Author Archives: admin

Crested Gecko Handling

Handling crested geckos is actually quite easy and not as scary as it might look at first. If you’re brand new to owning an exotic pet or have never seen a gecko before, then you’re probably afraid the little dragon looking creature will bite you or claw you. This isn’t the case and geckos are usually very compliant towards people picking them up. They’re very tolerant but you want to make sure you’re being careful depending on the age of the Gecko.

Crested Geckos are some of the easiest reptiles out there to handle and to play with. When they’re at a very young age, they don’t seem to mind being picked up and they’re not the most sensitive reptiles out there, so they can handle it. Now while that has been said, you should also note that if you have a crested gecko that isn’t even a couple of weeks old, it’s better safe than sorry that you shouldn’t be touching or handling that particular gecko until it has matured a little more. Also, give a gecko that recently just moved into the enclosure some time to adapt before handling them.

Like every other animal, they like to get used to the new surroundings and it’s probably scary to be moved into a new place without any idea as to what’s going on. Don’t play with them all day though; try to play with them just a little bit at a time when you start out. At first, they’re going to be slightly jumpy and I think if a giant hand came your way to pick you up, you’d be a little jumpy too. So go slow at first and allow your gecko to get used to you holding it or picking it up. Perhaps you could just start out with just a few minutes a day and slowly build time onto that time.

Even after the Gecko has gotten used to, it’s still recommended that you not hold or play with the Gecko for more than 30 minutes max because this can stress Geckos out and when they get stressed out, they might stop eating. If you’re having trouble picking your Gecko up or you notice that it’s very jumpy, then there’s a particular method you can try to get him used to you. It’s known simply as the “hand walking” method and has worked for countless owners of jumpy Geckos.

Don’t try to pick them up directly if they’re too jumpy, but instead, put your hand out extended so that it will walk onto it or climb over it. Once it reaches your hand, put your other hand in front of the hand it’s on and so forth. Repeat this process until you feel that it’s less jumpy to touch or to pick up. As they get used to you touching them, they’ll become less jumpy over time.

Crested Gecko Housing

Providing housing for a reptile in general is usually a pretty common and easy task but it’s really easy for crested geckos. They don’t require a lot of special or expensive equipment, as long as you keep them warm and continue to feed them; they’ll be content with you. Geckos are very versatile and they have to be because of their size. In the wilderness they have to be fast and versatile if they want to escape some of the predators that lurk out there in the jungle.

The numbers of enclosures that a Gecko can safely be kept in is limitless but if you want the most common option that is easiest to take care of then get a cage or aquarium to store the Gecko or Geckos in.

TIP: NEVER EVER put males together in the same cage or same place at the same time. Like two drunken guys at a bar, they will fight because they’re very territorial. While you can add a lot of landscaping or textures to make it more realistic like they’re back in their own natural environment, they can survive in simplistic conditions as well and it doesn’t have to be the most decorated thing in the world.

Hatchlings


It’s recommended that hatchlings be placed in a 10 gallon aquarium or tank at minimum. However, you should monitor the youngest ones because if you put them in a larger housing structure, then they might stop eating or not eat at all. It’s a common issue to know that some of the younger geckos when placed in larger houses don’t eat too well. This doesn’t happen to all of them but it’s a known and common issue. They seem to have trouble adapting to the size of the housing.

So for safety sake, it’s best to keep any young hatchling that’s less than 12 weeks in old in an aquarium that’s not any bigger than 10 gallons.

Adults

There’s a lot of debate on whether or not that adult Geckos will do just fine in a 10 gallon aquarium but it’s highly recommended that you put them in something a little larger such as a 20 gallon aquarium at minimum so they have the ability to be mobile and have more room. They aren’t going to stop eating if they’re put in a larger tank and they like to be active. They won’t have a lot of leg room if they’re stuffed into a 10 gallon aquarium tank. For example, if you have two to four adults, then you should have no problem putting them into a 30 gallon tank/aquarium.

Make sure that you have a screen cage in case you owner other curious pets that might try to get into the cage and this also helps with keeping the humidity up inside the structure as well. Make sure that there’s adequate height as well because it’s easier to maintain efficient temperatures in well-rounded containers and adult Geckos seem to prefer those habitats more.

Crested Gecko Water and Misting

When it comes to breeding, housing or just general crested gecko care in general; keeping your gecko watered and hydrated will obviously be a huge role. Geckos aren’t particular picky and will usually drink from just about any water source you have setup. The most common place to set these up are on the sides of the cage but some owners like to get creative and set them up in other areas well, this will all come down to a personal preference deal.

Misting


One of the things that veteran owners recommend is that you mist your crested geckos on a daily basis, whether that is once or twice. At least you should make sure that you’re doing it once every two days. The reason for this being is that it helps keep them cool, it’ll help them shed their skin and it definitely helps if you’re trying to breed them.

What Is Misting?


Misting is exactly what it sounds like it is. You simply mist water into the enclosure or onto the Gecko. All you have to do is simply fill up a spray bottle (any kind of spray bottle will work). Make sure that the bottle is clean and sanitized before filling it up and using it though. The crested gecko should be fine, but this is just one of those safety precautions that it’s recommended for everyone to follow. Fill up a water bottle with a spray nozzle on it and keep the water at ideal room temperature conditions. You don’t want to use freezing water and you don’t want to use scolding hot water, as I’m sure your crested geckos wouldn’t care too much for that much like you wouldn’t.

Then simply “mist” or spray into the enclosure on the geckos until you’ve covered them. You don’t have to be perfect here and get every little spot but you should give it a good one or two squeeze and that should do it. You don’t want them to be dripping wet and weighed down by the water you spray into the enclosure and you want to make sure that it’s only enough water that will evaporate shortly. Not everyone believes in doing this and you aren’t going to do any serious harm if you choose not to do this, it’s just a recommended crested gecko care tip to help make their housing a little more efficient and to help in the breeding process as well.

Crested Gecko Breeding

Different people have different theories and different formulas on how they like to breed their geckos. Some theories work and others are well, just theories. If you’re looking to successfully breed and hatch some new born crested geckos, then we’ll try to go through the process as simple as possible to ensure you have success.

Like most mammals and animals, breeding is usually as simple as having a male and a female together in the same place at the right time. Animals work differently than humans and select their partners differently as well because it’s not usually a process. When a female is in heat, the male will find her and they will mate, it’s usually as simple as that.

The common breeding age for males usually starts at around 9 months old and can start at up to one year old as well as some owners have reported. Females however usually have to wait until they’re one year old before they start breeding. Some owners would recommend that you wait one year to 14 months give or take a month before you start breeding females to ensure they’re fully matured and developed enough to breed. Females at a minimum need to be 35 grams before they start breeding, and this is going to be assuming that they have the tail already.

You may start at 35 grams, but you might have a better success rate if you wait until the ideal 40 grams. All it takes is a little patience and waiting but it usually only takes one or two months to go from 35 grams to 40 grams. However, if the female doesn’t have a tail, then you can subtract 5 grams from the total weight.

If you plan on breeding, you want to ensure that only one male is in each cage because if they’re paired together, they can become incredibly violent and will fight each other rather than breed with the females. However, you can have 5 females inside the same cage with only one male without an issue.

Temperature
The temperature is relatively important to ensure that fertilization occurs and is at maximum efficiency for doing so. Make sure that the temperature is kept between 75 degrees and 79 degrees during the day and at night time, you shouldn’t have an issue if the temperature were to drop 5 degrees. It’s encouraged to mist the cage every day at least once and remember not to mist too much or to soak the cage so much that the water doesn’t dry up in a couple of hours.

High quality food is also going to play a key factor here because for fertilization to be successful, they need to be well and gut loaded vitamin insects are the best way to do this. If you want to make sure that they’re being properly fed, you can check the calcium sacks on the roof of the mouth of the female. If it’s not depleted, then you have a healthy female gecko.

You’re going to also want to lay down a container inside the cage so that the females have a spot to lay their eggs in. Make sure you leave a few inches inside the container so that they can dig down into the container and lay their eggs. Crested gecko care is relatively easy and the process to breed them is quite simple. Once a crested gecko has laid eggs, you can expect to see some hatching eggs in 2 to 3 months. Usually it’s somewhere in between but sometimes it can take up to three months.

Owners report that they have had eggs hatch at temperatures that were all over the map but for safety purposes we’re going to go with 70 degrees or slightly higher. Incubation is important because it’s easy to lose eggs due to how delicate they are. If you run into the problem of a pair of crested geckos not breeding, then you might want to go back to the basics of crested gecko care and breeding to look at a few key things.

Is the temperature warm and not too hot? Are they getting proper nutrition? How old are the animals and are they matured enough to mate? There are several things you can examine and determine as the cause of geckos not breeding.

Tokay Gecko Care Sheet

Tokay Gecko Care Sheet

Tokay Gecko

Tokay Gecko

Scientific name: Gekko gecko
Size: 8-12 inches
Life Expectancy: 15-20 years

Introduction to Tokay Geckos

Tokay Geckos, also know as Gekko Gecko, live in rainforests in the southeastern part of Asia. They are a large gecko and are sometime known to have an aggesive temperment which makes them a questionable choice for people who have never own a gecko before. While it is possible to tame them over time, some Tokay Geckos never like to be handled. They can grow to between 8 to 12 inches long and can live for upwards of 15 years if cared for properly.

Choosing your Tokay

A healthy Tokay gecko will not be overly thin and will have clear eyes and skin. They have raised scales that run along their dorsal area and their months will be a bright orange or red. Be sure that the nostrils are not filled with liquids.

Housing
Tokay Geckos are fully nocturnal so it is important that their enclosure is kept dark at night so they can be active. A cube shaped tank that is 2 feet on each side will provide enough space for most Tokay Geckos but some larger ones may require more space as they grow. Be sure to provide plants and shelters for your gecko to hide in so that they feel safe and do not become stressed. Moss hides work very welll for Tokays and can help with shedding. They can climb the walls of their tank very easily so no need to worry about putting in a climbing wall. Put at least one shelter on the warm side and one on the cooler side so the gecko can maintain its proper temperature while it hides.

Water needs to be misted in the tank so that the Tokay can lick water off the plants or walls of the tank. You can also provide a water bowl if you like but be sure it is kept clean.
Heating and Humidity

You can easily maintain the proper humidity for a Tokay gecko by spraying the tank once a day and leaving a small water bowl need the warm side of the tank to evaporate. Try to maintain humidity of between 60-70%. An ambient temperature of between 80-85F with a basking area of between 85-95F is best during the day and a temperature drop of about 10F at night is fine.
Since Tokays are arboreal under tank heating is not as effective as overhead lights. Since they are nocturnal you do not want to use UV lights or any bright light because this can damage their eyes. If you want to be able to watch your Tokay at night is blue “Moon Lamp” is an easy way to do this.

Feeding


Tokays will eat just about any insect that they can get their mouths on. Mealworms and crickets are the most common, make sure they are sized small enough that your gecko can eat them easily and remove any uneaten insects after a while so that they do not harm your gecko when he is not hungry.
Young geckos can be fed 1-3 small crickets everyday and as they mature you can move to 4-6 crickets 3 times a week. It is best to feed them both mealworms and crickets to ensure they receive the proper nutrients. Gut loading the insects is also helpful to maintenance nutrient balance. Once every week you should powder the crickets with calcium powder containing D3. This will help with bone growth and defend against a calcium deficiency. Be sure that it contains D3 or else the geckos will not be able to absorb it.

Handling
Most Tokay Geckos do not like being handled and they will bite or bark if you try to. Although it is possible to “tame” some it is best not to stress your gecko by handling it. If you do need to pick it up use glove or a cloth.

Leopard Gecko Water

Leopard Geckos do not come from a very wet environment, and as a matter of fact, most of the reptiles in the world reside in very warm and dry areas. However, even creatures that are used to a lot of humidity and heat still require water and some actually require more water than most just because of this reason. For these particular type of Geckos however, the main thing you’ll want to ensure when it comes to keeping them hydrated is that they have water that’s steadily available every two or three weeks.

People have their own preferred dishes for what they like to use for water dishes and you can use just about anything, as long as it’s clean and can hold water. Some people have reported that they’ve used water bottles, empty soda bottles, milk jugs and smaller items for leopard Geckos that aren’t fully developed or are still growing. These small creatures need considerably less water than their full grown counterparts.

Your dishes don’t have to be decorative and they don’t have to be fancy, it just has to be clean and supply them with an ample supply of water, that’s really it. The great thing about homemade and cheap budget dishes are that they’re easily replaceable and usually don’t require a trip to the pet store just to replace them. Besides, the expensive dishes and those fancy metal dishes build bacteria and dirt very quickly and need to be washed more frequently. You don’t need to sanitize a water bottle after its done being used, just throw it away and replace it with a new water bottle.

If you’re worried about the crickets in your tank drowning, then you can always place a rock in the middle of whatever your water supply is so that this doesn’t happen.

Also, make sure to place your water on the coolest side of your cage/aquarium or what’s going to happen is, the water will become warm and it will evaporate leaving your Geckos nothing to drink. It’s also recommended that if your Leopard Geckos are preparing to shed their skin or you believe it’s that time, that you should do what’s called misting them.

This doesn’t mean spray them down with water, but just a gentle mist will do. This water will usually evaporate relatively quickly and isn’t going to weight the Geckos down any, as it’s just a little gentle mist of water on them. This also helps to keep them cool as well.

Leopard Gecko Vitamins

While your Leopard Geckos aren’t going to require a lot of nutrients fed directly to them, they do however still require nutrients and there’s actually a very simple way that you go about doing this. Essentially you’re going to do a procedure known as “gut loading”. This is basically when you feed vitamins to prey and then feed it to the creature that you’re trying to feed the vitamins too. It’s basically the same thing parents do when they want their kids to take medicine.

They’ll put medicine or vitamins in mashed up food if that certain medicine/vitamin allows it and they’ll get their kids to take vitamins that way. Otherwise, they would just keep spitting them out or throwing them on the floor. It’s quite an effective method that’s been used for quite some time. Not a lot of people think about vitamins for their gecko or look into this, but you can actually raise a gecko that will live far longer and a far healthier life if you do feed it vitamins.

Perhaps the simplest method of providing your geckos with vitamins is simply leaving them out a dish with a vitamin/calcium powder and allowing them to lick it as they need it. Most geckos will have a sense of when they require these vitamins.

 

Gut Loading and Dusting

The crickets while gut loading or feeding will obviously need to be held in a different container while they do this, because if you put them all in their with the geckos and try to feed them vitamins, they more than likely won’t make it before they have time to feed and juice up. You should do this several hours ahead of time to ensure that they have time to not only eat the vitamins but they have time to digest it as well.

Don’t try to over feed or force feed your cricket either, after a while you should get a good feel of how many crickets your Leopard Geckos can handle at a time. Try to ensure that they are eating just the right amount all the time or else they’ll just pass the vitamins and you’ll have wasted money on the supplies to do so.

While it’s not required, some people live by feeding their Geckos vitamins and highly recommend it. It’s definitely not something you have to do and not something that everyone can certainly afford to do which is why it’s optional.

The most common and typical method of giving vitamins to Leopard Geckos is as follows:

You’re going to be doing a method that’s known as the shake and bake and something that is sworn by pet owners everywhere to work. While the crowd who cares about feeding their Leopard Geckos vitamins is a very small market, some people still live by doing this for the crowd who does prefer to feed their Geckos vitamins.

First, you should put the vitamins you plan to administer in a little jar or any kind of small container. Then, you’re going to place the crickets inside the container.

Second, you’re basically just going to shake the jar or bottle but you’re not going to shake it as hard as to kill the crickets, you only want the powder/vitamin substance to be on the crickets after you’re done.

RIGHT AFTER you’ve done this, it’s essential to do the feeding then because if you don’t, what’s going to happen is the crickets will end up cleaning themselves and you’ll lose all that powder that you’ve applied to the crickets.

When Leopard Geckos are young, just like a small child, they require a lot of nutrients and calcium to help their bodies grow and to mature into a healthy Gecko. Sure, you can get away with not supplying any vitamins to a Gecko throughout its entire life, but it’s usually recommended to ensure healthy growth and to ensure that your Gecko will live as long as possible.

Leopard Gecko Substrate

When you’re building your housing, you want to find an adequate substrate for the floor of the tank or the cage. The most common substrates are paper towels, newspaper and Reptile carpet. It is considered most prudent to avoid sand because of the risk of the gecko ingesting it.

Paper towels and newspapers may not look the best but they are safe and easy to replace. They also have the added benefit of making it very easy to see waste and know when you need to clean your gecko’s home.

Reptile carpets are also a nice soft surface that your gecko cannot accidentally eat. They are washable and environmentally friendly as well. It is often a good item to get two so that you can switch them out for easy cleaning.

One of the main things to avoid is any substrate that your gecko can eat or can get caught on. These can cause injury to your gecko and are best avoided.

 

Leopard Gecko Shelter

It’s very commonly known that leopard Geckos are very nocturnal creatures and that you will rarely see them out and about during the day time. If you want to find your Gecko during the day, then you could always check in the box or the shelter that you placed in the tank when setting it up. Usually they’ll find the coolest and darkest place during the day and they’ll reside there until the sun goes down.

So what kind of shelter should you get or what kind of shelters can you make for leopard Geckos?

Just about anything will work for a leopard Geckos; they aren’t particularly picky reptiles and will appreciate whatever you give them in terms of shelter. Try to get creative if you don’t want to place a typical wooden structure in there, but the goal here is to make a narrow little safe hiding spot for them to rest in during the day.

Some of the most common shelters have included painted or colored milk jugs, margarine containers, cereal boxes or anything that will conceal the light and allow it to hide during the day. The main thing is to make sure that you cut a hole that’s not too small and is large enough to actually fit the Gecko. They don’t need a lot of room to get in and if you make the hole too big, then more light then you want may get into the shelter and they may not use it.

If you don’t feel like building a shelter yourself and saving a little bit of money, then there are plenty of pre-made shelters at your local pet store, all you have to do is ask where the Gecko or reptile pet shelters are for your aquarium or tank, someone will more than likely be able to help you.

Also, while it should go without saying, you want to make sure that you have a very sturdy surface that isn’t going to collapse down onto your leopard Geckos, essentially crushing them. Also, take into account just how many of them are sharing a shelter together because for just one, you don’t need more than a toilet paper roll center piece but if you have a few or more, then you might want to construct a wooden box or use a cereal box.

The possibilities of what you could use as a suitable shelter are almost endless but use common sense and make sure that not only can it withstand a little warm heat but it doesn’t collapse in on its own weight.

Leopard Gecko Shedding

Like just about every other kind of reptile on the planet, there’s going to come a time when they start to shed their skin. Leopard Geckos however shed their skin all at once rather than in pieces or over time. It kind of comes off like a suit.

How often does it happen?

This will vary for certain ages and maturity level but it’s obviously going to happen a lot more with baby Geckos than it will with adults. Depending on the age and maturity of your Leopard Geckos, they can shed at different frequencies and there’s not really a set timer under which this is going to or when this should happen. If you want to get a decent idea of how often this is going to happen, then you can easily just watch your Gecko and track its growth progress. The quicker it’s growing, the more frequently that it’s going to shed.

How do you know when it’s going to happen?

As babies will often shed far more than adults, there’s one very easy and one very telltale sign that a Gecko is about to shed off its skin. When this is about to happen, you’ll notice that the colors of the Gecko get considerably duller and as the skin starts to separate from the body, it’ll start turning white just before it happens. When they do skin, Leopard Geckos tend to eat all of their skin in the process while they’re shedding. There are actually a couple of fundamental reasons as to why they do this.

When a Gecko sheds its skin, it has to expel a lot of energy to do and it’s kind of like getting a very rigorous workout for the animal. So what do you want to do after you do a hard and long work out? You more than likely want to eat something and the very skin it shed just happens to be right there after the work out is done. Besides, all that energy has to be put back into the body somehow and the skin is the easiest way to do so.

Also, this is a trick that most Geckos pick up from being out in the wild and is something that’s kind of an internal alarm for them, but when they’re out in the wild, they’re best bet to stay safe is to not leave any tracks, kind of like a Green Beret. So to do this, it’s easier to just eat the skin rather than trying to hide it and giving potential predators a clue as to where it has been and where it’s going. Some animals use smell to pick up prey and leaving the skin behind could give off smell to help it find the Gecko, this is why it’s essential for them to eat the skin.

Shedding is usually a very simple and relatively simple process but in rare occasions, they don’t have the humidity that’s required to perform the self-procedure. You should make sure they have adequate housing and humidity if you notice your Leopard Geckos are about to start shedding because if you don’t have an efficient cage setup to do so, they’re going to have issues. It’s always essential to make sure that a Gecko sheds all of its skin off to ensure that the humidity is perfect because if there’s still some skin hanging onto it that it couldn’t shed off, the humidity may be to blame.

Commonly when there’s a problem shedding, skin will stick to the toe of the Gecko and while this may not sound like a problem, down the road, the toe can become restricted and blood flow to the tow may be cut off causing it to lose a toe. Sure, your Gecko will live, but I assume you’d want all of your toes would you not?

High humidity is basically the most important thing that you want to provide your Geckos when they start to shed. Leopard Geckos will usually try to migrate or go to a moist hiding place anyways, when they are shedding or when they’re not shedding. Some of the most common ways to obtain a moist shelter is to use a container that’s plastic and a lot of people have stated that a plastic cottage cheese container worked the best for them. Everyone finds their own preferred container. Just remember to cut a hole large enough that it can fit in but not too large to where a lot of light can get in.

You can use mulch inside of the container if you’d like to provide some bedding to help and aid the moisture inside the container. Make sure that the bedding that you do use (if you use any at all) isn’t dripping wet and is just moist enough to be enjoyable for your Leopard Geckos.

Don’t be afraid to devote a hand to helping your Gecko shed its skin off; it’s not going to hurt you. If you notice some of the skin hasn’t come off the big toe or that you think some of the skin wasn’t successfully shredded off, then you can use the following method:

1) Find a nice, small and suitable plastic container that’s clean to place wet towels in. Again, you don’t want them to be dripping but went enough to get the job done. Make sure they’re warm as well, cold water will probably frighten the Gecko.
2) Put a top on top of the container and let the Gecko sit like that for half an hour or longer if you feel that it’s not humid enough.

Once you feel it’s humid enough, what should happen now is, it should be easy to remove the skin with a pair of tweezers, since there more than likely won’t be a lot of skin to peel off. If that wasn’t long enough, then feel free to give it another 30 minutes.