Ferry - Rhacodactylus Chahoua (Chewie)

[dakski]

He really is cool Dave,I love his camouflage, you would never find him.in a forest with mossy trees that's for sure.

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

Lol. Try finding him in 16X16X20" tank Rich!

[dakski]

Well, interesting day/night regarding Ferry.

I've been giving him his powder/water gel diet daily since Sunday when we got him and also have offered Dubai 2X in a dish. No dice. He did poop 1X early on, and I saw him drink a ton, so I know he's hydrated, and I have read that they can take up to 2 weeks or so to acclimate.

Just in case, I called Steve (his breeder today) to check in. He said, yeah, give him some time and that I had a nice and big setup for him and that might take a little time for him to adjust to, etc.

I mentioned to Steve that I had offered Dubai, and would offer mealworms and supeworms and phoenix worms, and see what he favors, but really wanted to get him going on Dubai as a staple insect for 1-2X a week to supplement his gel. He said why not crickets? I said that at the show I mentioned I had leopard geckos and keep mealworms and dubai roaches in the house, as well as occasionally superworms and phoenix worms, but never mentioned crickets. I hate crickets. They smell, they make noise, etc. Also, and not unimportant, Katie absolutely and unequivocally, hates and is afraid of crickets. That's a deal breaker. NO CRICKETS ALLOWED IN THE HOUSE. It took a week of discussions and some bonding with the Kayla, Carra, and some extra love from Cleo, to allow Katie to let them move in with their food and all. Katie makes me call Dubai "beetles," but she doesn't mind them too much and will even watch the geckos eat them, as well as the mealworms. Same with the occasional wax worm. She draws the line at superworms. They can be here, but she doesn't want to know or see them.

Anyway, Steve was really busy at the show, and seemed to think I had mentioned crickets as well. I had read that Chewie's usually happily eat Dubai, mealworms, phoenix worms, etc. and usually aren't that picky. However, he's 2 1/2 and Steve tells me today that he's never seen anything but a cricket in his life insect wise. Ugh. Simple miscommunication, and Ferry isn't going anywhere, so we have to make it work. He also hasn't eaten anything yet, so I am not too discouraged.

Tonight, I offered a superworm. He was in his log and when the lights went out and I opened the tank, came down to investigate. Cool guy. He looked at at it, poked it, but had no interest. Darn it. I tried letting walk around a little and getting it to wiggle on tongs. No dice.

I took the positive which is that he's exploring and doesn't see me as a threat now. Both good things.

Anyway, I went to bed, a tiny bit discouraged, but not giving up by any means yet. At 3:30AM, I woke up with some stomach issues (I have bad indigestion about 1-2X a month that wakes me up and forces me to take some antacids and sit up for a bit). I sat at my desk in my office where Ferry is and checked on him. I look in, and sure enough, he's peaking back at me. All of a sudden, I have an epiphany. Steve said he wasn't sure if he would Dubai because they don't "move" like a cricket, when I spoke to him today. At the show, he said they love to hunt and go crazy for insects. Okay, so maybe I am doing it wrong. My leopard geckos will only eat live, but their whole lives, they've eaten out of a dish. Movement, yes, but dish, no problem. They are also ground dwellers, not hanging out in branches and in logs, etc.

What if I hand feed/put them down near him in his log, etc. and let him follow them and hunt them down? Even if a few get away, he'll either find them later, or they will die or get thrown out with the paper when I clean his tank. Absolute worst case, one gets out and dies in the house and never reproduces at 70F - another reason I keep Dubai instead of crickets! Maybe the whole Dubai dish thing isn't for him?

So, I put a few Dubai in his Dubai dish with some calcium and D3 and a reptile vitamin. I mix them up in it. I open his tank door and peek in. He's watching me. I put a dubai on my finger and put it near him at the opening of the log he's in (his favorite spot/hide). He comes down to investigate. He seems interested, but won't take the plunge. Okay. I understand, my hand can be scary.

I gently put the dubai down a few inches from him and it starts crawling up the log..........BAMMMMM! Chew, chew, chew! He nailed it. At first, I wasn't sure he liked it, but it went down and he seemed to look for more. 8 more later (they were small/medium and that's what I would expect my leopard geckos to eat in a sitting and they weigh about the same) and I said enough for now buddy. If you are still hungry, go eat your gel!

Very relieved although I do plan to occasionally offer mealworms and phoenix worms. However, super awesome he took so quickly and so well to Dubai and we don't have to worry about crickets, even temporarily, to get him going.

I have a decent sized holding container for him and I wonder if for feeding insects it makes sense to put him in their with them and let him go to town? I've seen people do that with beardies. Any thoughts? I figure it can't hurt to try.


Video link to Ferry eating Dubai 3 and 4. At about 0:40 in, the lighting gets better, and I am about to shut off the camera, and then Dubai 4, who's been hiding in the log, says, "Hey, where did my buddy go? I better go look for him up here, where I heard all that crunching and screaming." Bad move buddy: https://streamable.com/veojo



"Dad? Do you have anymore of those D-U-B-A-I things? They were tasty!"

[IMG][/IMG]

[zina10]

I'm with you there on Crickets. I hate them. They are nasty and disgusting and stinky and they die very easily, just gross..ugh.

But yeah, the thing with Dubais is that they don't really trigger the hunt. They freeze and pretend not to be there. I put Smeagol in a little critter keeper with a few dusted Dubais. Because he would never find them in his busy enclosure.

He knew the routine and would hop on my hand (the food elevator) as soon as I opened the door. The first couple of Dubais would move and get eaten. Then they got smart and froze. I felt bad about it but every so often I would nudge a Dubai to get it to move, so he would hunt and eat it..

Sometimes they crawled all over and on top of Smeagol and he would just sit there, LOL.

But yeah, putting the Dubais in a food dish didn't work for me either. They didn't move around enough.

Smeagold loved Black Soldier Larvae worms, and unlike Super or Meal worms, they are soft. They don't move much either, though, but he would take them off of little tweezers.
I'm not sure about Chewie's but I could swear that one isn't supposed to be feed supers and meal worms due to the hard body? But maybe I remember wrong, but I never fed them.

The gut loaded and dusted Dubais were Smeagols favorite and he grew quickly on them. Eventually he actually started to prefer his Crested Gecko Diet and at the moment he still does. He will take the occasional Dubai, but mostly ignore them. Since he is very big already (going on 50 gr at his relative young age) I let him choose what he wants and don't stress over it. He only has about 14 diff. kinds and flavors of CGD to choose from, LOL !!!

Taking a while to eat at a new place is absolutely normal. Sometimes takes 2 to 3 weeks. So no worries there...

I bet he is nice and full right now, though, LOL

[dakski]

Zina10,

I am not 100% sure on crested gecko diets, but Leachies, for example, can happily eat powder/water gel diet and be happy and get all the nutrition they need. They can and will eat insects and even rodents, but do not need them.

From what Steve told me and what I have read, Chewies really need insects as part of their diet. They need a good insect meal 1-2X a week and eat the powder/water gel mix the rest of the time. Even as adults they eat every night or every other night and are pretty active. Adult leachies, for comparison, eat every 3-4 days, but Ezzy cleans her bowl out often, not every time, but often.

Crickets and Dubai Roaches can be staples, with mealworms occasionally, as well as phoenix worms (high in calcium) and very occasionally wax worms and other junk. Haven't heard anything negative or positive on Superworms. 2 of my 3 leopard geckos go ape for them, but one doesn't care for them (Kayla). Steve said it couldn't hurt to try. They are much lower in chitin than mealworms so I didn't think it would hurt. Either way, no dice, so it doesn't matter.

I will definitely try the feeding in his holding container thing.

Edit: One other thing. I bought this book on Amazon and it appears to be the best book on Rhacodactylus out there. However, it's not in print anymore and is currently over $500! I didn't pay anywhere near that over a month ago. WOW.

https://www.amazon.com/Rhacodactylus...ctober%2C+2003

Might want to keep an eye on it and see if it comes down anytime soon. I also found some good sites with info on chewies if you are interested. I can post here, or PM me if/when you are serious about getting one. You cannot go wrong. I am amazed at how outgoing Ferry is getting. Last night, when I opened the door to offer the superworm, he came down his log and I held my hand out, he crawled on it and checked me out, then went back on his log, but didn't run away. Vast difference from several days ago. Ezzy, although cool and calm and curious when out, would never do that! Not knocking her, just different personalities. He's going to be really cool.

[zina10]

Zina10,

I am not 100% sure on crested gecko diets, but Leachies, for example, can happily eat powder/water gel diet and be happy and get all the nutrition they need. They can and will eat insects and even rodents, but do not need them.

From what Steve told me and what I have read, Chewies really need insects as part of their diet. They need a good insect meal 1-2X a week and eat the powder/water gel mix the rest of the time. Even as adults they eat every night or every other night and are pretty active. Adult leachies, for comparison, eat every 3-4 days, but Ezzy cleans her bowl out often, not every time, but often.

Crickets and Dubai Roaches can be staples, with mealworms occasionally, as well as phoenix worms (high in calcium) and very occasionally wax worms and other junk. Haven't heard anything negative or positive on Superworms. 2 of my 3 leopard geckos go ape for them, but one doesn't care for them (Kayla). Steve said it couldn't hurt to try. They are much lower in chitin than mealworms so I didn't think it would hurt. Either way, no dice, so it doesn't matter.

I will definitely try the feeding in his holding container thing.

Edit: One other thing. I bought this book on Amazon and it appears to be the best book on Rhacodactylus out there. However, it's not in print anymore and is currently over $500! I didn't pay anywhere near that over a month ago. WOW.

https://www.amazon.com/Rhacodactylus...ctober%2C+2003

Might want to keep an eye on it and see if it comes down anytime soon. I also found some good sites with info on chewies if you are interested. I can post here, or PM me if/when you are serious about getting one. You cannot go wrong. I am amazed at how outgoing Ferry is getting. Last night, when I opened the door to offer the superworm, he came down his log and I held my hand out, he crawled on it and checked me out, then went back on his log, but didn't run away. Vast difference from several days ago. Ezzy, although cool and calm and curious when out, would never do that! Not knocking her, just different personalities. He's going to be really cool.

Sounds like you got a curious/friendly one I love that about Smeagol, too. Something so cool about holding the hand out and they crawl or hop on

[dakski]

Sounds like you got a curious/friendly one I love that about Smeagol, too. Something so cool about holding the hand out and they crawl or hop on

Yeah, it's awesome! I have yet to get Shayna (my BP) to slither on to my hand when I offer it.

I must be doing something wrong with her.

[zina10]

Yeah, it's awesome! I have yet to get Shayna (my BP) to slither on to my hand when I offer it.

I must be doing something wrong with her.

Oh, you are just doing it wrong !!!

Make your hand a bit more inviting !!! Rub a nice stinky mouse all over it and then hold it out to her. She will grab your hand and even hug it a bit A little love nip included

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I have a decent sized holding container for him and I wonder if for feeding insects it makes sense to put him in their with them and let him go to town? I've seen people do that with beardies. Any thoughts? I figure it can't hurt to try.

Here is what I have done with mine since he was little (now he is a full grown adult) I have a 4.75 inch ceramic bowl like this https://www.chewy.com/ethical-pet-st...Bowls%20Diners and put a few dusted Dubias in it and it and put it down in it's enclosure, soon as he sees that dish he know what that mean goes down and eat what he want and usually finish up the rest late., I do the same for my Garg which are lazy hunters to start with and usually do not care about bugs, but mine does so long they are contained and the dish cannot be tipped over.

[dakski]

Here is what I have done with mine since he was little (now he is a full grown adult) I have a 4.75 inch ceramic bowl like this https://www.chewy.com/ethical-pet-st...Bowls%20Diners and put a few dusted Dubias in it and it and put it down in it's enclosure, soon as he sees that dish he know what that mean goes down and eat what he want and usually finish up the rest late., I do the same for my Garg which are lazy hunters to start with and usually do not care about bugs, but mine does so long they are contained and the dish cannot be tipped over.

Thanks Deborah!

I had totally forgotten about Chewbacca!

How long have you had him? How old is he? Do you LOVE him? So far I think Ferry is the B-O-M-B! So much personality.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Thanks Deborah!

I had totally forgotten about Chewbacca!

How long have you had him? How old is he? Do you LOVE him? So far I think Ferry is the B-O-M-B! So much personality.

I actually have had him since he was about 3 months old got him last year in August. I ADORE him so do I adore my other boys.

Chewie is the sweet one
Groot my Garg is the spawn of evil and I love him for that.
Mr Wrinkly my Leachie is sweet but he also knows when he has enough and can show some attitude even at such a young age.