Hi my name is Dan. I need some help with a rescued crested gecko. I acquired him from my son’s girl friend. She bought him from a local pet store and was told he is a dalmatian. He wasnt given the best of care and refused to eat for her so she brought him to me. I have over 30 years keeping reptiles, mostly snakes and monitors. This is my first experience with geckos. He is under weight and I need some suggestions to fatten him up. Also need help with his set up. I think I have it right but not sure. Room temp is 70 to 75 in the day and 67 to 70 at night. I have a small heat lamp on him to give him a basking spot from 80 to 85. I keep the humidity in the room at 65%. He wont eat his zoo med crested gecko stuff I have tried to mix it and give to him as a powder.
This is the only food I think he was offered. I did get him to eat a dubia. Not sure what else to do for the guy. Any suggestions will help. Also if someone might be able to tell me what morph he is. Thank you for your help…
I have a small heat lamp on him to give him a basking spot from 80 to 85
Please unplug and remove immediately, crested geckos do very poorly in temperatures above 80, they will get stress, distressed and eventually die. They do not need supplemental heat with your current ambient temp.
A crested gecko should be keep at room temp preferably in the low to mid 70’s
Based on the size and it’s hard to tell from your pic without a weight, if you want him to eat and fatten up you will want him to be in a smaller enclosure, young individuals do better in small to medium critter keeper, a big enclosure and they will tend not to find their food and therefore not eat.
As far as food the best food most commonly accepted by crested gecko is Pange Food, zoo med being one of the worse one, Rephashy used to work but since they have changed formula years ago it’s not what it used to be and I do not recommend it either.
It is unpluged!!! Thanks!!! I will down size him to a smaller enclosure and get him better food. It’s nice to have a place to come and get good solid advice.
At least the positive note is that it does eat dubia so in combination with CGD it will help bulk him up fast but it’s definitely important to alternate with CGD as their primary diet.
If I had to guess once you address the enclosure size and the food it will eat without issue, now remember when they are young it does not seem like they eat much and there is often a lot of leftover.
A good way to make sure they actually eat is to put a little bit on your finger at first, if he eats the mix on your finger it will eat it in the enclosure given the chance to find it.
Along with everything @stewart_reptiles has said, you need to mist them every night. They require high humidity at around 70% with a boost to it at night with the cage allowed to dry before the next misting the following night. They also like to lick water off of leaves and can get dehydrated if not allowed to do so. You also need to get one of the crested gecko feeding shelves for their food and water. It can stress them if they are forced to go to the ground for food and water. That size of cage should be fine for it so long as you get a food shelf.
Here is a good video about them from Clint’s reptiles; https://youtu.be/KwWzQMkEmP4
They have other videos about them as well.
So I think that size tank should be fine for your crestie. Also, all of mine prefer eating on the floor Instead of in the air… it’s mostly personal preference For them. It’s most important that they do feel secure though, so definitely add more plants. The misting is also important. I would also suggest swapping to paper towels for the time being. It helps with moisture more than the reptibark that it looks like you’re currently using.
I would let him settle in for a while. NEVER offer Pangea as a powder. Mine like it a little soupier & a Pangea rep said it was okay. You can offer some dubia like once a week too. 
Thanks for all the info. I ordered him a hanging bowl and I have one for the ground. I will offer food to him in both till I see which he like best. As far as the substrate I’m using a deep bio active coco base I make, with the repti bark over. I use this for all my reptiles that require a higher humidity. It cuts down on cleaning and odor even for large pythons and monitors. It gives off alot of moisture.
Interesting! I do bioactives for all of mine but struggled with reptibark because it doesn’t absorb any of the moisture. If it works for you, I’m glad!
I usually use coco chips over the coco but had a bag of this laying around. I may change it to the coco chips.
He turned brown today. And started to eat!!! He must have been stressed out or just not happy. Thanks for all the help.
Crested geckos fire up and down depending on humidity and light. Your gecko “turning brown” is just him firing up, or expressing coloration. It is a natural bodily process. It means your gecko has enough humidity in it’s environment.