So I picked up that well-priced Monsoon RS 400 I mentioned before. It was more or less half price, since it had been used for about a month on a baby veiled chameleon at Pet Depot.
I checked it out and gave it a run-through before I did any final installation. The motor runs just fine. The only two icks are that one nozzle is slightly plugged with mineral deposits (I think and hope) and that there is a small hole in one piece of the tubing. Nothing major at all. I'm fairly sure I know exactly what went down with the nozzle. See, Pet Depot uses filtered tap water for their animals. Nothing wrong there in my opinion, at least in terms of animal health. There's most likely still mineral deposits after the filtration process, though, and that's what hopefully plugged up the nozzle.
Currently soaking both nozzles in a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar for 24 hours, as per the instructions.
I can already tell it's going to be pretty visible in my enclosure, since it's rather small (the enclosure, that is), but it's hopefully going to be worth it. The misting process is hopefully goign to be more effective at raising humidity than my simple spray bottle. I'm just worried that two nozzles won't be enough. We shall see.
No product review yet, as I've only run it in my bathroom for a couple minutes.
Going to leave this post post with a new pic of Rocza I took after her by-weekly cricket feeding.
So I've been having concerns that Rocza isn't getting enough vitamins and what not from the crickets he's eating despite the dusting and the gut busting. It's not like I'm not providing the additional gecko diet, he's just not interested. I tried wetting it down last night, but in hind sight, that probably wasn't the best time to do it, since he had his crickets earlier in the evening. He also shed, so he had all that delicious... dried... flaky skin... to eat... *barf!* (no seriously I'm making myself nauseous thinking about in such detail, haha).
The point is, he spends his twilight hours roaming up top of his habitat, which is in quite the oposite direction of his food dish. As a result, I've been looking into different ways I could serve up his food, especially considering that I'll soon have a third dietary option to provide him with (Repashy!).
So, here we are, looking into feeding dishes. Just food dishes for gecko diet, not live cricket feeders. The one I found stood out above all others was the...
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Magnaturals Feed/Water Ledge (Research Phase)
Right, so I know, Rocza's still acclimatizing and ventures out little by little, but that doesn't change the fact that he will be primarily arboreal. He's going to spend most of his days and nights chilling out high as can be (the little stoner... See it's a pun), which leads to some annoying feeding issues. I feel that, in time, he could be trained to come down for food, especially with how fast he shot down after the crickets yesterday. But, till then, he still needs food. Beside that is the fact that floor space is limited in a terrarium and at a premium. I need a nice "cricket arena" when I feed him his little snackies, but I also need that space to put up plants and other fun things. This dilemma has lead me to look into wall-mounted feeders and platforms vs food dishes.
The product I'd liek to get, but can't seem to, is the feeding and watering ledge in the Magnaturals line of products by Pet Tech. It's a nice-looking piece with a removable tray for easy cleaning and refilling. I've seen some hideaway products by these guys and they were made of this nice, lightweight foam which also had a durable-ish feel to it. To go staging any wrestling matches in it though. The coolest thing I found about this product is the mounting system. It's held in place via magnets that are placed on the outside of the glass. This just seems so handy to me, since it runs a blank spot on the walls of your terrarium into a bit more of a natural-esque nook for sunning, climbing, and in this case, feeding. This product comes in three colours: earth toned, Mojave, and granite. My personal choice is the earth tone, since it looks more like natural wood or mushroom growth than the granite. The Mojave-coloured one is this gaudy red which would look okay in a desert biome. They also provide a smiliar, gecko-related product with two compartments, but of larger size.
Despite the awesome usefulness of this type of product, I'm actually having a hard time finding any kind of alternate, both local or online.
Why I need it:
-To provide food at a higher elevation, since that is where Rocza spends his time.
-To give me more floor space to add extra scenery and toys for my gecko.
-As an easy-to-use distribution method for my incoming Repashy diet.
-It's also a great way to add extra climbing space for your little animals.
Why this product:
-This product is light-weight, with sturdy magnets for support. At least, this is based off the other products I've seen by Pet Tech.
-This dish has a nice, natural look to it.
What compares to it:
As mentioned above, I didn't find all that much that serves the same function as this product.
-Pangea has a feeding ledge that holds two disposable cups, but it's made out of clear acrylic and is pretty much just a shelf, with absolutely no natural look. It's clean-looking, I suppose, but I think it would clash with the synthetic-natural look I'm going for. If you give Exo-Terra only one compliment, let it be that their products look good!
-To be fair, their is still the option to keep using ground feeders and train your creature to go to it. In that respect, there's a huge selection to chose from, in all shapes, colours, and sizes. My preference so far is the Exo-Terra line of dishes. Sturdy, stable and decent to look at. Exo-Terra even offers a dish specifically with omnivorous geckos in mind which has a small secondary compartment for whatever you may also be feeding your creatures. Their water dishes are made with a small ramp to avoid drowning in small animals and crickets, which is thoughtful and shows a little foresight on the designer's behalf. Again, though, this isn't exactly Exo-Terra specific. Zoo Med makes a variety of dishes too. Follow your heart!
-I found a sort of unconventional option as well, one provided by the good people at Zoo Med. The mushroom ledge they make looks very nice! In fact, in terms of esthetics, it has my up-vote. Not only that, mushrooms are also a big part of the micro-biology of tropical forests, so this seems like a logical option for people trying to recreate a natural-looking enclosure. At least, it's better than that tacky-looking reptile hammock Zoo Med puts out... Ugh. My little pretentious moment of the day: you wouldn't catch MY gecko lounging in one of THOSE things! The only drawback is that it is not magnetically affixed. It comes with a silicone adhesive. I have wondered though if it would be possible to drill small holes on it and stick some earth magnets, or even just a strip of plastic-covered metal (to avoid rust issues in a humid environment). Give it some time though, these companies are always coming out with new stuff.
First of two posts today, I think. I'm feeling like another product search is in order. But first, a bit of a status update.
I went over to Pet Depot today and spoke for a while with Emily. It's so very useful having someone who personally cares for the same animal as you do; great source of knowledge (and, in my case, reassurance).
Things I learned:
First off, it takes a couple weeks for a cresty (probably any new pet) to acclimatize themselves to their new habitat, which is fine.
Cresties are pretty darn nocturnal. Me thinks PetSmart's pamphlet may be giving false aspirations to the contrary in order to convince people they will see their gecko without a little coaxing. This might change though, who knows. No judgment here.
They're also pretty shy, and even Emily's gecko stays tucked away during the daylight hours.
Weening them off crickets can be a challenge, especially if it's all they've known. But since Rocza doesn't really seem interested in his(her?) food pellets' lack of movement, crickets have so far been the only thing I can confirm her eating. Hopefully not once the Repashy arrives, fingers crossed, some time this week. In the meanwhile, she suggested moistening them to help bring out the aroma.
The issue I was having with his skin seemingly lacking in luster might indeed have just been the UV light washing out the colours. It does that with other stuff, anyway, why not Rocza. He seems to change colours when he walks from heat lamp to UV lamp...
Still, looking into a humidifier upgrade.
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Now, onto the business at hand; the second feeding.
I think it went really well. After trying to tweeze in the crickets last time, I invested (*sigh* more money...) into a pair of feeding tongs (more specifically, these!). These tongs are now on my essentials list. I was able to insert the cricket right into Rocza's hanging plant to entice him out without disturbing him.
I also learned that Rocza has mad hunting skills. The second he saw that cricket it was over. What's better, I let the next cricket make it's way up to him, and he took it handily. Although I must pause here and make a note that these crickets always move right up to where he's hiding... Anyway, I actually lost the third cricket in the enclosure behind the Boston fern, but Rocza found it before I could. I would have loved to have seen it unfold, but all I saw was Rocza spitting out a mouth of substrate while holding the cricket in his mouth (talented!). I just release the final cricket into the enclosure and let him wander around till Rocza nailed it.
Tried fooling around with his pellet food by sticking some to the tongs and moving it in front of his face, but he was either full or just not interested in it.
Cleaned out the terrarium earlier today. Figured that Rocza's had a couple days to settle down some. He was pretty good about it, as far as i can tell. I was pretty nervous handling him; didn't want to lose a tail or anything. After a couple seconds it was all good.
Terrarium looks a little different now, especially without the log hideout. It's too bad that wood wasn't treated for humidity. It looked nice. I kind of have a small hill in the back right corner that I put the new gecko dish on. I also changed the way the croton plant hangs, mostly to encourage him to get out more. I have it sort of draped over the jungle vine. Well, see for yourself.
On a side note, having had him out and in my hands, he's not looking thinner, though I'm fairly certain he hasn't touched his pellet food. I fed him three gut busters Saturday, and I had his pellet food in with him in the faunarium today while I cleaned out his habitat. He's almost looking... pale though. Like his colour has diminished. Maybe the UV light is just washing it out. Or maybe he's shedding. I think I'm going to go chit chat with Emily tomorrow, see if she has any advice as to why he's so reclusive and all that.
I ordered some Repashy on Amazon.com the other day as well. That should be in soon, for which I will be very grateful. It's much easier to present him with a popsicle stick of goop than to try and pitch pellets at him.
I think I'm also going to invest in some feeding tongs. The kind that are long and plastic-coated on the end to prevent injury. It's tricky getting him to notice crickets from way up the trees and I don't like just leaving them in the enclosure. Too many bad memories or rogue crickets singing long hours into the night. He really gobbled them though. I just don't want him to get hooked on them and eat nothing but. I think I'll give him some tomorrow though. Twice a week doesn't seem so bad.
Another item I think I'll be getting is some sort of wall-mounted feeding tray. If I can't get him to go to the food, I'll bring the food to him.
Well, I guess my half log isn't treated wood. I checked under it today, before Rocza found his way there, and found quite a few patches of mould. I wish I would have found this sooner. I really want to gut the entire habitat now, but I also don't want to stress out my cresty while he's still getting used to it. I hope it'll be okay for a couple days.
Still though, there goes another 20$. I should have inquired. I did a little research and I think I'm going to get some cork wood to replace it. Cork apparently doesn't moulder.
Just picked up my little cresty this afternoon! Still not clear on the sex, but that will come in time. Hey, if it should lay eggs at some point, that will be most definitive.
But in all honesty, Crested Gecko Canada ahs some info on how to sex your gecko, which sounds realy wierd... though not as wierd as the "sexing tools" i saw on eBay last night. Creepy indeed. In my day, you just looked at what the kid was playing with to know if it was a boy or girl! *Old-man 24-year-old rant!*
But I digress, because I'm excited.
We were trying to decide what morph it was at the pet store, with no clear results. I'll have to do a bit more research.
It's already shown some pretty neat skills. In the time it took me to turn my head it went from being stalk-still on the vine to having leapt into the amapallo (about a 6" jump). He (at least until I can identify it) is about four to six months old, but they told me he looks bigger than most of the other babies they get. He's also pretty adorable. Everyone agrees!
So, crickets are fed, tucked safely out of cat reach, and awaiting their gladiatorial end in the arena, I've put fresh food and water in this morning, I've misted twice already to give him a little leaf drinking water, and everything is copacetic. Just going to watch him chill in his amapallo for now. I assume that will be his bed from now on.
