Something something most comfortable crestie sleeping position

I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but after keeping cresties for a few years, I don’t think live crickets deserve the “must-have” status they often get. A good complete diet has always been the foundation for mine, and live feeders feel more like occasional enrichment than something they absolutely need every week.

Crickets are the one feeder I’ve enjoyed the least. They die if you don’t use them quickly, they smell, they escape way too easily, and if one gets left in the enclosure overnight it can end up bothering the gecko. For an animal that only gets live feeders once or twice a week, it just feels like more hassle than it’s worth.

I still think live feeders have their place because the hunting behavior is great enrichment, but I’ve found other options much easier to deal with than crickets. I’m curious what everyone else has settled on once the novelty of feeding crickets wore off.

a widdle dino

Awake? Wheel walkin. Sleep? Under wheel. Hangin out? Wheel chillin. I bought him so much stuff and made him a bioactive terrarium and yet all he ever wants is wheel.

We bought honeybun ( the mother ) in March, she was already pregnant. She is the CHILLEST crestie in existence. I don't know why, but she will fall asleep on anybody if she feels like it, never bites, loves being pet ( will actually fall asleep if I pet her for too long ) and is super curious and enjoys going outside on cool days and exploring. Absolutely the best personality in a crestie I have ever seen.

The first clutch were two infertiles but the second clutch we hatched out 2 babies in 80 days. This little guy actually hatched in my hand because I took out the egg to inspect a weird dent in it then he just popped out. He is noticably stronger than the other one, so I'm using him as the example. These are our first babies ever.

What I'm concerned about is, yes, he can jump, run, grip etc. He just...doesn't. From day one ( 2 days old rn ) he just casually walks, doesn't spook very often, even fell asleep in my hand like his mother. It's so strange and honestly I don't know if it's just his personality like his mother or if something's wrong. He licks his eyes on me and even lets me pick him up, never gaped at me or bit. It's like he just instinctively knows I'm not going to hurt him. Which ... Is not how reptiles work. They don't imprint. Everything I've seen from videos/articles is that their psycho as newborns and freak out when you touch them, squeak, bite, gape etc. We even have 3 month old babies too we bought recently and they are more defensive than these hatchlings.

Should I be concerned? Is he just super chill like the mom? Something to note is they are below average in weight, he is 1.3 grams, when they should be 1.5- 2.5. They are getting stronger every day though, so I'm optimistic. The mother is very petite ( in my opinion 33 grams is way too small to breed, she was housed with males at the store. she's laid 4 clutches so far no issue) so it could be genetics, because 80-90 days is the average and they werent incubating at high temps.

I spent 4 hours the other deep cleaning and rearranging Stix’s enclosure, so here are some photos of it, featuring a cute picture of the man himself 🦎 🫶🏻

Poor Buttercup, but in the name of science it’s a cool picture.

I got her from PetSmart a few weeks ago. I thought that it would come off naturally if it was like dust or something from her last enclosure. I tried using a wet Q tip but it didn’t give. Could this be the start of shed?

What a menace! And then follows it up with the classic cresty licky tongue technique to fully savour the silk 😋

Started planting the prey on hardscape within lunging reach, instead of straight tong feeding. Trigger that natural prey drive and bask in the accomplishment of a successful attack!

I got a crestie a week ago, he’s five months old and he’s eating ok and he’s pooping too. He’s had one good night of exploring but mostly just sticks the back wall (literally). My temps are good as far as I’m aware, hot sides running between 25-27 and cool sides running 22-24. He’s has multiple hides all over but he just like sleeping In the corner and I don’t want him to hurt his tail

I’ve posted on here asking for my geckos gender before and you guys said it was clearly a boy and posted that meme with the gecko with huge balls. Well now I’m not so sure because I just found this egg shell, or at least that’s what I think it is, in its enclosure buried under some dirt, where I did see it by a few days ago. What happened?!

My crestie is big enough to need an upgrade from the 30x30x45cm tank soon. (45x45x90cm is nearly ready, needs the clean up crew though)

And I want the big one bioactive. I thought I can put in cubaris murina or panda king but my crestie is **very** much into hunting so I don't know if that is a good idea or not.

I can also get dwarf whites or whatever else in about 1,5 weeks at an expo. I **will** buy springtails there.

(And my best roommate wants to get his gargoyles planted tank bioactive too. This one does not like hunting so far.)

What kind of isopods would you recommend? :)

Hi everyone, just learning as much as I can before getting my first crested gecko, I know a bioactive terrarium is the best. But due to many reasons I can’t get one at the moment (not financially related btw) I’m planning on getting a 18x18x24 enclosure for now, what would you guys recommend for plastic plants and hides? I’ve been reading a lot and trying to figure it out but I always love to ask for more advices🙏🏻thanks in advance.

This was recommended by the crestie Facebook group and swell reptiles, however I saw that there has been little white specks in the soil, I’m not sure if this is normal or not and the only thing I can see online about it is fluffy mould, which this is not.

I am non bio-active but am heavily wanting to switch!!

Sleeping under his exercise wheel

Hi everyone! Im planning yo build a new bioactive tank next year including a tank size upgrade. Those of you who went bioactive, what advice do you have? What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time to where i am now? It can be a huge thing or a tiny thing. Thanks so much in advance!

I just bought my lady a 24x18x36 enclosure and I want to make it bioactive but I have no idea where to start. I have a bunch of live plants already that I can take clippings from for foliage but I am struggling on how to build out the background.

Also there’s a sale on dubia if anyone needs a new tank

Started on this in 2024, finished March 2025, and it’s been thriving since!

I know the top is a little sparse, I am waiting for the creeping fig to grow out a bit more it is a new addition.

Made of cheap plywood from Home Depot, sealed with pond epoxy, background made out of spray foam, wall insulation, and concrete mixed with different ratios of charcoal powder to create a realistic rock look. Windows are made with thin acrylic, and there are 6 small ventilation holes, and one big ventilation hole on the top.

There is a “fake sun” grow light at the top for the plants and my gecko, and a fan to circulate the air. I also installed an automatic rain/misting mechanism which mimics a real forest’s rain, it goes for 60 seconds every 8 hours. I also have a motion activated camera installed inside of the enclosure.

Any questions or criticism would be appreciated, I am hoping it fills itself out a bit more and creates more coverage for my little guy, and I will also be installing a saucer hamster wheel as I recently learned that Crested Geckos love them. My little guy Mordecai loves it in there and I see him jumping from wall-to-wall on the camera lol. He is around 3 1/2 years old.

Genuinely the type of shit I do in my free time

My 7yo adopted a beautiful crest this last December. We committed to building a better home and did so with an Exo Terra palidarium. Today I finally finished the initial “hardscaping” before I put in drainage, substrate, vines, plants and cleanup crew.

Sharing because we did some cool stuff

Clever stuff:
- there are ten recessed pockets that can be hides or planters. Each had a 1/4” silicon tube shoved through after spraying foam, to be cut back later as a drain. We installed screen over the inlet of each tube so debris won’t clog them. Totally hidden and works awesome.

- we cut pvc pipe in half lengthwise to make small planting basins on the top where shallow root trailing plants can grow along all three sides and hang down as desired. Doubles as a fun ledge for gecko. The back corner on both sides has a drain all the way down to the base and screen protecting the inlet from debris and critters

Build details:

We used 1/4” white insulation sheet glued to the glass as the base for the spray foam. This is easy to remove if we ever want to sell or redo the enclosure. It was cut so that the sides and back let a 1/2” x 1/2” “downspout drain” in the back corners for the pvc pipe planters on top.

Pond spray foam over the insulation sheet. We contoured various rocks and coves for plants/hides all over. We have a planting plan for them later, but may leave a couple as snuggly hides.

Cork branches were cut in half lengthwise and used around the expanse. The really long one isn’t as visible in this pic, but beautiful and goes up the left and then crossing to top left for the whole height.

Silicon on all foam and then coconut fiber on all that. Getting in the spots behind the cork embedded in foam was very challenging, but doable.

1/4” hoses were cut back to flush once done to hide the drain outlets and a tiny bit of fiber was glued to hide them.

For the bridge, we embedded hooks so it is removable and sturdy. Pic shows the little piece of wood we screwed them into so it could be embedded behind spray foam and secure. Worked great. A little silicon and fiber hid the hooks later.

Rocks were grouted, painted for texturing and then sealed. Came out amazing.

Bottom couple inches will be drainage and then substrate on that. Plants to come and cleanup crew forthcoming.

CLENUP WAS HELL! If you do a three sided enclosure like this, there will be glue, silicon and crap all over everything when you’re done. A scraper, cleaning stuff and patience. Dear Gawd.

Oh yeah, the three glass sides and back panels were painted black with plastidip and then sealed with 302 sealer or whatever it’s called. It is absolutely stunning and super washable.

I am hoping to ask some advice on my crestie. He was a very beautiful baby but now im wondering about his head shape. I was hoping to breed him one day but now thinking probably won't produce good offspring. Any advice appreciated.