New Crestie, lots of questions

[chasem1991]

Okay, so to i went to a local breeders house, and he sold me a 3-4 month old crested gecko. He told me that i should always have a uvb light on his terrarium. ? He told me that i should be feeding him baby food, and bananna with fruit flies. He wanted me to let the fruit flies lay eggs on the bananna and have the crestie eat them. Last of all he told me that i should keep all side of his terrarium covered with cardboard. 

Everything that i have read online goes against this!
Tomorrow im going to have my girlfriend pick up some Crested Gecko Diet from the local pet store, and hopefully i can get him to eat it!

any input is appreciated!

[samanthajane13]

Welcome to Ciliatus-and your new addiction!!

The breeder is...shall we say...a MORON.

And I'm being really kind.

Crested Gecko Diet is THE BEST FOOD for your new baby.  Don't give up on getting it to eat.  It may take a week or two, but your baby won't starve.

Mix about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of the powder to twice as much HOT water.

Put it into a gatorade cap-or something similar.  Leave it in the tank for 2 nights before you change it.  Some geckos prefer the taste of old CGD rather than the fresh stuff.

Also-you don't need the light unless your baby has Metabolic Bone Disease.

What size tank do you have him in???  I'd go with a small critter keeper or a sterilite shoe box at the most-until he's bigger.

Also-keeping him on paper towels will allow you to see if he's going potty...if he's pooping, he's eating.

Hope this helps!!!

[chasem1991]

I am keeping him in a Exoterra terrarium, its 12"x"12"x18". The Breeder was keeping him in a 20 gallon long that was stood on one side so it was tall.

[samanthajane13]

Yeah-I'd go with a kritter keeper or a sterilite shoe box with the gecko being so small.

12 x 12 x 18 is too big for a hatchling.

[chasem1991]

Hes been eating his CGD!! =D

he was watching crickets last night, so i took one out of where i keep them and stuck it in there this morning it is now to be found and his tummy is big and fat!

[samanthajane13]

Congrats!!!

I'm glad the little one is eating for you!!!  You're off to a GREAT START!! 

I'd still hold off a bit on the crickets, though, and just give one or two a week as a snack!!!  You want the CGD to be his MAIN FOOD!!!

 

[chasem1991]

someone on gecko forums had told  me that it was okay to hold him as long as he wasnt stressed.

they also said that i should be able to tell when he is stressed by his color?

can someone explain please?

[samanthajane13]

Yes-you can hold the gecko as long as he isn't stressed.

You can usually tell a stressed gecko by it's struggling or if it's thrashing it's tail...like a cat who's angry.  It will flick it's tail all over the place, and may even DROP it's tail if it isn't put back where it's happy.

The color thing is BULL.

[chasem1991]

alright, thanks.

he seems to be happy from that i have seen, how many cresties eat the day after you brought them home?

[samanthajane13]

Most of the places around here DON'T feed CGD, so I get the majority of my geckos at PetCo, which DOES.

Those geckos just chow down like it's SOP to eat the CGD...NO PROBLEM.  "I gotz a bowl of food...it's dinner time!!!"   

The ones I do get from shops that don't feed CGD go into their new homes and get a couple of dabs of fresh CGD on their noses.  They ALWAYS lick it off.  It's instinct for them to clean their faces.

I don't bother to hand feed, but for the first week or so, I dab their noses every night.

Until I see them eating CGD on their own, I withhold crickets or waxworm.

If I see one that's having issues, I'll spend maybe 5 minutes letting them eat CGD from my finger before I put them back in the tank with their food.

[chasem1991]

thanks for the great info

[chasem1991]

 Okay, so convinced my girlfriend to let me move the crestie into my spare kritter keeper.

I was washing it out, so i took a scotch brite pad to it.....

BAD IDEA it was dark in the room and i didnt notice that it was scratching it until i turned on the light to dry it off.

but here it is.

[monster]

ha! yea i totally did that my first time too.