A crested gecko's first boarding stay should feel boring in the best possible way: same powdered food, same evening misting, same leafy vertical world, just tended by someone else. These geckos are nocturnal, easily startled, and stressed by excess heat and handling, so your preparation focuses on handing over a quiet routine and making sure the boarder resists the urge to treat him like a more robust lizard.
Check the housing suits a climbing, nocturnal gecko
Confirm he will have a tall enclosure with branches, cork, and dense foliage to hide in during the day, not a low, open tank. Crested geckos are generally comfortable at ordinary room temperatures in the low to mid 70s Fahrenheit and can be harmed by sustained heat in the mid 80s, so ask directly whether the boarding room ever gets hot and whether any heat source is planned — for this species, the reassuring answer is usually that none is needed. He should be housed alone, misted lightly in the evening to raise humidity and provide droplets to drink, and left largely undisturbed after dark when he becomes active.
Send the diet he already eats
Pack enough of his usual powdered crested gecko diet for the whole stay, with the mixing consistency you use written on the container, because a gecko who recognises the flavour and thickness is far more likely to eat in a strange place. Note how often you offer it, when you replace an uneaten portion, and whether he takes occasional live insects. Add a line about his normal pattern: many crested geckos eat in small amounts overnight and leave a pot that looks barely touched, so the boarder should judge intake over several nights and by his body condition, not by one apparently untouched dish in the morning.
Keep handling and travel deliberately minimal
Move him in a small, secure, ventilated tub with a damp paper towel and a piece of foliage, keep it shaded and upright, and avoid opening it to show him off on the way. Warn the boarder plainly that crested geckos can drop their tails when startled and that a dropped tail does not grow back; it is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to handle him as little as possible and never to grab for the tail. If he will be moved between enclosures at the boarder's, ask that transfers happen over a soft surface and close to it, because a startled jump from height onto a hard floor is a more realistic risk than most illnesses during a short stay.
Brief the boarder on what normal looks like at night
Explain his firing-up and firing-down colour changes, his licking of his eyeballs, and his habit of sleeping in an exposed-looking curled position during the day, so ordinary behaviour is not mistaken for a problem. Ask for a vet call if he becomes limp or unresponsive, loses visible weight around the hips and tail base over the stay, has a prolapse, or is found cold and motionless after a hot spell in the room. Give your reptile vet's details and a backup contact who knows where his home enclosure key is if an early return becomes necessary.
Settle the update rhythm in advance
One photo after the first night and a brief note every few days suits a nocturnal animal better than daily handling for posed pictures. Put the misting time, food days, and temperature warning in writing rather than relying on a doorstep chat. KinsLe's Care Pass keeps that whole routine in one temporary handoff so the boarder sees exactly what your gecko needs each evening.