Please help.

[Justyn20003]

I'm not sure if I'm under the right topic but here goes.

Ok, I wanna get  a Crested Gecko.

What all will I need for one?
I got a 55gal. tank and thats about it atm.
What all else should I get and what should I feed it?
I've seen baby food, overripe fruit, meat, I've seen probably 10 differant things to feed a crested
so what shoud I really feed one? and what all should I but for the tank the Crested will go in?

[Lauren and Hunter]

The tank sounds fine. Hopefully it is more vertical than horizontal, as cresties are semi arboreal and appreciate the upward space for climbing.

You should feed your gecko CGD (crested gecko diet). It is a meal replacement powder that you just mix with water and it contains all of the nutrients the animal will need. It is absolutely the best way to go. It can easily be ordered online and it lasts a long time. Also, occasional crickets dusted with calcium powder is fine if you want to feed those to him. I feed them to mine 1 time a week (some go crazy for it, and others ignore them). I like it because I can see that they are enjoying it. They are fun to watch hunt. Also, they'll grow a little bit faster (not that that really matters). Just don't overdo it with the crickets.

You'll need some fake (or real, but be careful which ones you choose) plants. Make sure these are kind of sturdy because geckos can get bulky and trample them. I like to buy pieces of cork bark for them to climb on or hide behind, and this is easily found at PetSmart or other pet stores. You'll need a mister. You can either buy a nice one at a pet store or just buy a cheap one at Lowe's. Make sure you have one that has never had anything but water in it. You don't wanna be misting your gecko with chemicals.

Just make sure your gecko has a lot to climb on. Some people like to buy the fake vines from pet stores.

For substrate, I (and most people on here I think) prefer paper towel. It holds moisture well enough for long enough (but not too long) and presents no danger to the animal. A particle substrate can be ingested by the gecko (especially if you put live crickets in the tank) and cause impaction and death.

I'm kind of distracted by the TV as I'm talking, so hopefully, if I've forgotten something, someone will fill you in.

[Justyn20003]

Cool, Should I get like a heatlamp or something like that?

Alos, for some random reason if I were to use something besides paper towels what would be a good substrate?
And alos, what should I keep the temp at? I've seen between 65 and 80 degrees, what's the best?
and humidity should be at what?

Hope you don't mind all the questions 

[Tanina]

I'd like to suggest you go to www.ciliatus.com The information you will find here is very reliable and will cover most if not all of your questions.

It's important that you fully educate yourself before deciding on obtaining any living creature as we wouldn't want to harm our critters through a lack of knowledge.

It's good to see that you are taking the time to do just that.

[Justyn20003]

So about substrate...

It seems that most people use paper towels or newspaper.

I realy would rather do a more Natural" look.
What would be a good idea for that?

[smith710]

Unless your house gets very cold, you probably won't need a heat lamp, they do very well at room temps between 65-80, not much more or less than that though. As for substrate, if you get a little one to start out with, go with newspaper or papertowels for at least a few months.  Then you can use something like eco earth, NOT wood shavings or any kind of bark bedding. I would definitely suggest looking at alot of care sheets first though.

[Justyn20003]

so I i get a larger gecko eco earth works huh?

cool. I am just tryin to save money for one  new and selling my piranhas and pleco

[Justyn20003]

oh, one more thing.
Would a 55gal. be to big?

[Lauren and Hunter]

Yeah, if you are determined for the naturalistic look, I would go with Eco Earth. But, like was said, I wouldn't use this for babies or too young of geckos. Also, don't feed crickets on the Eco Earth. If he is willing, you will have to feed him in a separate tank. Unless you just do the CGD, which is fine. I keep one of my females in a 30-something Exo Terra on Eco Earth, and all she eats is CGD in a dish every other day. She's been fine.

Nah, no heat lamps. Don't worry too much about hitting an exact temperature that is "perfect" for the gecko-- variation in that range is fine. I always shoot for the 70s. If anything, more heat is worse than more cold.

With humidity, again, you're not trying to hit and maintain an exact number. Just mist well nightly. I usually try to saturate some things and then just make sure every object in the tank has been hit with some droplets, since this is how the gecko drinks. With hatchlings, some people would say you could mist twice a day.

55 gallons might be too big for a hatchling/young gecko. So I guess it depends on what size/age you get. If you get a hatchling, you may want to raise it in Kritter Keepers for a while and then graduate it to the 55 gal.

[smith710]

55 gallon might be a little big for a hatchling/juvie, you might want to start out with something quite a bit smaller, or keep very close eye on him to make sure he is definitely eating and finding his food just fine.