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Getting Started
Your enclosure:
For keeping one to two babies up to four months old they will do well in
a large plastic Faunarium about 40cm long 20cm wide and 30cm high or a
small to medium glass Terrarium. A plastic Faunarium will cost you
around £8 and the glass Terrariums cost up to £40 with the following
dimensions 30cm wide x 30cm long x 40cm high.
Older juveniles should be kept in much larger Terrariums so they have
room to move about and hunt in a more natural way. Larger Terrariums are
around £40 to £60 with the following dimensions: 45x45x60
As you can see the height is an important factor. Your geckos will spend
a lot of time at the top of their terrarium and lurking high up in the
plants.
I really like the Exo Terra brand as they are fairly sturdy and come
with a nice imitation rock background. My geckos will often climb up and
down it
drinking water from the rock surface.
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| Small plastic enclosure |
Medium and large glass enclosures |
Substrate:
Once you have your enclosure you will need to line the base of it with
something to help hold the humidity, soak up food and water spillages
and to make it easier to clean
If you are not too fussed bout how your setup looks white kitchen towel
works wonders. Get the non scented non treated patterned type.
It is very cheap and easy to lay on the bottom of the tank. It holds
water well and they cant eat it by mistake unlike with granulated types
which can cause problems if it gets swallowed as most are not
digestible.
Avoid using newspaper or similar printed paper as the ink will come off
when wet and if you over mist the tank pools of inky water will form and
that is not going to do them any good if they start drinking that!
If you want a more natural look there are several products on the market
at the moment like the Faunology jungle bed. This is a mix of bark moss
and peat and handles really well, Also Zoo Med Repti-Bark is a similar
product.
A combination of one of these products and some live moss to place the
water and food bowls on is an ideal combination for a more natural look.
A thin layer will be enough and more incline with their natural habitat.
Its great stuff but more messy when it comes to cleaning.
Plants rocks and wood:
When it comes to plants you can just use the plastic and silk varieties.
These are so easy to move around and clean and are very cheap.
There are several different types you can get i am currently using the
medium and large Amapallo with in my setups. My geckos love to lay
across the large leaves.
I also like to provide some covering plants like the Croton and Ruscus
as it gives the little guys plenty of cover to hide during the daytime.
It’s a good idea to stick plants to either side of your enclosure to
give plenty of climbing space, plants range from £2 to £5.
Having a hiding cave is a good idea. Juveniles will not make much use of
it but adults will especially females when they are laying eggs. Make
sure you have a suitably large one to give them plenty of space to move
in and out.
To give your setup more of a jungle feel you can place piece of a branch
diagonally across the terrarium. It gives them easy access to the bottom
of the tank to get to your food bowl and a quick path to the top of the
enclosure.
You can buy these ready to go you can grab piece of a dead branch or
some tree bark from your local park. Just remember to give it a good
wash under some running water. You may also want to boil it in water for
a good 20 minutes. Remember your gecko is more than likely captive bred
so its immune system will not like the nasty bugs that may be lurking on
it.
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In large tanks its a good idea to provide as much climbing
material as possible to span from one side to the other.
Here
we have used bamboo shoots and artificial branches. |
Water and food bowls:
With water and food bowls it’s the same with the substrate you can go
for the natural look or the free option.
For the natural look imitation rock pools can be purchased for around £3
or you can use the plastic tops from milk bottles or jam jars. They all
work well and best of all
it won’t cost you anything. Well as long as you drink milk and eat jam!
Misting:
It is very important to mist your enclosure a couple of times a day to
keep the humidity levels up. Remember crested geckos are native to the
forests of Caledonia where light showers are frequent. So they are well
suited to it. They will also drink the water from the leaves. Very often
you will see then poking their tongue out and having a drink then
licking their eyes to clean and refresh them.
Use a small watering spray bottle available from your local gardening
centre, they are usually around £2.
Ok we have the enclosure, substrate, plants, a cave to hide in a branch
and a bowl for water and one for food.
It’s almost ready for the new occupant.
We hope this has been of help to you and if you have any ideas on
improving this article, or if you still have questions get in touch and
let us know: info@stickyfeet.co.uk
Read the next article on feeding..
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