As some may know already my girlfriend and I decided that we're going to get our first cresties :) I've got my 18X18X24 Exo-terra cage all set up for them with vines, a hide and a cool little shelf thing that holds 2 oz cups for food and water. I got a book on them and we got a bag of CGD (1/2 lb should last a while if we've only got a few right?). I think I know the answers to most of the questions but I wanted to confirm with people who've been keeping them for a while and also they might serve to help other people who are thinking of getting into cresties in the future.

So first question, temperature. Do they really do fine at just 70 degrees? Do they require a basking spot at all? My temps go from about 72 degrees at night to 69-70 in the day (I still don't know why the temps get higher in the room at night, maybe just body heat in a small room lol), would that be ok for them?

From everything I've read and heard they do not require UVB that is true right? I don't have any light on the cage right now just the lights in the room (which are on a 12 on/12 off timer for the other animals).

And feeding insects.... I know some do, some don't. From reading the CGD bag and the book it seems like that's got everything they really need but do you guys find that they seem healthier with an occasional cricket or roach feeding? I only ask because I despise crickets and don't know of anyplace around to get roaches consistently.

Thanks in advance (again :lol:) I'll post some pics of the setup tonight.

Sounds like your off to a good start!

70 degrees is fine but a little gradient to the 75-76 range would not be bad either. Juveniles are typically kept warmer. Stay under 83 degrees.

1/4 pound CGD should last a while for two adults, just refrigerate package.

No UVB or lighting requirements. Ambient source will be fine.

CGD will work fine as a complete meal. If you have crickets local, I would offer them occassionally. I have found a that insects and CGD together will increase growth rate compared to only CGD, but nothing dramatic.

Monitor calcium storage if breeding.

Hope this helps.

some good info

I keep mine at room temperature but have to move them in the summer since my snake room gets too hot. No lights, no extra heating, CGD and crickets a couple of times a week (occasionally some small worms). I'm sure they can live just fine on the CGD but they do seem to enjoy playing with their food.

Cool, thanks guys and gal :D Definitely some good info and about what I was expecting.

I'm going to try a low-wattage incandescant bulb to get a bit of a gradient going and also for viewing. I had a 75w red light bulb on the tank on a rheo with it dialed all the way down and it was still hitting about 95 degrees on the hottest spot. Definitely way to high so hopefully I can find something to get me into that sweet spot 75-78.

Not to plug myself, but on my "resources" page Ive broken down just about everything for keeping cresteds. enviedreptiles.com then check the resources tab.. also check repashy's forum and pangea's forum, they are the big two forums for rhacs.

Cool, thanks guys and gal :D Definitely some good info and about what I was expecting.

I'm going to try a low-wattage incandescant bulb to get a bit of a gradient going and also for viewing. I had a 75w red light bulb on the tank on a rheo with it dialed all the way down and it was still hitting about 95 degrees on the hottest spot. Definitely way to high so hopefully I can find something to get me into that sweet spot 75-78.

We just sit ours on top of the racks.... comfy warm up there. All I can really add is you'll have tons of them before you know it. :lol:

adam
first thing i do is scoop some CGD into a small tupperware, then i keep the CGD bag refrigerated with all the air squeezed out of the bag. this way i'm not going to the big stash everyday, continuously messing with it. the stuff lasts a long time that way. a half pound bag should last you a year for a couple of big healthy adults. the bag says something about six months, but my guys only eat CGD, and i've seen no difference in their health or egg production with the way i store it even with my one year old bag.
good luck bro,
ck

Sounds like fun Adam . Good luck and post pix when you get them set up .
Toni

I keep my colony with no supplemental heat at all. In the summer months, the room is as high as 75 or so, in the winter as low as 65 and, aside from halting breeding for the winter, I have noticed no ill effects. No loss of appetite, no significant reduction in activity, and no lack of growth in the babies. I also feed CGD exclusively.

I only ask because I despise crickets and don't know of anyplace around to get roaches consistently.

.

Need some roaches?

Im coming down for the April 19 White Plains show. Be glad to bring ya a couple thousand :D

Need some roaches?

Im coming down for the April 19 White Plains show. Be glad to bring ya a couple thousand :D

Adam I think I found someone to get roaches from all the time right here in the thread....:lol:

Everyone covered it all, just have fun with them...:cheers:

Hehehe. Im such a roach-pusher.

Adam, all kidding aside, if you would like to start a small colony of roaches for your cresties I can set you up. They are really no bother. I have Dubia and lobsters. I believe the lobsters may be better for the wee geckos as they have a softer shell. Lobsters are more prolific and dont get as large as Dubias.

The downside is the can climb sheer surfaces. But this is easily taken care of with either Vaseline or a great product called Bug Stop which I use. Its kinda like a paint that you smear around the top of roach bin and they cant cross it.

Another issue people have is lobsters are fast and will often disappear before the lizards can catch them. I kinda found a solution to this by accident. If you coat them with calcium or some other powdered supplement it screws up their ability to climb at least for a while. Then you can offer them in a regular food dish which the lizards will quickly learn to eat out of.

Take a small group from me and you'll never have to buy insects again. Just keep them warm, feed them ground dog food or roach food with some veggies and you're all set. You're only problem is you might get too many. Just cull the excess.

Or if you're nervous I can give you some nymphs that are not old enough to breed yet and you can see if the cresties like them. The nymphs will be mature in a couple months and then..well...you know what they'll do. :D

I can tell you Ive had a lot more crickets on the loose than roaches. Roaches dont hop out of your hand or container. And if you coat'em they get disoriented or it messed up their feet, I dunno but it definitely slows them down.

Come to the Dark Side, young Jedi.

:lol: Oh V. I'm not sure if I'll be coming to the White Plains show or not yet. I'll be sure to let you know though man! I absolutely despise crickets so if I did decide to go with feeding live bugs it would have to be roaches. But for the cresties I think I'll be sticking with straight CGD as long as that is what they are already established on and doing well with.

Oh one more question for Biothon: When you say to monitor the calcium storage if breeding how would I do that? Just by watching the amount of calcium in their normal diet or is there some sort of signal or test that can be done to measure that. Just curious.

Oh one more question for Biothon: When you say to monitor the calcium storage if breeding how would I do that? Just by watching the amount of calcium in their normal diet or is there some sort of signal or test that can be done to measure that. Just curious.

Holding your crested firmly around the body, tap him/her lightly on the snout encouraging them to open their mouth. Once open, you should see two white calcium storage sacs at the back of the upper jaw.

I usually monitor breeding females and ocassionally check males.

You just want to make sure that the storage is not depleted.

This is an old picture I borrowed from Dr. Alan ages ago...it really shows the sacs...

Not to plug myself, but on my "resources" page Ive broken down just about everything for keeping cresteds. enviedreptiles.com then check the resources tab.. also check repashy's forum and pangea's forum, they are the big two forums for rhacs.

Nice job - there is a lot of good information there..

My 7 year old isn't into ball pythons like his brother and is getting tired of me feeding off his "pet baby rats" that he takes from the snake room. Poor guy.. He really likes cresties - they sound pretty easy.