new crestie!! need help on the best conditions and supplies!!

[eliray31]

hi i just got a baby crestie and need some feedback on what im doing. i have a ten gallon tank with the dirt you mist every night. i use a 50w exo-terra night glo light at night and a 10w sunlight bulb for a few hours during the day (not too much of this as i read they dont need much). i put a few baby crickets in the cage and the crested gecko diet mix. i learned you can get him started on the cgd by putting a bit on his nose so he learns to lick it off, but still no luck on him finding the food in the cage. i have a clay pot and a water dish and some fake rocks in the cage. any tips on how to get him to find the food and ideal lighting and temps for him day and night??

thanks i would really appreciate the help!!!

[zuk450]

for temps these guys do really well in the mid to low 70s (70~78) durring the day, and a temp drop into the mid to upper 60s at night. anything over 85 degrees will really take a toll on your crestie. they will stop eating, and if the temps are too high(90 degrees and up) for extended periods of time it can out right kill these guys.

as for getting them to start eating CGD, the bst way is to totally stop feeding crickets. make it so the ONLY food available to him is the gecko diet. he may not eat for a few weeks (and even when they do eat its such a small amount its hard to notice sometimes.) but as long as there is food available he wont starve himself. he is probably just filling up on "junkfood" (the crickets).

another thing to look for is to make sure the little guy is pooping, if he is pooping he is eating haha.

do you have any pics out the enclosure? we may be able to give you some more pointers if we can see your set up.

hope this helps a bit. good luck with the little guy!

[dragonlvr]

The only other thing I can recommend at this point is possibly a smaller enclosure. You mention it is a baby. Do you have a weight on him?
I personally do not put anything under 10 grams on soil. I also do not put them in such a large enclosure until they are about that size as well.  They really seem to do much better when small to be in a small container. The plastic "shoeboxes" made by Rubbermaid or Sterlite work great. You can use a soldering iron to make ventilation holes and then place paper towels in the bottom.
Good luck with him 

[eliray31]

hey its me again. i have had him about a week. he ate all the crickets but now has no interest in the cgd. i put a little on his nose every day and he licks it off naturally but no luck that i can see of him touching it. any suggestions?

[samanthajane13]

Use a Gatorade cap as a food dish and just fill it half way.

Stop the crickets and let the stubborn little guy "tough it out" for a couple of days with the Crested Gecko Diet.  Make sure you still mist him twice a day, and give him another Gatorade cap as a water dish.

I PROMISE it won't starve.

He'll find the dish when he's hungry, and by using a small dish and a small amount of food, you'll be able to tell he's eating it easier.

Look at his size...his tummy's probably the size of a split pea.

He WILL EAT.

You just have to let him know that you're the boss, and he has to eat the "good stuff" to get cricket treats!!

[architeuthis]

I would second the smaller cage idea. I don't put hatchlings into anything more than 5 gallons until their over 6 months.