What am I doing wrong?

[RinaD]

Hi, I'm hoping I can learn more about how to take care of my crested gecko better. I adopted a young gecko a few months ago (they said he was born last January, so he's about a year old. I had set up an appropriately-sized enclosure with enough room for him to climb and move about with food and water easily accessible. I have been misting the cage daily/nightly and spot-cleaning the cage a few times a week. For feeding, I have been switching between Pangea Fruit Mix with Insects and the Pangea Watermelon/Mango mix, and I have been giving him three crickets one day of the week and a small mealworm a few days later (both are dusted with Repti Calcium). He always goes after them excitedly and eats them as soon as I place them in his food bowl, but he never really goes for the Pangea. He used to eat the Pangea the first few weeks, but now, I don't see the lick marks in the bowl anymore. He has always been very, very skittish (he runs away when I put the food bowl in and I've only held him once), but recently, he has been sort of... aggressive? When anything (such as my hand) comes near his cage, he launches for it. There was one incident where he had launched for my finger as I was misting his cage, but he missed. What's happening to him? Have I been feeding him too much, too little, or is it something else? He has been like this for about a month now, and I feel terrible. I only wish I could handle him like others do with their cresteds.

Please help. I fear I am missing something or doing something wrong. I really love my gecko, so I will do anything to make him happy. I would love to make things right.

Edit: He has always been going #2 regularly. I have been checking with paper towels.
As for his enclosure, it is currently a 12x12x18 Zoo Med. Some say it's too big for a young gecko, but he climbs the walls a lot and he easily finds his food and water bowls (which are in a suction cup holder near the top). The floor is made of a layer of clay ball substrate, then a mesh screen, EcoEarth, and then sparse leaf litter on top. There are various reptile-safe branches and plants going along the top and sides of the cage as well.

[TAD]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong, and it sounds like your tank is just fine. (You might try a hide or two on the floor of the tank if you don't have any.)

I haven't experienced it, but I've read that they can go through (for lack of a better term) the "teenage stage", where they can get a bit aggressive, but most eventually grow out of it. My geckos are not particularly "hand-friendly" - and in truth, most geckos do not LIKE being handled, they tolerate it. My TAD is pretty much a display animal, and while he is not aggressive, it's clear he'd rather not be held. And I'm fine with that, that's who he is. My gargoyle is still young, and still skittish. I'm hoping he will also eventually be a little bit more of a "hand lump" someday, but he has some growing to do, (and some more handling on my part) to get him to be where I want him to be as far as being comfortably held.

Just be really careful that he doesn't sneak out of the cage on you! Try handling him just a little bit at a time inside the cage - let him climb on and off your fingers without actually being "held" - and take baby steps as far as getting him used to you. Patience.

Oh, and no mealworms. They're too hard for cresties to digest. If he likes crickets, that's fine, but maybe hold off on those until he is eating the Pangea well first.

[Orchidilia]

I would also suggest no more mealworms since they are too hard for cresties to digest and to also stop feeding insects until it's eating the pangea better. Some geckos will stop eating the powdered food and just wait for insects, which won't be good for them nutrition wise in the long run. Once it's back on pangea regularly I'd start with maybe just a monthly feeding of insects and then maybe move up to one feeding every 2 weeks instead of weekly. With a longer time between insect feeds it should hopefully keep the little guy eating the pangea in between.

[espiroth]

I second TAD's "teenage" comment. My crestie Calcifer is a few months older than yours but displays much of the same behaviour. He goes mad for his (small) locusts when I drop them in, and will quite happily smash his face into the glass if he thinks that someone passing by could be a locust :P