New P.I. Chahoua Geckos

I was able to get my two PI chahouas finally! Barbara with Creepy Exotics is awesome to work with, and as you can see by these two, possible females, here geckos are just as great!



Skittles





Veyron



Nee Geckos

If all goes well with the weather this week, I should be getting several geckos in. I expected five breeding gargoyle geckos, three juvenile females, five babies. I should also get my two chahouas.

I finally cut down my enclosures just in time to drastically increase them.

Eek.

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Thinking About a New Chahoua

I can't believe that I'm actually thinking about getting another chahoua gecko. I just bought my fifth leachianus, and my reptile account is fairly broke and has been for some time. I am just so enamored by leachianus and chahoua geckos that I can't stop.

I am glad that I have refrained somewhat since I've gotten into the species. There have been a few cases when I've almost bought some other chahouas, so backing off of those is definitely an improvement from when I first got into crested geckos and leopard geckos.

Sometimes, it's all or nothing with me, so the fact that I've only purchased two chahouas and four leachianus this year is pretty good. I guess the price of these geckos is what has held me back, as when I got into crested geckos they were priced higher than presently, but still much cheaper than leachies and chewies.

I think that I bought a lot four crested geckos for $400-500, and one chahoua is that same price.

But, anyway I just thought that I would get some venting out and maybe talk myself out of the new gecko... I have the kritter keepers for a small gecko, the CGD, and the crickets. I'm just low on extra cash, being that I'm trying to save for a house and pay off my car early.

Such a dilemma. Ha

New Pictures of Chahoua Geckos

I was in the reptile room taking pictures of a few geckos, while feeding last night, and I can't not take pictures of my chahoua geckos. So, featured in these three pictures are Tag and Nimz. Tag is the lighter of the two, and Nimz is the darker gecko.

Nimz hasn't had his colors really come out, and Tag's colors are just now starting to show. I expect really nice things from both of these geckos. I'm just really hoping that I end up with a male and a female. I tried looping Tag last night, and couldn't really tell if there were any pores yet, so Tag may be a she. Time will tell on sexing the chahoua geckos.

This one is probably my favorite picture that I took last night, and I took many, especially of Tag. I just couldn't get a good one that showed his green coloring that's coming in.

Caring for Chahuoa Geckos

 This gecko isn't as common to find as crested geckos. They aren't as prolific breeders and have a problem with calcium in the eggs, but if you're lucky enough to find them and to find them at a price you can afford, they can be great pets and breeders. More and more people are getting into the Rhac species, so they are becoming a little more easy to find, but you'll find that many breeders only release a small number of their hatchlings, keeping back many for their collection and for later release.

There are two different locales of Chahoua- the Pine Isle and the Mainland Chahoua.  Generally, the P.I. is a larger gecko with brighter colors, whereas the Mainland is a tad smaller and less colorful. Although, this isn't always the case, as there are some really dull PI chahouas and really colorful Mainlands.

If you are looking at getting a chewie, make sure that you do your research. The basic housing and care tips for the chahoua are as follows.

Size: up to 10" including the tail
Lifespan: thought to be between 20-30 years

Housing: This species is housed similar to the crested gecko, except for slightly larger. One adult can thrive in a 36" tall x 18" wide x 18" long tank. Some people like to use screen enclosures, but then you have to worry about the habitat being too dry. Some people just use large storage totes that can be found at Wal*Mart, Kmart, Lowes, etc.

Use plenty of PVC, corkbark, and branches. These guys like the climb and spend time in the trees.

It's best to use paper towels for younger geckos, so that they don't ingest any loose substrate while eating. Personally, I prefer to use a solid substrate like paper towels or tile for all ages of gecko.

Keep the temperature around 72-80F with high humidity. You can achieve the humidity by two good soaks a day. Babies and younger geckos need to be misted more often than adults.

Feeding and Diet: I prefer to use CGD as the main staple of the diet. I also provide crickets twice a week for younger geckos. This species needs more proteins than crested geckos do, so the crickets are a good idea. You can also offer appropriately sized dubia, lateralis, or discoid roaches.

These geckos can be very docile and personable, which is why they are becoming more and more popular among keepers.

 

Pictures of My Chahoua Geckos

I'm getting more and more into different species, right when I thought that I was going to back out and reduce my collection to a select group of pet-only geckos.

My latest gecko species that I've added to my collection is the Chahoua gecko, which is sometimes referred to as 'chewie.'

These geckos come in two varieties, the Mainland and the Pine Isle Chahoua. I have two Pine Isle geckos.

First off is Tag, who was born on June 19, 2010.

And, the latest chewie is Nimz, who was born on August 29, 2010.