Reddit reviews Exo Terra Glass Natural Terrarium Kit, for Reptiles and Amphibians, Small Tall, 18 x 18 x 24 inches, PT2607A1

Cresties are a great starter pet! They are quite easy to keep. They are arboreal and do require a vertical enclosure with plenty of vines/ branches/ plants to climb on. They thrive in temps from 78F-65F. Don't allow the enclosure to go over 80 or under 65 though. Start with an enclosure this size and move up to something like this once the gecko reaches about 15-20 grams.

Cresties do very well on a powdered diet (mixed with water of course) such as Pangea or Repashy. My 3 year old girl really prefers the Pangea though. I definitely recommend it!

Cresties come in a variety of colors and patterns. If you want something basic you could buy one at your local pet store, but reptile expos are a much better place to buy live animals. Better colors, better breeding, and better prices! So do your research, and visit the next expo in your area.

Cresties should generally be house individually. Females can live together on occasion, but fighting can be a common occurrence. Please do not breed unless you have done lots of research, have high quality breeding stock, and feel that you can better the crested community with your offspring.

I've never heard of this comparison between chameleons and cresteds, but I guess I'm not that familiar with chameleon temps/humidities. For a crested gecko, their ideal temperature is right around 75, and as far as humidity goes, you want to mist them in the evening to about 90% humidity and then it let it drop to the 50s. 18x18x24 is a perfect size for an adult crested gecko. This is the one I recommend, but you can probably shop around a little bit to find a slightly better price: http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Glass-Terrarium-24-Inch/dp/B000OAYXTK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453260720&sr=8-1&keywords=exo+terra+18x18x24 . Live plants I'm not familiar with, so I hope someone else here can you help with that. I highly recommend getting cork bark, I keep a flat and a round in each of my terrariums (http://imgur.com/tduiDxb this is how all of my terrariums are set up right now, Luci, the very grumpy gecko toward the bottom right, is sitting on the round), but I find the round is their favorite, they like using it to get all of their shed off, the big flat they more or less just use for climbing higher when they don't want to just walk on the glass. Food wise, you want to use pangea food. Some people prefer repashy, that's fine too, but I personally found when I switched my geckos from repashy to pangea, they ate 1000x better and looked 1000x healthier (they weren't unhealthy, they just seemed to take better to the pangea). http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/pangea-fruit-mix-banana-apricot-complete-gecko-diet.html This is my geckos' favorite one, but they also eat the watermelon/mango, and my youngest one also loves the insect one, but I couldn't get it to take with the geckos who just won't eat insects anymore. When they're babies, that's the best time to make sure you're supplementing with insects, that protein will help them grow.
What you put in the bottom of the terrarium is probably going to be dependent on live plants, so I'll leave that to the live plant experts on this thread.

I would recommend a 20 gal tank. A ten gallon would probably be fine while they are baby’s, but you’ll have to upgrade eventually so I would recommend just starting with the 20. If money really is no object then you may want to look into one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Glass-Terrarium-18-Inch/dp/B000I1QYLK or https://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-Glass-Terrarium-18-Inch/dp/B000OAYXTK?th=1&psc=1
This will give you more options for decorations, easier access to your frogs, an area designed for the water absorbing part of your substrate, and a tank that’ll be big enough for them as adults. If done right, all you’ll have to do is drain the water occasionally. I highly recommend watching https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUlxEsBwkrS02wkRMVheyyQ this guys channel. He’s a bit dry, but will give you all the info you need for setting up a tank for the first time. Hope it helps and enjoy your darts = D

Oh, he's the one that's been bombarding me for years with all of the reptile facts and care information on the planet. Even knows the best local reputable breeders. The terrarium I picked out is an ExoTerra 20 gallon and the branches I put on the list are a formable sort of branch that you can position. I read that they don't need a heated rock (I had an iguana when I was young that did require this) but that you can use bulbs in a reflector light fixture at one end/side.

I use this terrarium once they're larger but I invested because I raise mantids as pets quite often.

For a twig, I use this

And for foliage I use this with the suction cup plonked near the top and the leaves hanging down that I found in the reptile section.

The fish and reptile sections at your local pet store are going to be your favorite aisles from now on.

For substrate a lot of people here prefer dirt (NEVER from outside, there are all kinds of parasites and mites in outside dirt!) But I prefer coconut fiber as my substrate because it's naturally antibiotic and will hinder fungal and bacterial growth, and smell nicer too.

You'll really come to love these little guys, and here's why. Mantids, unlike most "bugs" hunt via sight, not vibration. This means they move and act much more mammalian than other insects. They don't skitter, they don't make sudden scary movements or bite or attack on sight (well some do, they all have their own distinct personalities), and they're VERY smart.

Mantids have been known to be receptive to operant conditioning, AKA they can be trained like a dog would. You should try to handle them (gently and with clean hands) as they grow up, every couple of days, and by the time they're adults they'll readily calmly hang out with you whenever you want. You can plop them on your arm as you do computer stuff or whatever. They're very docile creatures most of the time and make great pets. Just be careful because they're fragile.

As others said, keep humidity around 50% and if they're Tenodera Sinesis then temperature should hover around 70F at night and 80F during the day, which means you'll want a dome reptile lamp and you'll need to figure our the appropriate distance from the top of the cage to place it. Don't place it right on top, the mantids love to hang out on top upside down and a lamp right there would fry them. Make sure there's at least 1 cool spot for them to cool off.

As for food and water, once they're a little bigger the crickets at the pet store should work fine. If they're super picky there are lots of online mantis stores that sell larger flies. and whet a sponge or paper towel in there to help with the humidity.