Hey everyone! It has been a lot easier for me to be posting updates over on Facebook until I am out of school.
Where Knights in Crested Armor unite!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Holy Cannaloni
I know it's been a bit! It looks like I jave taken on a bit more than I can chew at school this term. Anything major I'll post, but until the end of May my posts will be limited. Feel free to message me still! :)
Thanks!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
One of those nights
So I have been trying to handle all the geckos daily, sometimes if they don't want to be handled, then I will wait a night or two. Then there are nights where I get excited because they come out on their own, those are the nights that I get bit, and s*** on. What fun.
Hahah no but seriously!! I just started school this week again, so I have been pretty busy with homework. Tonight I had the chance to sit down and take care of everyone, and spend good time with each gecko. And of course it is the night that they are the most rowdy!! I'm still happy they all came out and me and my boyfriend will handle them individually for about 5-10 minutes. Noz was great, such a gental giant. Nefarian was great until halfway through, he got that look in his eyes randomly (food??) And started biting the back of my hand. I'm wondering if I smell like a female gecko to him... it was all so random! THEN, Elegon finally came out, and decided to take a huge dump in my hand. :) part of having pets!! Got my boyfriend to take him so I could wash my hands, only after him sitting there and laughing at me hysterically.
All well!! There is always next time. And we still haven't had the boys too long yet.
HAPPY FRIDAY! :D
Thanks for stopping by
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
First Night Handling the New Boys!
Good morning! (Technically here)
I wanted to let everyone know about my first real time handling the three new Cresties I received last week. I did transfer 2 of them to new tanks, then also, took all of them out of their tanks in order to change the substrate, but tonight we got to sit down and hold each one!
Last week when I got them, I went to transfer Nefarian about 6 inches into his new tank, as soon as I got him into my hands, he pounced out, leapt at the desk his tank is on, and started climbing into the new tank. Noz was super scared and was just trying to back up and hide, we felt really bad, but very slowly eased him into his new tank. All week I have been interacting with them when I changed their food, misted, and took pictures from outside their tanks. I think this helped them ease. Last Saturday was the first time we tried to pick up Elegon and place him in a temporary tank so I could clean out and redo his home tank. He seemed super flighty and wouldn't really let us pick him up. He ended up biting my man who was very sweetly trying to let him walk onto his hand. Thankfully he is a trooper and didn't mind Elegon's bite, he felt bad the Crestie was so scared. This was the first time I had seen them bite at someone and it made me pretty nervous, but I was soon reassured that the bite felt like nothing since they really have no teeth. after that I became gecko whisperer and had no problem picking him up and transferring him. I have a feeling just holding your hand out with no other motivation, might make it seem like your hand is food? I usually hold my hand out in front of them and stroke their back softly, or gently scoop under their chin, or around their sides, and they usually climb onto you.
So tonight is almost exactly one week from when we picked the guys up. All week we had been eyeballing each other, and today was the day! Noz was awesome to handle, easy to pick up, easy to hold. He is very powerful and can leap far, but not really fast. VERY SWEET!!! Elegon surprisingly, once I picked him up was also sweet. No biting today whooo!!! And even though he is the fastest, he did really enjoy just chilling out. Nefarian was easy to get, but he was the jumpiest today, landing with the cutest pat/splay noise. He nearly climbed up the side of my face lol!
I was able to weigh all three:
Noz 38g (-2 from previous owner's number)
Nefarian 14g
Elegon 18g
Everyone seems to be in a good range so far. I got the Watermelon Pangea mix in today, so hopefully they will munch on that and really like it.
Overall we had a lot of fun, laughs, and many pictures. It was a great first experience, and I feel like I got to know each one personally.
I wanted to let everyone know about my first real time handling the three new Cresties I received last week. I did transfer 2 of them to new tanks, then also, took all of them out of their tanks in order to change the substrate, but tonight we got to sit down and hold each one!
Last week when I got them, I went to transfer Nefarian about 6 inches into his new tank, as soon as I got him into my hands, he pounced out, leapt at the desk his tank is on, and started climbing into the new tank. Noz was super scared and was just trying to back up and hide, we felt really bad, but very slowly eased him into his new tank. All week I have been interacting with them when I changed their food, misted, and took pictures from outside their tanks. I think this helped them ease. Last Saturday was the first time we tried to pick up Elegon and place him in a temporary tank so I could clean out and redo his home tank. He seemed super flighty and wouldn't really let us pick him up. He ended up biting my man who was very sweetly trying to let him walk onto his hand. Thankfully he is a trooper and didn't mind Elegon's bite, he felt bad the Crestie was so scared. This was the first time I had seen them bite at someone and it made me pretty nervous, but I was soon reassured that the bite felt like nothing since they really have no teeth. after that I became gecko whisperer and had no problem picking him up and transferring him. I have a feeling just holding your hand out with no other motivation, might make it seem like your hand is food? I usually hold my hand out in front of them and stroke their back softly, or gently scoop under their chin, or around their sides, and they usually climb onto you.
So tonight is almost exactly one week from when we picked the guys up. All week we had been eyeballing each other, and today was the day! Noz was awesome to handle, easy to pick up, easy to hold. He is very powerful and can leap far, but not really fast. VERY SWEET!!! Elegon surprisingly, once I picked him up was also sweet. No biting today whooo!!! And even though he is the fastest, he did really enjoy just chilling out. Nefarian was easy to get, but he was the jumpiest today, landing with the cutest pat/splay noise. He nearly climbed up the side of my face lol!
I was able to weigh all three:
Noz 38g (-2 from previous owner's number)
Nefarian 14g
Elegon 18g
Everyone seems to be in a good range so far. I got the Watermelon Pangea mix in today, so hopefully they will munch on that and really like it.
Overall we had a lot of fun, laughs, and many pictures. It was a great first experience, and I feel like I got to know each one personally.
Thanks for stopping by!
Beginning of a Live Vivarium, Silk Plant Issues.
Part 1, Live Vivarium Start.
I ended up deciding to take the three older Boys I got this past week off of paper towels and on to beginning of the live vivariums I plan to do over the summer. I noticed that the three tanks were smelling musty and pretty gross despite the fact that two of the tanks were brand new, and had never been used before. So after taking a good amount of time sniffing around and doing some research, I decided to clean their tanks out and give them each a start to a live vivarium. I placed about 1-2 inches of Hydroponic clay balls I got at Petsmart for $10 a bag on the bottom. 1 bag will basically set you up for one tank BTW, but I was fortunate that the previous owners had given me a large baggie of them to begin with! I then added a double layer of carbon fiberglass mesh screening I used to make the screen part of my tanks, and added 1-2 inches of Eco earth on top of that. I then added one layer of fake leaves on top, just in case one of them jumps at a shadow, to help minimize the amount of Eco earth they might eat. I have already seen Nefarian dive and eat a small piece of paper towel, that was pretty nerve racking! I took some pictures of each of the tanks. The smell kinda went away, but was still there. I ended up switching almost all the silk plants out of Noz's tank, and his now smells pretty darn clean! So I think this week I am going back to Michaels and picking up more of the soft plastic plants instead of the silk ones. I hope that will help with the smell. This isn't a smell that I notice until I stick my head inside of their tanks, I just feel bad they have to sit in the stink!
I actually added a ledge in Noz's tank, but I will have to take more pictures later!
I ended up deciding to take the three older Boys I got this past week off of paper towels and on to beginning of the live vivariums I plan to do over the summer. I noticed that the three tanks were smelling musty and pretty gross despite the fact that two of the tanks were brand new, and had never been used before. So after taking a good amount of time sniffing around and doing some research, I decided to clean their tanks out and give them each a start to a live vivarium. I placed about 1-2 inches of Hydroponic clay balls I got at Petsmart for $10 a bag on the bottom. 1 bag will basically set you up for one tank BTW, but I was fortunate that the previous owners had given me a large baggie of them to begin with! I then added a double layer of carbon fiberglass mesh screening I used to make the screen part of my tanks, and added 1-2 inches of Eco earth on top of that. I then added one layer of fake leaves on top, just in case one of them jumps at a shadow, to help minimize the amount of Eco earth they might eat. I have already seen Nefarian dive and eat a small piece of paper towel, that was pretty nerve racking! I took some pictures of each of the tanks. The smell kinda went away, but was still there. I ended up switching almost all the silk plants out of Noz's tank, and his now smells pretty darn clean! So I think this week I am going back to Michaels and picking up more of the soft plastic plants instead of the silk ones. I hope that will help with the smell. This isn't a smell that I notice until I stick my head inside of their tanks, I just feel bad they have to sit in the stink!
I actually added a ledge in Noz's tank, but I will have to take more pictures later!
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
New Additions to the Family!
Hello again!
This week we were lucky enough to come across three gorgeous male Cresties that were being sold in our local area. I had a really great experience with the previous owners, finding out that we go to the same college, and I got to learn a little about their cozy family and promising future in a new state. Since this was a re-homing, I was very fortunate enough to get an amazing deal on the three guys. Previously 2 of them were housed in custom made bins with mesh and a great network of bamboo rods and foliage. I already decided that over the summer while I am working, I am going to go tank by tank and turn them into live vivariums. So I took the initiative to custom build two tanks while I had a little time before school starts back up here in a week. I was so thankful that Fired up Geckos had provided a DIY tank tutorial. I made a few adjustments and off we went!
Click here for the tutorial! :)
(Btw the tape is there JUST in case the hinges come off. I should have used two hinges, and ones with more coverage, but I am stubborn and want to make these work hahahaha. Also I was pressed on time and messed up a couple parts of the spray paint I was unable to fix. I will be fixing these spots when I do the live vivarium build during the summer. Also I found some things out to make the hinges look better I will do next time.)
Now everything can be purchased at your local Lowes, which they also will cut your plexi glass. For two tanks, all the supplies and some personal extras, I spent $100 total. I purchased a 10 gallon and a 15 gallon btw. Now that right there is a great price for two tanks. An Exo terra 12 x 12 x 18 is about $60 before taxes, and the same for ZooMed. In that $100, there were a lot of one time purchases, like a hacksaw, spray paint, caulk gun, etc. So it was only like $40 a tank. If you are interested in purchasing a custom built tank like this, let me know. I would charge cost of supplies, labor and shipping. Each tank took about 6 hours of labor not including dry time for glue and spray paint coats. So you are looking at about $75 for a 10 gallon, $100 for a 15 gallon and $120 for a 20 gallon before shipping costs. Choose any color of spray paint for $5 more, this stone spray paint was awesome! Even feels like stone. If you are in the area, there are no shipping costs, and will only charge a small delivery fee (depending on distance, cost of gas past 30 minutes) if it is more than a 30 minute drive. If you want to pick it up, then no charge! :D There are some things I would do differently next time, like picking more reliable hinges over look. They do their job, but I should have at least done two instead of one. Other than that, these are awesome tanks that will be AWESOME when I get them to be live vivariums. I absolutely love the door setup though, I did not use magnets, I picked up a stronger connection so that I can sleep at night knowing they won't pounce on the door and open it. Anyways I plan on doing a few more tanks when we have the space someday.
On another note, I had some issues with the cork back bark I got. Apparently if you mist one spot all the time it will mold!! I had to take mine back to the store, I replaced it with Cocofiber carpet I Velcro'd up the wall for them to climb on.
Everyone seems to be settling in nicely here! I am still new to having older Cresties and and have a lot of questions that I am researching. I think I may switch to non silk plants as I have noticed they have smelly tanks. I added a small fan not directly facing the tanks to add air circulation. Hopefully that will help until I build the live vivariums. I don't smell it until I stick my head into the tank, and it isn't a strong smell but I am more concerned that they have to smell it. Here comes a massive dump of new pictures. I have decided to keep the dragon themed name line going and renamed the three dudes. :)
Nozdromu (Formally Lemonade)
This week we were lucky enough to come across three gorgeous male Cresties that were being sold in our local area. I had a really great experience with the previous owners, finding out that we go to the same college, and I got to learn a little about their cozy family and promising future in a new state. Since this was a re-homing, I was very fortunate enough to get an amazing deal on the three guys. Previously 2 of them were housed in custom made bins with mesh and a great network of bamboo rods and foliage. I already decided that over the summer while I am working, I am going to go tank by tank and turn them into live vivariums. So I took the initiative to custom build two tanks while I had a little time before school starts back up here in a week. I was so thankful that Fired up Geckos had provided a DIY tank tutorial. I made a few adjustments and off we went!
Click here for the tutorial! :)
(Btw the tape is there JUST in case the hinges come off. I should have used two hinges, and ones with more coverage, but I am stubborn and want to make these work hahahaha. Also I was pressed on time and messed up a couple parts of the spray paint I was unable to fix. I will be fixing these spots when I do the live vivarium build during the summer. Also I found some things out to make the hinges look better I will do next time.)
Now everything can be purchased at your local Lowes, which they also will cut your plexi glass. For two tanks, all the supplies and some personal extras, I spent $100 total. I purchased a 10 gallon and a 15 gallon btw. Now that right there is a great price for two tanks. An Exo terra 12 x 12 x 18 is about $60 before taxes, and the same for ZooMed. In that $100, there were a lot of one time purchases, like a hacksaw, spray paint, caulk gun, etc. So it was only like $40 a tank. If you are interested in purchasing a custom built tank like this, let me know. I would charge cost of supplies, labor and shipping. Each tank took about 6 hours of labor not including dry time for glue and spray paint coats. So you are looking at about $75 for a 10 gallon, $100 for a 15 gallon and $120 for a 20 gallon before shipping costs. Choose any color of spray paint for $5 more, this stone spray paint was awesome! Even feels like stone. If you are in the area, there are no shipping costs, and will only charge a small delivery fee (depending on distance, cost of gas past 30 minutes) if it is more than a 30 minute drive. If you want to pick it up, then no charge! :D There are some things I would do differently next time, like picking more reliable hinges over look. They do their job, but I should have at least done two instead of one. Other than that, these are awesome tanks that will be AWESOME when I get them to be live vivariums. I absolutely love the door setup though, I did not use magnets, I picked up a stronger connection so that I can sleep at night knowing they won't pounce on the door and open it. Anyways I plan on doing a few more tanks when we have the space someday.
On another note, I had some issues with the cork back bark I got. Apparently if you mist one spot all the time it will mold!! I had to take mine back to the store, I replaced it with Cocofiber carpet I Velcro'd up the wall for them to climb on.
Everyone seems to be settling in nicely here! I am still new to having older Cresties and and have a lot of questions that I am researching. I think I may switch to non silk plants as I have noticed they have smelly tanks. I added a small fan not directly facing the tanks to add air circulation. Hopefully that will help until I build the live vivariums. I don't smell it until I stick my head into the tank, and it isn't a strong smell but I am more concerned that they have to smell it. Here comes a massive dump of new pictures. I have decided to keep the dragon themed name line going and renamed the three dudes. :)
Nozdromu (Formally Lemonade)
Nefarian (formally La Flame)
Elegon (Formally GuWop)
Smaug
Together?
(Jk)
Thanks for stopping by! :)
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