Any recommended breeders of R. chahoua geckos?

[PocketPirate]

Hey everyone!

I've been doing some research and looking around for possible people to get in touch with should I decide to take care of one in the near future, but I'm having a hard time locating a consistent, reliable breeder. Any recommendations?
As for R. chahoua owners, how are they as pets? Any major differences in their care that you've noticed compared to their cousin Crested Geckos?
Thanks!

[mlededee]

LAC Herps is a reputable breeder with some stunning animals.

Chahouas make great pets. Hand raise them from babies and they will be awesome as adults. I used to have an adult male that I got as a sub-adult that became cage aggressive (I didn't handle him as much as some of the others), but once out of his enclosure he was fine. They are fairly similar to cresteds but they get bigger so they need more space as adults. They also need more quality insects in their diets in addition to the gecko diets that are generally fed. They do best when housed alone (unless paired for breeding). Even females will fight quite aggressively with each other.

[PocketPirate]

Oh awesome! Thanks for the reply! I'm definitely looking them up now.

What kind of insects would be best for the? I've read different things on different care sheets but I hear crickets, mealworms, and dubia roaches mentioned a lot. I also hear they need more calcium in their diet as well, so should I be dusting all the insects before feeding? Is gut-loading equally as important?

I'm thinking of doing a full live vivarium for one, but I'm not sure about the size. If it's a baby, would an exoterra 12x12x18 be fine? Or just go up to an 18x18x24 (or larger) from the beginning and just furnish it a lot with plants and hides to make it feel secure?

[mlededee]

Crickets and dubia roaches are great. Phoenix worms are good if the gecko will eat them--not all go for them. I would stay away from mealworms--their shells are very chitinous and if they don't get chewed up really well the gecko doesn't digest them well enough to get much if any nutrition. Gut load well and always dust with a good calcium powder--they are equally important. Calcium is especially critical for egg-laying females. I would recommend the Pangea gecko diets for a daily food option--mine seem to do best on it.

I would start with a smaller vivarium for a baby, and upgrade to the bigger one once it is larger. The New Caledonian geckos usually don't do well in large enclosures as babies.

[PocketPirate]

Ahhh thanks so much for all the info!! I really appreciate it! Definitely gonna go with the smaller vivarium with dubia roaches and pangea diet then.

Every day I get more and more excited about the idea of owning one of these little guys, especially when I see pictures of them. Hopefully I can round up my research soon and start buying what I need and have a home for a potential baby by late summer!

Thanks again for all your help!

[mlededee]

Share some pics when you get your new little one!

[butterballpython]

We definitely need pics.

They were reclassified a few years ago. Rhacodactylus chahoua is now mniarogekko chahoua. They're not that easy to find, but I plan to put my male and female pine island chahoua together next season. I don't plan to part with any of the offspring until they're old enough to tell which are male and which are female.