Ferry - Rhacodactylus Chahoua (Chewie)

[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!"

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