Care notes

Settling in

The first two weeks at home

New geckos need time to decompress. The move is stressful, and a stressed gecko hides, skips meals, and looks duller than the photos you fell in love with. All normal.

• Set the enclosure up completely before your gecko arrives, so nothing changes after move-in day.
• Resist handling for the first week or so. Let it find its hiding spots and start eating first.
• A young gecko may not eat for the first several days. Keep offering fresh food and check for licked spots or little tracks through the cup.
• Once it's eating steadily, start with short handling sessions, a few minutes at a time, low over a soft surface.

Every gecko that leaves here is already eating on its own and used to gentle handling, which makes this window a lot smoother. Still, expect some hiding at first.

Feeding

What they actually eat

The staple diet for crested and gargoyle geckos is a complete powdered diet (often called CGD) mixed with water to a ketchup consistency. Brands like Pangea and Repashy cover everything they need, no supplements required when it's the staple.

• Offer fresh CGD two to three times a week. Remove the old cup after a day or two, before it molds.
• Insects are optional enrichment, not a requirement. If you offer them, use appropriately sized, calcium-dusted feeders.
• Fruit is a treat at most. Skip citrus, and never feed baby food as a staple. It was the old way, and it caused real health problems.
• Keep a shallow water dish available even though they mostly drink misted droplets.

Environment

Humidity and temperature, the SoCal edition

These geckos come from New Caledonia, not a rainforest sauna. They want a humidity cycle, not constant wet, and they're happiest at ordinary room temperature.

• Mist well in the evening so humidity spikes, then let the enclosure dry out to moderate levels during the day. Constant saturation invites shed problems and mold.
• Room temperature between the high 60s and high 70s is the sweet spot. Heat is the bigger danger: sustained mid 80s and up is dangerous for cresties.
• In a dry inland summer, misting morning and evening helps. A cheap digital hygrometer beats guessing.
• No basking lamp required. If the room stays within range, the setup can be as simple as a planted enclosure with good airflow.

Vertical space matters more than floor space. An adult crestie does great in an 18x18x24 with branches, plants, and places to hide up high.

Handling

Tails, jumps, and trust

Cresties are jumpers, and they're built to lose their tail when they feel grabbed. A crested gecko's tail does not grow back. Gargoyles can regrow theirs, but the goal is the same: never let the tail be the thing you're holding.

• Let the gecko walk onto your hand instead of picking it up from above. Hand-over-hand walking is the classic safe hold.
• Keep early sessions short and low. Over a bed or couch, not over hardwood.
• A tailless crestie ("frogbutt") is completely healthy and lives a normal life. Plenty of keepers seek them out on purpose.
• Skip handling entirely during shed and for a day after feeding.