Chahoua

[Gex]

Just got a pair of these awesome Geckos, both Isle of Pine forms. Unfortunately the female came in really skinny and supposedly gravid, I have seperated her from the male (he was biting her tail which I assume is a breeding behavior less than two hours out of the box) and was wondering if anyone had any pointers on nursing her back to health, her pelvic bones are visible and very gaunt and her tail is skinny and showing signs of early MBD.

These seem like really cool ( and spendy!!!!) Geckos to work with, anyone have any info to share in general?

[little_dragon_]

I don't have any..but I'm guessing you should give her a really basic set up..with paper towel, egg cartons to hide under and climb on. A water dish. Offer gut loaded crickets and silk worms dusted with calcium. Mix in the diet with baby food. as long as you feed her well and give her optimal conditions she'll be fine. Fatten her up!

[Matt]

i would hand feed her baby food (apricot or peach) and mix in alot of calcium powder until its like a milky paste....give her as much as she'll take, keep her well hydrated all the time

keep 'em just like a crested gecko, only a little bit more space, enjoy!

[sara]

Good choice! They are very personable geckos once they get to know you. They seem to prefer crix on a daily basis, so if you gutload and dust them properly your female should be back on track in no time. Just remember that you can give her too much calcium which can interfere with mineral intake. (she may have other deficencies if she has been reproducing without a proper diet) If she is gravid then you should expect two fairly hard white eggs, most of the time they are glued together. Be careful when you remove them as the female can get pretty nasty when she's guarding them.
Good luck and let us know how she's doing. :)

[Gex]

Thanks a ton for the advice guys! :cool:

[Gex]

Well I am happy to say (for those that are interested) my female chahoua is well on her way back to being a healthy animal, she eats like a pig and her tail has filled out some, the kinking seems to be alleviated somewhat, hopefully in 6 months to a year she will be a viable breeder again!

Weird thing is my male chahoua seems to have a really small appetite, he has only taken 3-4 insects and a bit of cgd twice in the time I have had him, he looks great and isn't losing weight, but for such a massive gecko (easily a foot long) I would have thought he'd eat a lot more, especially considering the fact that the female will pound down 5 or 6 superworms or up to 8 or 9 crickets at a sitting. Bought some silkworms and green hornworms to see if I can snap him out of this finicky stuff. Anyone else notice their male chahoua's having way less appetite than the females?

[DragnDrop]

Great news!! :)
We really need more CB Chahoua. Have you got pictures yet? Make us drool, post some :)

In general, any of the Rhac species males will eat very little compared to the females and what you would expect a gecko of their size to eat. It's a common 'complaint' among Rhac keepers that the males don't seem to eat. When you get right down to it, they don't really need a lot of food to accomplish their 'job'.

[Gex]

Well that does make sense! I have observed the same thing with my cresties but it just surprises me that an animal this large has such a dainty appetite. I have tried posting pics, they are always too large however, any advice on a good picture program that I can use to resize? (I'm pretty computer illiterate, lol)

[sara]

That's great news! After 6-12 months you will have a very healthy chahoua on your hands. I hope your breeding plans work out, and when they do watch your fingers. ;)