Crested Geckos in the Wild!

We discussed, where crested geckos naturally live, what their natural habitat on New Caledonia looks like, and how to set up the best habitat for a crested gecko.
Thomas Marriott of Exotics Keeper Magazine discusses his recent expedition to New Caledonia to find Crested Geckos in the wild and to study the crested gecko's natural habitat. He shared details about the environment, temperature, humidity, UV levels, and diet of wild Crested Geckos. Thomas highlighted the importance of replicating the natural habitat of crested geckos and debunked myths around their care, emphasizing the need for a varied and natural diet that includes insects, berries, and pollen. Thomas also discussed the creation of Blue River Diets, a brand that offers complete Crested Gecko diets made from natural ingredients. The diets are designed to closely mimic the geckos' natural diet in the wild, with a focus on sustainability and providing a high-protein and fragrant meal for the geckos.
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Video Clips and Photos Used in Episode:
Provided by Thomas Marriott
0:00 Coming Up
2:01 Welcome Thomas, Traveling
5:56 Trip to New Caledonia - Why did you go & where is it?
10:45 What were the first impressions of the island?
14:15 Expedition of the Isle of Pines
22:56 Where in the trees are Crested Geckos Found in the Wild?
29:43 What was it like to find the first one?
35:05 Replicating the Climate of New Caledonia is Captivity
51:30 Replicating the Physical Appearance of New Caledonia in Captivity
58:23 Crested Gecko Natural Diets & Busting Crested Gecko Husbandry Myths
1:09:52 Blue River Crested Gecko Diets
1:16:43 Closing Thoughts
1:21:16 Outro
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ABOUT DILLON:
Welcome to my channel, Animals at Home! Here you will find the reptile videos I have made as well as video versions of The Animals at Home Podcast! The podcast mainly focuses on the pet reptile industry. My mission with Animals at Home is simple: To inspire others to push the limits of their reptile husbandry by promoting the importance of high-level, creative husbandry individualized for each reptile.
• Crested Geckos in the ...

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

🦎🐍🐸 *For more info on The BioDude's amazing product line, please visit:* www.thebiodude.com/ or www.youtube.com/@TheBioDudeJoshHalter

[@bluefrogcreations6132]

I'm not at all surprised the wild crested geckos have a different head shape than the domestic version. Hobby breeders have aggressively pushed a shorter, wider head (and longer crests) as being "correct." In fact, there's even an effort in the U.S. to create a kennel club-style competitions to evaluate structure and color. Wild type cresties do still pop up by accident, but they are rigorously weeded out of the gene pool. I actually sought one out and he's a delightful study in soft greens and browns, with very subtle dappling and black specks, topped off by that longer head and the much despised "bald" crests. His appearance would fit seamlessly into the population I've seen photos of on the Isle of Pines. I love my selectively bred morphs too, don't get me wrong, but I wish there was more support in the hobby for the original type too.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That’s fascinating!

[@Bunny-ns5ni]

Nature already made these animals beautiful. Hobby breeders have taken morphology to the extreme, not usually for the benefit of the animals. It's pretty sad, and I hope this practice changes

[@bluefrogcreations6132]

@@Bunny-ns5ni I do worry what the future holds for captive crested geckos. In my lifetime, I've seen numerous domestic breeds of animals turned into absolute horror shows under the guise of "beauty." Animals that are judged solely on appearance, without requirements for performance standards of some kind, are particularly vulnerable to their bodies being twisted into extreme forms. (We have yet to test lizards for their performance capabilities, although I'd be the first person to sign up to watch such an event! ) For as much as the reptile world likes to talk about conserving nature and emulating zoos, most of the actual captive breeding strategies are straight out of the purebred animal playbook, seemingly without any understanding of the oftentimes tragic results resulting from heavy inbreeding, the popular sire effect, and selecting for nonfunctional conformation. If you want to see the apotheosis of just how bad form can get, brace yourself and search the web for images of "Toadline bullies." To be clear, I don't believe the cresties and gargoyles being bred for structure have reached the point of having problems, but I can easily see the potential for them to go down the same, well-trodden path that has led to heartbreak and misery in domestic animals.

[@SouthernSpoodDude]

​@bluefrogcreations6132 we will not know until about 2035 if there is any overall detrimental effects from breeding for structure. I have a couple of geckos with wild caught lineage to establish heterozygosity in my population, although not talked about maybe breeders still establish a good amount of heterozygosity in their populations.

[@bluefrogcreations6132]

@@SouthernSpoodDude Out of curiosity, why did you pick that date in particular?

[@leopardgeckotalk]

Midway through, really loving this episode so far. I always love hearing about how our animals live in the wild, it really inspires me to improve their tanks each time. I think one downfall of trying to replicate tropical storms in captivity is we can end up overwatering a tank, and the system gets ruined, but certainly an interesting thing to try in a big enough space.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Yes, so true! I think the frog people do it right with rain chambers, etc. really difficult to replicate when using a deep substrate layer

[@TikisGeckos]

Great Episode. This is great for “experienced” hobbyists to listen to. We have experimented with keeping crested geckos outside here in south Florida. They can handle heat better than most people think if the humidity is high. Problem is indoors, the AC sucks away the humidity so that’s where the problem lies. High heat + low humidity = dehydrated geckos.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks for watching! Yes, excellent point!

[@avaogara]

let's hope island stays this way n kept natural n safe for all the geckos n other animals..new Caledonia beautiful

[@avaogara]

so interesting .I never let her enclosure get over 82 dgr .a/c on then .I keep her humidity at least 70 -80 %.mist at night ...I ❤ this podcast !!!

[@cameronspahn7906]

I just recently got my first crested gecko last month! Shes a 6 year now retired breeder named Peach! This amazing and very informative video has really peaked my interests in how wild Cresties differ from captive ones and potential changes in husbandry and care! I definitely look forward to the release of Blue River diet here in the US and see how it compares to the other brands!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@CompComp]

This channel is unfortunately a hidden gem. I loved the episode OC. I've improved my husbandry from watching this channel. It gave me the tools to find care information since I am newer to reptiles.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, glad you’re finding the podcast valuable. Hopefully in the next year or so the channel will be not so hidden!

[@meighanbelanger6717]

Hands down one of the best animal/reptile podcasts!! 🎉 Such a valuable episode! I recently got a created gecko back in April, looking to upgrade his tank shortly once he gets a bit bigger. Definitely going to rewatch this and take some notes 🗒️ before I work on his new enclosure.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you, I really appreciate that 🙏🏻 I’m glad you enjoyed the episode, and I’m glad you found it valuable! Good luck working on his enclosure 😀

[@mypetsandme9473]

Blue river diet : My geckos love the fruit & bug . Yet to try the watermelon and strawberry they like the others too. So interesting to hear about their habitat.

[@pamhouweling7141]

Thank you both for this episode. It follows what I have been seeing.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you very much for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@juanitabolster2483]

Thank you so much. fascinating as always🦎

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching!

[@LanceKirkman]

I've heard it's highly speculated if Crustaceans play a large diet role in Du-ana Leachies

[@jamielovesjohn]

Awesome episode and guest! I love episodes on specific species that make me rethink my whole approach. I just upgraded my crestie but the wheels are turning for another, even better upgrade soon.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Awesome! Thanks for watching, Jamie!

[@CryptidGrimm]

I’ve been waiting for an episode like this!!! We need more journalists/biologists exploring these habitats and researching our animals natural history. I need to visit!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

I’m hoping to do more like this in the future!

[@avaogara]

Dylan love this my enclosure duplicate to their natural environment vines branches hides Rocks leaf litter etc she loves her habitat !!ty so much fir this 🦎💚

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That’s awesome, thank you for watching! 😀

[@dacisky]

That was astounding! I have a gargoyle and of course video breaks up during a lot of the stuff I wanted to hear near the end. I I found I'm auto subscribed due to being subscribed to A@H!!! Nice. Looking forward to hearing more about Blue River.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed it! Oh don’t worry, the video broke up, but nothing was really missed (the glitch makes it sound like there is more missing than that really is). Essentially Thomas was saying we don’t have any information about gargoyles, so hopefully that comes in the future!

[@mypetsandme9473]

I love that you say warmer . Mine are about 22/ 23 at night & gets up to 26 in the day . I use deep heat protectors , have 7% UVB & keep them in a bio active . I hate to think that people keep them at room temperature . Humidity is interesting 😃

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Glad you enjoyed the episode, thanks for watching! So much we can learn from the wild

[@mypetsandme9473]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast I’m glad I’ve discovered your channel 👍

[@thedriftmc]

I'm setting up a bio active enclosure for a gargoyle gecko at the end of this year. This video was invaluable for me.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Good luck with the build later this year 👍🏼

[@thedriftmc]

Thanks man, funnily enough I was already thinking of a vertical hollow log with ferns growing inside. Seems my hunch was right 😁

[@yuto9488]

love this ep i have a garg and this ep has been really useful

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Awesome, thanks for watching!

[@user-sh2yf9pb1z]

Very unrelated but I have a flying gecko and I've looked into them quite heavily and they're is very little information on them and I would for a podcast like this to cover them but this has greatly inspired me as to how am going to care for my future crested gecko so thank you guys for your knowledge and helping the hobby.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching the episode, glad you enjoyed! That is a great topic idea, I will add it to my list!

[@LittleBeastyReptiles]

I wish a full study with year round temp/ humidity readings was possible! This is a great snapshot into their natural environment though. I’ve treated my cresties humidity as I do my Chameleons. While wildly different animals and part of the world, the island settings for each would result in a humidity spike at night as the rain and fog rolls in from the coast then a slight drop during the day. So a good mist at night and letting the enclosure air out a bit and drop during the day has worked really well.

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching the episode! Totally agree, it would be awesome if someone could leave some data loggers in the forest for a year or more

[@Kettleman96]

this is a great conversation, thanks. Do you have any information on when he will be conducting similar projects on Gargoyle geckos?

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thanks, thanks for watching. glad you enjoyed the episode. As of right now, I don’t have any information on that. If he does end up back in New Caledonia to do research on gargoyles, I will definitely do an episode on it!

[@avaogara]

love crested geckos 🦎..n Dylan I believe you mentioned a book you own on natural habitats ..what's the title ??..

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Hmm.. did I mention that in this episode? I’m forgetting 😆 I think this is the one “BIO-Activity And The Theory Of Wild Re-Creation by John Courteney-Smith of Arcadia Reptile”

[@avaogara]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast no you mentioned it in a past video but I want this book ty so much

[@hjj7154]

Hi, thank you for very specific and useful videos! The information of humidity helped me a lot because I recently get my first crested gecko, and was a bit worried whether his vivarium humididy is appropriate or not(It usually stays about 75-90% all day). Do you have any clues about dry season's humidity? I am wondering if it is okay to let him exposed to high humidity all years. Thanks!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Thank you for watching, glad you found it. Helpful! I believe in the dry season the humidity is quite high as well, 70% and higher. As long as you have good ventilation, you’ll be fine! fresh air is ideal, stagnant air is not

[@hjj7154]

​@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Thanks! Helped a lot:)

[@LanceKirkman]

Where can we see his footage. I love all the B roll, but where can we find the rest?

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Make sure you subscribe to the exotics keeper magmas KZbin channel. Thomas will be posting the footage there, not sure when though.

[@LanceKirkman]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast thank you so much! I hunted it down and subscribed

[@imtheslothking]

Lol ita a holiday spot, you can get a flight every week

[@LanceKirkman]

Those look like "money trees"...

[@MarcusRichardsonRacing]

KZbin must be filtering! I watch a lot of these and could not find it!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

You mean you couldn't find this specific video?

[@MarcusRichardsonRacing]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast yea I had to go to your page it didn’t show on my subscription feed at all

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

That is very strange! Thanks for letting me know

[@Whenbirdsfly09]

Good morning

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Good morning! Enjoy the episode

[@LanceKirkman]

Do you think the forest is thin because of human presence?

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

Good question 🤔

[@LanceKirkman]

Sadly their KZbin channel hasn't been used in 2ish years

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

No, it hasn’t, but they are planning on reviving it this year with a documentary about the trip to New Caledonia

[@LanceKirkman]

@@AnimalsatHomePodcast ok sick! Thank you