I have a 1 year old female gecko in a 18x18x18 vivarium. I have 1 fig tree, some pothos, and cork tubes. I also have a magnetic feeder for her which I feed her Replashy dusted with calcium and Vitamin D. I have a regular 60 watt bulb that I keep on for about 8 hours and then it automatically turns off at night and on during the day. I have a fogger with which I keep her humidity at the appropriate levels. What my confusion is about how I should create her vivarium. I get so confused with all the information out there on how to set up her tank. I noticed yesterday that she is hanging on the side of the terrarium and her stomach is bloated. I wanted to know if I may have her habitat set up wrong and the lighting is wrong. Can someone direct me to a site where I can visually see how to correctly set up a crestie habitat and what wattage of light I should be using? I am just worried that I am doing something wrong. If anyone has any input I would really appreciate it. thanks!
I am a new member to Gecko Forum and I have a concern and a confusion
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- 15,146
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- Somerville, MA
Welcome to GF! I imagine it's confusing because there's more than 1 way to do things. One website might suggest doing things a certain way and another website may say something different.
Here are some general considerations:
--The crestie should have a bunch of places to hide above ground level. This could include real plants or fake plants (the plants and cork tube you describe sound as if they're adequate)
--The light is fine, but it's more for the plants. The most important thing with the light is to make sure it's adequate for the plants. Since the crestie is nocturnal, it doesn't really need a light. My crestie enclosures all contain real plants so I have lights for all of them
--In my opinion, room temperature in the average house is adequate for cresties, so I don't supply extra heat
--bloated belly: I have found that healthy cresties have round little tummies. If you post a picture of the crestie we can tell you if it looks unusually bloated or like a normal crestie belly.
--most people's biggest concern about cresties is that they provide food and it looks as if the gecko hasn't eaten. This is very common with cresties. Often it looks as if none of my 5 cresties has eaten anything, but they're all fat and happy and gaining weight
--The Repashy is already supplemented, so you shouldn't need to add more. If you feed insects as well, you can dust them with supplement.
Consider googling images of crestie enclosures and you'll see that there is a great variety. It sounds as if yours is fine (and the pothos will grow, believe me). Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Aliza
Here are some general considerations:
--The crestie should have a bunch of places to hide above ground level. This could include real plants or fake plants (the plants and cork tube you describe sound as if they're adequate)
--The light is fine, but it's more for the plants. The most important thing with the light is to make sure it's adequate for the plants. Since the crestie is nocturnal, it doesn't really need a light. My crestie enclosures all contain real plants so I have lights for all of them
--In my opinion, room temperature in the average house is adequate for cresties, so I don't supply extra heat
--bloated belly: I have found that healthy cresties have round little tummies. If you post a picture of the crestie we can tell you if it looks unusually bloated or like a normal crestie belly.
--most people's biggest concern about cresties is that they provide food and it looks as if the gecko hasn't eaten. This is very common with cresties. Often it looks as if none of my 5 cresties has eaten anything, but they're all fat and happy and gaining weight
--The Repashy is already supplemented, so you shouldn't need to add more. If you feed insects as well, you can dust them with supplement.
Consider googling images of crestie enclosures and you'll see that there is a great variety. It sounds as if yours is fine (and the pothos will grow, believe me). Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Aliza
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