Thinking about a Crested, lots of questions

[erika]

I am new to the forum, but have been reading past threads and care sheets. I am thinking about getting my first crested, I have seen pictures and saw some at a reptile show (which I had to talk myself out of, they are just too cute!). I want to be prepared though if I do decide to get one.

For now, I am planning on using a 20long aquarium on end, but have bigger tanks as needed. I am going to get a hinged screen top and screen clamps to hold the screen on. I will probably start with paper towel for substrate, until the gecko is either larger (depending on the size gecko I end up with) or until a month or so after it arrives at my house, so I can make sure it is passing firm “normal” stool. I am going to find some pothos plants for in the tank, which I will plant in terra cotta pots. I will order a magnetic ledge for food and water and will use the Superfoods CGD.

I do have some questions though.

Is it better to get one alone or two?
I know it is really only advisable to keep females together if they are not being bred. I prefer to keep one alone, but if it is better for them to have more than one I can do that.

When using the CGD is it fine to dust crickets once per week with calcium and a multivitamin, if not, how often should I dust? Would RepCal Calcium without D3 and Herptivite be good supplements?

Can they be overfed? If so, how much of the CGD should I offer and about how many crickets should I offer?
I know the amounts will depend on age and growth rates, but I don’t want to offer too much food and raise a fat little gecko.

Is tap water ok for drinking, should I use any conditioner for the water, or is it better to use bottled water?

Is it ok to use moss (ex: Flukers moss) in the habitat to help hold some humidity?

Can fresh fruits be blended and offered as an occasional treat? If so, can they have pretty much the same things as a bearded or iguana with fruits and veggies or is it pretty much just fruits?
Especially in summer, I have fruits and veggies in the house, feeding a bearded as well, so it would be nice to be able to offer some of that occasionally as a treat.

Could plants for the habitat be potted in plain potting soil as long as it doesn’t contain fertilizers or other additives?

Thanks and sorry this is so long.

[Saille]

Hi,
I can only answer a few questions from my own experiences. I would not keep two together unless you know a few things:
1; their gender! Two males is a No-No, two females should be fine. Male and female, only if you plan on breeding and know what you are doing.
2: Were they kept together previous to your owning them? If so, they should be fine, if not, a quarantine period is recommended to make sure they are both healthy, i.e. no parasites, etc.
3: Are they similar in size weight? They should only be kept together if they are very similar in size/weight as bullying for food can happen on occassion and cause stress.

I personally use filtered water for both misting and their water bowls, as who knows whats in tap water these days. I have a Pur filter.

I feed CDG, and occassionally crickets dusted with either CGD or calcium without d3.
They should get all their needed nutrients from the CGD and that should be their main diet, IMO.
I only feed crickets every week and a half to two weeks. Mine are still juvies so they get CGD every night.
Like people, some geckos can over-eat and get chubby and some will stay naturally thin. So I guess yes, you can technically overfeed, but they are much smarter than humans in that regard, so they won't eat until they burst or anything. You'll more likely find left over food in their bowls.

I am a plant-tard/black thumb so I can't help you there, but your 20 L sounds fine for a single gecko. You will likely get differing opinions as to how many in how large a tank, so just go with what feels right to you as long as it isn't a huge geck in a 5 gal or something like that. just give it room to leap and climb and it should be fine.

Oh, I should mention this: Cresties are a lot like chips. You can start with one, but you will very likely want more! They're cute, funny, and addictive!
Welcome to the world of Rhacs!
good luck!

[crazycresteds]

For now, I am planning on using a 20long aquarium on end, but have bigger tanks as needed. I am going to get a hinged screen top and screen clamps to hold the screen on. I will probably start with paper towel for substrate, until the gecko is either larger (depending on the size gecko I end up with) or until a month or so after it arrives at my house, so I can make sure it is passing firm “normal” stool. I am going to find some pothos plants for in the tank, which I will plant in terra cotta pots. I will order a magnetic ledge for food and water and will use the Superfoods CGD.

sounds good, but:
1. you really don't need the food ledges. they are kind of just an "extra", but if you still want them, good for you.
2. even though most people say that pothos are indestructable, mine have been dyeing on me. once i added a light(in my 10 gallon it was 25 watts...29 gallon is 60 watts) they seem to be coming back...i can only really comment on my 10g though because i just added the light to my 29g yesterday. they do much better with light IMO.

Is it better to get one alone or two?
I know it is really only advisable to keep females together if they are not being bred. I prefer to keep one alone, but if it is better for them to have more than one I can do that.

most reptiles(idk if all of them are like this, or if there are exeptions for certain species?) don't need a "playmate". they will do just as good by themselves, if not better alone. if you want two, you can certainly do that, but they either have to be 2 females,or unsexed juvies...in which case you would have to seperate them if they become 2 males or 1 male and 1 female since right now i don't think you are ready for 20 hatchlings/a place to keep them/sell them off/$$/whatever...plus they need to be of size to breed anyway. of course whether you have 2,20,8 females, whatever, they need to be of equal or simaliar size to prevent dominance, but even then, sometimes it still happens, but it's rare.

When using the CGD is it fine to dust crickets once per week with calcium and a multivitamin, if not, how often should I dust? Would RepCal Calcium without D3 and Herptivite be good supplements?

honestly. if your feeding CGD soley except for only 1 night out of the week, i don't even see the point in dusting it. because say that you didn't feed on that night, then they wouldn't be getting any food at all, but that would be ok since you are feeding CGD all the time. now put crickets into that scenario. even if you didn't dust them, they still would be getting more nutrition than if they hadn't eaten that night. it's hard to explain. but to answer the question, if you were going to dust the crickets, i would get calcium WITH d3. i wouldn't even bother with the multivitamin because the cricket feedings are only once a week. but if you wanted to mix a 50:50 ration of calcium and vitamins together for that once weekly cricket feeding, Herptivite is fine.

Can they be overfed? If so, how much of the CGD should I offer and about how many crickets should I offer?
I know the amounts will depend on age and growth rates, but I don’t want to offer too much food and raise a fat little gecko.

no, they can't be overfed. they know when to stop...most of the time. every once in a while, you'll get a pudgie crested, but that doesn't happen very often, but of it does, just cut down the days you feed(ex- instead of 4 days a week, cut it down to 3)

Is tap water ok for drinking, should I use any conditioner for the water, or is it better to use bottled water?

i haven't heard of any negative effects of tap. recently, i got water conditioner as well as letting the water age 1+ days, but this is only because i'm getting REALLY fed up with water stains on the glass. maybe someone else could answer this and tell you which is better, but for now, i haven't heard any benefits of bottled besides the water stains and it being cleaner. besides, they drink out of puddles in the dirt in the water, so a little bit of dirt in some tap isn't going to cause a problem.

Is it ok to use moss (ex: Flukers moss) in the habitat to help hold some humidity?

moss is fine, although it isn't the most natural(lots of leaf litter is). it depends on the moss, but they need to be kept very moist and they need a high output of light to survive. 1 26 watt CF should do or if you have something bigger than a 29-40g, 2 CFs is good.

Can fresh fruits be blended and offered as an occasional treat? If so, can they have pretty much the same things as a bearded or iguana with fruits and veggies or is it pretty much just fruits?
Especially in summer, I have fruits and veggies in the house, feeding a bearded as well, so it would be nice to be able to offer some of that occasionally as a treat.

fresh fruit such as bananas,figs,strawberries,blueberries, mangos, etc are fine for a treat. veggies...not so much. avoid anything with citrus in it like oranges,lemons,etc

Could plants for the habitat be potted in plain potting soil as long as it doesn’t contain fertilizers or other additives?

that is fine. if you are doing the whole substrate plain soil, i would advise(like i would with any substrate) you make a drainage layer/false bottom beacuse you WILL over water and create a soggy,muddy mess, attracting FFs and killing any non-epiphytic(sp??) plants. plus, plain dirt and water=mud. so, i would also advise that you mix in other substrates(peat moss,coco bark,coco fiber,tree fern fiber,orchid bark,etc) so this doesn't happen. but if you mean just in a pot, i would still add in other things so you don't over water your plant(s), although a drainage layer is not necessary here. i've had perlite/vermiculite and probably some chemicles in my pots for over 1 year and had no problem, but if it was my main substrate outside from a pot, i wouldn't do this.

before i forget, welcome to pangea!