Introduction
So you want a crested gecko? First, have a look at this care sheet so you know how to look after it properly. Here I will go over basic care and breeding of crested geckos.
Crested geckos make ideal lizard pets - they are cheap and easy to care for, require little maintenance and equipment to keep, most are great to handle having a calm and gentle nature, small in size, and they come in a fantastic range of colours and patterns to suit your taste! For a more extensive list of advantages and disadvantages for this species, please visit the Available page!
Housing
These tall faunariums (left) are ideal for single adult crested geckos or for groups of juveniles. Use the 'extra-large' size for an adult. The 'small' size is ideal for very small babies up to about 10g, after this they will need to be moved up to a 'medium' size tank. Always house adult males singly or they will fight, often to death!
The basic things you need for the tank are substrate (paper towels or newspaper are easy to clean), branches and logs for climbing and some fake plants for hiding. You will also need a food bowl, and a water bowl (although this isn't necessary if you spray the cage daily)
Exo terra terrariums (right) are popular for crested geckos too, though I find they are better for naturalistic setups because they aren't very easy to clean out properly. You should get a tall variety, crested geckos are arboreal and like to climb. For single adults or groups of juveniles, use the 30x30x45 size exo terra. Larger sizes such as the 60x45x60 could house a group of adult cresties.
If you do want a naturalistic setup, put some eco-earth at the bottom, at least 2" deep. This won't need cleaned, since any excrement will be broken down by the bacteria in the earth. It's a good idea to mix it up every so often but it won't need replaced at all. Do not use loose substrates with young geckos, they tend to ingest it and will become impacted! The glass and decor will need disinfected periodically as it gets dirty. Water marks may also appear from the spraying. Just be sure to use reptile-safe cleaners, and thoroughly rinse it before putting the geckos back.
Humidity
Crested geckos don't usually drink from water bowls (although they will if there is no alternative), so they need daily spraying to drink, and to raise humidity for proper shedding. Spray the inside of the cage, and especially the sides where water will form droplets for the gecko to lick (left). It should all dry up by the next day. If it doesn't, you may need more ventilation in the cage.
Heating
Additional heating generally isn't needed for crested geckos, they thrive at normal room temperatures of 20-26C. Temperatures above 27C are dangerous for these geckos and should be avoided! Also avoid temperatures lower than 18C - they do not hibernate!
Lighting
Crested geckos, being nocturnal, don't need UVB light to thrive. Ambient daylight is plenty for healthy specimens.
Feeding
Crested geckos are prone to MBD, so correct supplementation is essential. Crested Gecko Diet is a powder food which when mixed with water, creates a paste that contains all the nutrtition needed by crested geckos, so you only need to supplement live foods with calcium powder. There are several brands of CGD available, the main ones being Repashy, Clark's and Komodo. If you feed your gecko on only live food, supplement by dusting with a calcium and D3 powder.
Adults and juveniles will do fine just eating CGD on its own, or you can feed calcium dusted crickets as well. Juveniles grow much better on a mixed diet: CGD offered daily, and crickets given at least once a week.
These geckos eat so little food that if you give them more than about 1 teaspoon of CGD each feeding, you may not even see that any of it has been eaten. The picture (right) shows lick-marks in the food, which is evidence that your gecko is indeed eating the CGD - so look out for this if you are worried your gecko isn't eating anything.
Adult geckos need fed every other day. If feeding live, give them about 6 crickets per gecko. If feeding CGD, mix a ratio of 1 part CGD powder with 2 parts water by volume to create the right consistency. One gecko will need about 1 teaspoon of prepared CGD every other day - offer this in a small bowl such as a milk bottle cap. Juveniles should get the same, but smaller sized crickets and a smaller quantity of CGD and fed every day. If your geckos don't want to eat the CGD, you can try adding puréed melon instead of water when mixing it up. You can leave it there for 2 days until it is eaten, or dried up. Throw it out after this time and offer a fresh batch.
DO NOT EVER feed crested geckos with baby food. It contains ingredients like rice, preservatives and citrus flavours which are NOT good for the gecko at all.
You can get Repashy CGD online from Pangea Reptile or from Sticky Feet. Clark's diet you can get online from PMP Reptiles or from Oxford Geckos. More and more reptile shops also stock crested gecko food so check your local supplier.
Breeding
Females should be at least 18 months old and about 30g+ before you even think of breeding them. Males can be smaller but should be at least 20g. Adult males have a hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail which distinguishes them (quite obviously) from females who lack any bulge. It usually appears when the gecko reaches 15g in weight. It is possible to sex geckos smaller than this by looking at pre-anal pores by using a jeweller's loup. This picture (left) shows the rows of pores present in a male crested gecko between the hind legs. They look like a little dark dimple in the centre of each scale. Females have no pores at all. To be near 100% sure of correct sex, young geckos should be at least 10g when pore sexing.
It is essential to check the female has enough calcium reserves to carry out breeding. These geckos store calcium in sacs at the roof of the mouth, which you can check by coaxing the gecko to open its mouth. You can do this by tapping lightly on the nose, stroking the sides of the mouth, or use a small stick such as a cotton bud (without the cotton) to gently pry open the gecko's mouth. This also gives them something to bite while you're looking inside their mouth. The sacs are small white bumps, preferably full and rounded. Here is a poster explaining this very well.
Once you have geckos which meet these requirements, all you need to do is introduce the male to the female, either for a 'one night stand', or you can leave the male with the female if you aren't sure whether they are mating or not. and within a month or two you should get some eggs. You should provide a covered nesting box for the female to lay in, like this one (right).
Females usually lay two eggs once a month during breeding season. In the winter time you should provide a slight drop in temperature along with shorter day lengths, and remove the male to give the females time to rest and recover. Usually this rest period is from from October to March. This allows the female to recover from laying, and she may be ready to breed again the following season. If you breed a female two seasons in a row, the female may only lay 3-4 clutches then stop. It's a good idea to give females a year off to recover properly, so next time you breed them they can easily lay 7+ clutches.
Incubating Eggs
If you compact the earth in the laying box with your hand before putting it with the geckos, you will be able to see if the gravid female has been digging around to lay her eggs. Once she has laid, gently uncover the eggs, careful not to rotate them, and place them in a small tub with some dampened vermiculite to incubate (see our video about finding and setting up crestie here!). If an egg turns and you didn't mark the top, you can use a torch to candle the egg and find out which way up it should be. You will see a red ring which should be at the top, and if there is no red ring at all, the egg is probably infertile (left). Temperatures of 23-26C are ideal for incubation, which will take 2-3 months on average (depending on temperature).
You should open the tub occasionally to air the eggs (once a week at least, then once a day when hatching is near), and make sure the vermiculite doesn't get too dry. It should form a solid shape when squeezed, but no water should drip out.
As incubation progresses, the egg will grow from an oblong to a more rounded shape (left - the egg on the right is newly laid, the egg on the left is half way through incubation). When the baby pips, it will stay in the egg for a few hours with its head sticking out before emerging fully.
Hatchlings
Once out of the egg, you can transfer the hatchlings to a small tub or faunarium (right). Do not feed hatchlings for the first 2-3 days! After this, you should offer a small amount of CGD in a shallow dish such as a milk bottle cap, or small dusted crickets. I find they usually don't start eating crickets until they are a few weeks old.
Be careful when handling hatchlings, they are very fast and very tiny! Most hatchlings emerge weighing 1.5-1.8g. They grow quickly if fed live food - most breeders offer crickets once a week. If you feed just CGD they will grow a bit slower.