So, when I talk to people about geckos, the first thing they mention is that the geckos that are available... basically, they aren't babies. Which is sort of true, because even if you've eyeballed the gecko page since the beginning, about the youngest gecko ever posted was 8-9 months.
There's a reason for that.
You see, when crested geckos are hatched, they come out of an egg that's not even the size of a nickle (if you can picture a 3D nickle, as if it was a nickle-ball). They are teeny tiny. They don't even weigh a gram, and won't register on my gram scale. How tiny is that exactly? This tiny:
As you might imagine, a gecko that size can pose some challenges. Now, I am not saying, by any means, that people can't handle it. However... many people looking to get a new pet want one that's hardy. Mention that a gecko or chinchilla or whatever is "fragile," and people run away screaming. At this age (the gecko is 4 days old in the picture), even I would consider them, legitimately fragile.
At that age, these little guys can curl up in a pop cap. Teeny tiny. They can fit through quite a small opening. My hatchlings are kept in the small kritter keepers, as the openings are too small for them to squeeze through. But... they still are small. And... they are quick! Don't let that small size fool you -- should they scamper away from you and get behind the couch or behind a pile of stuff-that-should-have-been-put-away-last-week, it will take a good effort to locate them. And you may never find them.
With feeding and watering. All my geckos have a water dish in their enclosures, though there is a myth going around that geckos will only drink from water droplets and not a dish. Not true. But... if you adhere to that, and mist the cage religiously... for a baby, you have to remember, their stomach is teeny tiny, and they can only hold so much water. How much misting is appropriate for them to get enough water to drink? How much is too much and creates a considerably too-humid environment? It's hard to say... and is why I have a water dish.
For feeding... the geckos get fed every Monday / Wednesday / Friday. In a warm enough environment (read: many houses in the summer), the food can mold before day 2. That's fine, but again... with a tiny little stomach, how long can they survive without food, or without water, if they're waiting for you to mist them, when you go out of town? Also important... when they're that small, you can't put them in an 18 x 18 x 24 terrarium and expect them to be able to find the one food dish that's hidden behind some leaves. They very well may never find it, and may starve.
If you're reading this all and saying, hey, this is all do-able! More power to you. Contact me, and you can take home a hatchling gecko. For most people, they want to not have to be so careful with their new gecko, and would prefer something more hardy. That's where the slightly older geckos come in.
I don't go by age so much as I do by weight. Just like with the chins, the geckos are weighed, and since pictures can be deceiving... a weight tells a lot. I've seen some pics and been like, "the gecko looks huge!" only to find out, it's 12 grams. That puts everything into perspective. This is why we post the gram weights with the gecko listings, as the pictures may not adequately communicate the actual size of the gecko.
If the geckos aren't 4+ grams (and mind you, that is still plenty small), I will not list them. Sure, some lines grow faster than others, and some may be that weight at 4 months, others that weight at 9 months.... but if they aren't at least that heavy, I don't feel comfortable sending them out. At that weight, I feel like they are big enough and have lived long enough to survive with the average owner. In the end, I want to make sure the geckos have the best chance they can get.
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