Hi,

I'm thinking about buying my first geckos pretty soon and I'm just checking that I know exactly what I have to buy so that I don't forget anything. What I'm thinking of buying is:

1) Habitat Starter Kit Rainforest Medium (18" x 18" x 24") which includes:
- terrarium
- compact top
- hygrometer
- thermometer
- rock background
- medium water dish
- plantation soil
- 2 jungle plants (Croton and Amapallo)
- Large jungle fern
- 2 jungle vines (small and large)

2) Repti-Glo 2.0 Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp

3) Dish holders with the plastic replacable dishes
4) Some more decor (ledges/hides/branches/etc)

I was also thinking about buying an Exo Terra Ultra Sonic Fogger

I know the temps have to be about 22-26C for geckos. My room is quite cold but I have a spare heat mat and matstat from when I replaced my corn snakes heating to ceramics.

Have I missed anything equipment wise? Is there something there that I don't really need or is a better alternative available?

Also, there's the question on diet. I plan to feed my gecko CGD but I would want to provide crickets as well. How often should you offer crickets when also giving CGD and should the crickets be dusted with calcium every time? Do I need to dust with D3 if I'm also feeding CGD? How many crickets should be offered at the one time.

Just to let you know, I'm planning on hopefully keeping two females together.

Any advice is welcome. I have absolutely no experience with geckos, only corn snakes. I've read as much as I can but some sites offer contradictory information about equipment and are a bit vague when it comes to diet.

Thanks

[Olivine]

Originally Posted by scarletspy

Hi,

Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry for the delay in replying to your post.

I'm thinking about buying my first geckos pretty soon and I'm just checking that I know exactly what I have to buy so that I don't forget anything. What I'm thinking of buying is:
What species are you getting? Cresties? Gargs? What are the ages of the animals in question?

1) Habitat Starter Kit Rainforest Medium (18" x 18" x 24") which includes:

- terrarium This is absolutely fine for an adult Rhac or, possibly, two (never two males though). However, please bear in mind that if you house two geckos together, you may have to split them; even two females will, at best, tolerate each other's company and may eventually start fighting, in which case they will need to be housed separately. I'd therefore recommend at least having a RUB or something similar on hand, in case of emergencies. If you're getting young animals, it would probably be better to house them in a large faunarium until they are around 15g in weight (young Rhacs can get stressed if their enclosure is to large).

- compact top The use of UV with Rhacs is still a controversial subject; many keepers (including myself) don't use it for their Rhacs with no apparent ill effects. Unless you really want to use UV, the compact top is therefore not essential. And a word of warning: the Exo Terra canopies are only designed to take bulbs up to (I think) 26W; the plastic mounts for the bulb will melt if a higher wattage is used (I've disposed of all my Exo Terra canopies because of this and switched to the Zoo Med version instead (they have ceramic mounts that are safe to use with bulbs up to 60W).

- hygrometer- thermometer Personally, I invest in a decent digital hygrometer / thermometer (e.g. this one), as they are more accurate.

- rock background I'd be careful with these: there are a couple of holes in them that are designed for wires to go through. However, they are far too large and young animals in particular have been known to crawl through them and get stuck behind the background. I know of several keepers whose crestie's have died doing this. For that reason, I take these backgrounds out of all of my vivs (alternatively, you would need to be very careful with reducing the size of the holes).

- medium water dish Rhacs tend to drink from water sprayed onto leaves, rather than from bowls, so although a dish of water should be available, a small one will more than suffice.

- plantation soil Fine, though I'd simply use kitchen towel initially (i.e. for the first three months at least), as it will make it easier to monitor their eating / pooping while the geckos are in quarantine.

- 2 jungle plants (Croton and Amapallo)
- Large jungle fern
- 2 jungle vines (small and large)

2) Repti-Glo 2.0 Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp See my comment above about UV

3) Dish holders with the plastic replacable dishes
4) Some more decor (ledges/hides/branches/etc)
Personally, I'd aim to screen the sides of the viv entirely with foliage, as that will make the gecko feel more secure and encourage them to settle in more rapidly. Also, cresties tend not to use hides (unlike leos for example), so a few cork tubes would probably be better than actual hides.

I was also thinking about buying an Exo Terra Ultra Sonic Fogger
I've never used these personally, so I'm not sure how easy they are to clean. However, I would be a bit concerned that, if you can't give them a thorough cleaning, they might be a haven for bacteria. I think I'd be inclined to stick with spraying the viv manually (it means I can not only control the humidity level precisely, but also target the water more exactly, as cresties tend, primarily, to drink from the water sprayed onto the foliage of the viv).

I know the temps have to be about 22-26C for geckos. My room is quite cold but I have a spare heat mat and matstat from when I replaced my corn snakes heating to ceramics.
That sounds fine.

Have I missed anything equipment wise? Is there something there that I don't really need or is a better alternative available?

Also, there's the question on diet. I plan to feed my gecko CGD but I would want to provide crickets as well. How often should you offer crickets when also giving CGD and should the crickets be dusted with calcium every time? Do I need to dust with D3 if I'm also feeding CGD? How many crickets should be offered at the one time.
It depends on the age of the crestie; for youngsters (up to around 20g or so), then I'd offer live food twice per week, with CGD available the rest of the time. For sub-adults / adults, I normally offer CGD twice per week and live food once. All feeders are dusted with pure calcium (there's no need to dust with D3 as long as CGD is being used). As for how many crickets; I tend to offer as many as my Rhacs will eat in 15 - 20 minutes or so. In addition to crickets, you could try offering dubia roaches and locusts too (all my Rhacs love roaches!)

Just to let you know, I'm planning on hopefully keeping two females together.
That may be OK, but there are no guarantees that they'll be compatible (see my comment above). If you do get two females, try to find two that are of virtually identical size / weight, as this may reduce (but not entirely eliminate) the risk of fighting. I'd also strongly recommend housing them separately for the first three months, so that they can undergo a proper period of quarantine.

Any advice is welcome. I have absolutely no experience with geckos, only corn snakes. I've read as much as I can but some sites offer contradictory information about equipment and are a bit vague when it comes to diet.

Thanks

If you need care sheets, two of the betters ones can be found on the Rhac Shack and Treasure Crest websites, both of which contain excellent advice.

Hope this helps, but if you have any question, please ask away