to be a haven for bacteria because they are tough to keep clean. I would therefore not recommend one. You should be able to achieve the correct humidities (above 50% most of the time, and between 80-100% for a couple of hours per day (i.e. after you spray them).

please have a look on google for some care sheets, or pm me and i can point you towards some more information.

The kind of setup you need really depends to a large extent on how bug/old the crested gecko you are buying is.

[palm]

i would recomend sanitizing the waterfall weekly.


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[Corn89]

You defiantly need digital thermometers to measure your temps. If your getting a baby then I would recommend paper towels as substrate.

Good luck on your new crestie

[Titaniumtrax]

Cool thanks for the advise guys,
I've not bought the gecko yet, or picked one, had a look at a few locally. Gonna get a juvenile but not a baby one, the ones i've seen are about 3-4".
I've got a digital temp and hygrometer coming this week so will set it up and carefully monitor temps over the following week. The living room is warmish during the day and always warm at night with the heating on, just concerned about it dipping during the night in these current temps. Will try bravin gettin up with no heating on one morning that'll give me an indication of what its like in the early hours.
I work away 1 or 2 days in the week, so thought the fogger would be a good idea to set on a timer to keep the tank humid for it. (also the main reason for choosing a Crested as opposed to Leopard so can put some food out the morning i go away and change it the next day when i return, rather than havin to feed crickets every day)
Will not bother with the heat rock then. If the tank dips during the night would a heat matt be better?
Cheers,
Dave

[Corn89]

A heat mat will only give you a hot spot on the the glass and not give you and overall ambient air temprature, but there is nothing worng in providing a heat mat when it gets chilly.

Cresties are the best! Enjoy

[Chance]

A slight temp drop at night is not unusual as pretty much every country has one.

Except England/UK which can have a change of season overnight. I believe the CG comes from New Caledonia which has an average night time low of 26 at night. So long as you can keep this overnight your little gex should be just fine.

I don't believe you have to feed leo's crickets EVERY day anyway but may be wrong.

Have Fun!