New Adult Crested Gecko

Question
Hello,

I attended a reptile show 4 days ago and purchased a two-year-old male crested gecko from a breeder who was leaving the business. I have a beardie but this is my first gecko. I researched their care before I bought the little guy but I'm concerned that I have missed something. He has been in the same spot at the bottom of his cage for a little over 24 hours. I can see him breathing-but otherwise not much movement while I have been watching him. The first two days in his new environment he spent high on the glass and he moved around-especially at night of course. He has Repashy Crested Gecko MRP mixed 1 to 2 with water in his cage as well as a source of water. His cage is an Exo-Terra 12x12x18 glass cage with venting on top and side. I soaked coconut fiber and then drained it and put it in as a substrate. I used a fake log hide with a closed side and small hole for exit. He has fake plants and vines and a stick for climbing. I have one basking lamp at 50 watts with UVA only and it is on the lamp clip above his cage so that it provides 80 degrees at the top of the cage during the day. I turn it off at dusk and the temp falls over night to 67-68 degrees possibly a degree cooler towards the bottom-my gauge is at the top. I am misting at night and the humidity varies from 50-70%. I tried him on a dusted cricket but he ignored it for an afternoon and night and I removed it in the morning. He seems to have found his food-at least he jumped in it because he left sticky footprints up the side of his cage the second day. I know he was handled a lot at the show and then had a long car ride home and now a change to a new environment so I am not surprised that he is showing stress. I am concerned that I am not giving him what he needs to recover from this stress. Is there something that I should be doing differently?

Thank you for your time!

Answer
Hi Lorna,
Ahhh..a Crestie!! I love them..they are way too cute!

A few things I see that may be the problem...
You don't mention basking temperatures or bottom (floor) heat.  Both are important to them..both can and will cause them to not eat.
Cresties actually do need to have a warm area in their tanks, regardless of the season.When they don't have access to a warm area they are unable to digest their foods properly. Too cool and the food digests too slow and nutrients are lost. Slow digestion also causes a small appetite, which will lead to health problems. They don't require high temperatures other than a warm area in the tank that is never higher than 85 degrees in that area. Going with a "basking" temperature, both floor and air of about 81-83 degrees is probably a good range. For the rest of the tank, you will end up with a mid range temperature and a low temperature on the end farthest from the warm area.  This area is fine at your normal room temperature.
You should be using an undertank heater and an overhead heat source.
With measuring temperatures, the best to use are the thermometers that have the wire with a probe on the end.  The probe can be placed on the floor over the under tank heater to monitor the floor temperatures.

During the day, the bulb you are using is ok...but they really don't like bright lights so you may have to go to a nocturnal bulb or a ceramic heat emitter or better yet,a heat projector from www.reptileuv.com which is safer as they give off wonderful heat, but don't get hot like a ceramic heat emitter...but do check the temperatures..for nighttime, the heat projector works wonderful. An undertank heater can and should be on 24 hrs a day..be sure to follow the directions on the undertank heater. Using the heat projector and UTH on a thermostat works fantastic and prevents the temperatures from ever getting too high(or too low)
It should cover 1/3 of the tank. They should have access to a hide in this area along with a hide in the mid range and or cool area.
Remember, its not their whole tank that needs to be at a certain temperature..they need 3 temperature zones.
Here are two links to more info on caring for a crested.
http://www.pangeareptile.com/id52.htm
http://crestedgecko.com/index.php?page=crested-gargoyle

So, in a nut shell...
remove the 50 watt uva bulb during the day and replace it with a nocturnal bulb or heat projector..
add floor heat with an undertank heater
monitor that temp with a recommended thermometer as mentioned
if needed, cover the cage with something so that he isn't seeing everything going on around him which is stressing him out.  Over time, remove the covering on the glass to slowly introduce everything to him.
Make sure he isn't getting too much room/natural light for right now
Don't try handling him for a few days
The two links above will give you more ideas.
With your tank set up..it sounds really great and your crestie, once settled in, will enjoy it!!  It sounds like he is already exploring, which is good.  He just needs time and a few adjustments in the lighting and "basking" area on the floor.
You may find that with the floor space of only 12x12, its hard to get the temperature zones needed on the floor..don't get discouraged though!!!  If, there isn't a undertank heater that is small enough, they do make heat strips that are smaller, covering less area.
You have done your homework and it shows with everything you have set up for your crestie.