Crested Gecko Care Guide

Quick Facts

Originally Inhabited: New Caledonia

Availability: Common, $15-$1000+

Lifespan: 12-20+ years

Weight: 40-60 grams

Tank size: 10+ gallons

Temperature: 70F-82F

Housing

Tanks

Crested geckos are semi-arboreal lizards that spend most of their lives low to the ground. You can often find them sleeping on the ground in their tanks during the day. However that being said crested geckos enjoy branches and plants that they can climb on. Size is more important than age when it comes to picking the appropriate tank for your gecko. We like to keep geckos under 10g in 6qt tubs. Once they’re about 10-20g we move them into 32qt tubs. From here they can be moved into bigger tubs, 40-64qt is plenty big for one or two adult geckos.

Temperature & Humidity

Crested geckos can survive in temperatures between 68F and 82F, however for optimum growth we recommend keeping them between 74F and 78F. Keeping your gecko warmer will greatly increase the rate at which they grow. Humidity should be kept between 50%-80%. This can be achieved by misting once or twice a day. It is important that the tank dries out during the day and isn’t kept too wet. Keeping the tank too wet can cause many problems like respiratory infections in your gecko and mold and fungus in your tank. If your tank is too dry you’ll find your gecko is more likely to be dehydrated and will have more problems shedding. A good medium between moist and dry makes for a happy gecko.

Décor & Substrates

We like to use paper toweling for substrate due to the ease of cleaning and the amount of geckos we have to clean. However if you only have a couple geckos there are other substrates you can use with your geckos if you don’t like the look of paper towel. As far as décor goes a lot of things work as long as they’re not sharp. We use dowels and PVC pipe along with lots of egg crates, pool noodles, sticks and things of that nature. We also use fake plants from amazon to provide cover. You can find lots of fake vines and plants online much cheaper than going to a pet store.

Cohabbing

Cohabbing as it’s often called is keeping more than one gecko in the same tank. You’ve likely heard lots of misinformation about this from people on forums and on Facebook saying you should never do this and that your geckos will die but this simply isn’t true. Cohabbing can be done easily without any issues but should still be done with caution. Two males should never be together as they will most likely fight to the death. Adult females of about the same size can be kept together with little to no problems. However it is important to keep and eye on your geckos to make sure no bullying takes place. Some ways to prevent this from happening are by providing a big enough enclosure for the amount of females you want to keep together. We would recommend at least 64qts for a pair of geckos. Providing enough cover and places to hide is also important when cohabbing. Providing the proper amount of food and water is also critical for your geckos when living together. We don’t recommend new keepers cohabbing right away.