so what kind of bulb do I need for a crested gecko?
It really depends on the temperatures of the room you plan to house the Crestie in. If your room doesn’t get colder than say 70°F at night any time of the year you don’t need to worry about heating elements, however…
If your room does get cold in the fall and winter months (69°F and below) I’d reccomend a low watt ceramic heat emitter bulb, like a 25 watt for example. Doesn’t work as a basking bulb but rather something that just increases the ambient temp of the enclosure, include a thermostat with a probe to control the temps and make sure they don’t get higher than 80°F.
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alr, ty, and do they need UV?
Theres a debate on whether or not they need it, I’ve personally never used UVB for mine and they were perfectly fine, no MBD or other health issues ever arose from a lack of UVB. Just make sure you supplement their insect feedings with a calcium carbonate powder, preferably with added vitamin D3.
Some do use it though and there’s nothing wrong with that.
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Want to second that if your room temp is 69-78ish, that’s perfect for them and I do not recommend using a heat bulb for cresties. They’re very sensitive to warm temperatures, I lost four animals on my interstate move because they got too warm even though I had them in the shade in a cooler with cool packs. I learned my lesson. My house gets down to about 67 in the winter time, and I just accept that they’re going to grow less/be less active in the winter.
As for UVB, agreed with cmsreptiles, it’s great for them if you choose to provide it. If you don’t provide it, that’s totally fine - just make sure you offer D3 calcium dusted insects every so often to make sure MBD doesn’t become a problem.
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great, and what kind of light do you guys suggest?
Both heating and UVB are beneficial, but, as stated, not strictly necessary, unless your room frequently gets below 72f during the day. All reptiles benefit from having the option to thermoregulate, so if you want to add some heating, you could add a low-wattage halogen on a thermostat (VERY IMPORTANT) set to no more than 86 in the basking spot. It is very important that the tank is big enough so that the gecko can move to spots in the low-mid 70s as needed. As for UVB, they don’t need anymore than a UVI of 1 in the basking zone, so something like Arcadias shadedweller 2.4 (not the 7) is ideal since they can get right up under it without it causing harm.
But like already stated, this isn’t strictly necessary, given that you feed a good quality CGD as their main diet.
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grear tysm!
are real plants more beneficial than fake ones?
Depends, they can help with humidity, don’t require much if any cleaning, and they look super nice, if they’re kept properly. But it does mean you have to actually keep the plants alive. All the gecko cares about is the ability to hide, im sure it doesn’t care whether it hides in a real plant or a fake plant as long as it feels secure.
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great thank you, and do I need an auto mister?
No, a spray bottle is fine
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