Life of a Crested Gecko

 How much does it cost to own a crested gecko? 7. Food      - It approximately costs twenty dollars every year for just the commercial food. The extra snacks will cost extra, but those should be given in light moderation. In about six months I have probably spend about five dollars extra on snacks (a lot of his snacks double as fruit I eat anyways).      - For pets, this is an extremely reasonable price for food each year. Each food packet is approximately seven to ten dollars. All you need is the packet and a container to keep it in. Any type of crested gecko food is sufficient, I personally would not recommend one brand over another.  7a. Food Container      - The food container should only cost around one dollar.      - I picked mine up from the dollar store and it cost one dollar. It is a condiment container that allows be to squeeze the food out of the nozzle at the top of the bottle. It makes the food easy to st...

How much does it cost to own a crested gecko?  3. Feeders     - These can range anywhere between ten dollars to thirty dollars ($10-$30).      - Professional decor is on the higher end of the range. I personally bought mine off of Amazon. It is not fancy and it was only ten dollars (cheapest I could find), but it serves its purpose. It is plastic and hangs onto the side of the glass with suction cups and has two holder, one for water and one for food. I often times see him just hanging out on the ledge.  4. Hygrometer/Thermometer      - These can range between ten for forty dollars ($10-$40).     - It all depends on whether or not you want them to display on the same device. For this product I spent fifteen dollars on a digital hygrometer/thermometer that display on the same screen and suction cups to the glass. I went with the slightly more expensive hygrometer/thermometer because I was being picky and wanted the digital ...

 How much does owning a crested gecko cost? Owning a crested gecko can cost anywhere between one hundred and twenty dollars to five hundred dollars ($120-$500). This is because it all depends on how much you want to spend on each item. As a broke college student, I went for the one hundred and twenty dollar route, and still have nice plants, a great tank, and a beautiful gecko that is healthy. There are loop holes and ways around having to spend ridiculous amounts of money on your crested gecko, and still create a high quality and healthy environment.  1. Tank      -Tanks can cost anywhere between fifty and three hundred dollars ($50-$300), and it all depends on the location at which you buy it from.      - If you buy a tank from PetSmart, or another brand name pet store, your tank is going to be on the higher end of the range (closest to three hundred). If you look on places like ebay or the facebook market, the cost is going to be on the lower e...

Crested geckos are the most low maintenance pets you will ever own.  I personally found a crested gecko to be one of the best pets one could have in college. The geckos themselves are small, their tank is not very big (since dorm rooms are about the size of a prison cell), food for a whole year only costs around twenty dollars, they are not inherently social so you do not have to get them out and socialize with them for certain amounts of time, tank cleaning is only required once a month (or only when dirty), he gets fed three times a week, and I only have to maintain his humidity. All of these combined together proved that Pongo would be the best college pet.  Daily Routine:     - In the mornings I get up and mist his cage until the humidity rises anywhere between sixty five percent and seventy five percent (65%-75%). I also make sure that the temperature is at an adequate number, anywhere between seventy degrees Fahrenheit and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. During the ...

Crested Gecko Morphs  For first time gecko owners you might be wondering what type of crested gecko to get. I am positive that you have probably seen many different colors and patterns on geckos. These specific different color and pattern combinations are called a morph.  Crested geckos have many different morphs, which is why they are considered to be polymorphic. Through different types of breeding, there are more morphs now than there are in the wild. Since morphs are based on color and pattern, each color and patter creates a different types of morph. There are three colors that crested geckos tend to be: brown, yellow, orange, and tan. Crested geckos can also be all black or white, however, these are extremely rare.  The different types of morphs are: I. Patternless: This one is pretty much self-explanatory. The crested geckos of this morph do not have any particular pattern and are a plain color.  II. Tiger: They have vertical stripes down their backs on top of...

Continued 3. Hygrometer/Thermometer: - It is essential that your terrarium contains a hygrometer and a thermometer. The most cost-efficient way to do this is to get a device that displays both the temperature and the humidity. I personally use a device that displays both numbers.  - Maintaining the temperature and humidity is thankfully the hardest part of owning a crested gecko. Their temperature should be around 70-80°F, and the humidity should be between 60-70% during the day and between 70-85% at night. They easiest way to maintain those numbers is by spraying the cage with distilled water every morning and every night. 4. Heating Pad/Lamp - This is essential for maintaining the temperature inside of the terrarium. Unless you want the room that you keep the terrarium in to be 70-80°F all the time, a heating pad or lamp is your best choice. - The difference between a heating pad and heating lamp is just that one does not emit light and the other does. They both h...

The terrarium is the most important component (arguably).  Your terrarium will serve as a closed and safe environment that your gecko will live in. It is important to make sure that your terrarium is an appropriate environment for your crested gecko. There are many factors that go into making sure that your terrarium is ideal for your reptile friend. A good environment is required to ensure a long and healthy life for your gecko.  What goes into your terrarium? 1. Substrate:     - The substrate is what will help your terrarium hold a desired humidity. Without a substrate, your terrarium will not be able to hold a steady humidity and it will drop too low.      - Good substrates to use are orchid bark, cypress mulch, coco bedding or any combination of the three work really well for crested geckos. I personally use coco bedding because it is the easiest to spot clean. If you have a naturally cold room, I would suggest combining orchid bark and c...

Research made easy.  When I first decided that I wanted to adopt a crested gecko, I did not any idea on how to take care of one. I quickly found out that doing adequate research makes the world of the difference in adopting this type of reptile, especially if you do not own any other types of reptiles.  So where is a good place to start? 1. Do some self reflection and determine what kind of animal best suits your situation.            - Crested geckos are best for people who like reptiles (not afraid of them jumping, etc), are on a low budget, able to make a 20 year commitment (their estimated life span), available space near a power outlet for the terrarium, able to maintain the humidity every morning and every night, and organized enough to keep track of when you feed them their commercial foods.           -If this criteria does not apply to you, then a crested gecko is probably not the best fit for you. Howeve...

About Us  I figured I would start off my blog by telling you all a little bit about me. I am the owner and the voice of Pongo the Crested Gecko. I started my journey as a Crested Gecko mom just a couple months ago. I am a first time reptile owner and am still learning the in's and out's. My younger self would have never predicted that I would own a reptile in the future, and quite honestly, the whole process happened impetuously. The story goes like this:       I have a close friend that I met my first year in college that owns all different kinds of reptiles. I have always taken a liking to her animals, however, never saw myself getting one. One afternoon I was sitting in my dorm room and got the crazy idea that I should get a pet for my room. I consulted with my roommate and she eventually agreed. Then there was the task of deciding what kind of animal to get. We needed something that was low cost (we are broke college students), did not smell, was fairly easy...