New Member in Missouri

Hello! I'm a new member as you can see by my first post! Lol... My name is Dorothy, I'm 32 y/o and married to a wonderful man that is tolerable of my reptile habits! I grew up on a farm so I was exposed to all sorts of animals both domestic and wildlife. I really didn't have a whole lot of reptile exposure, but I do remember often wintering over a kingsnake or black rat, and release it in the spring. That was the extent of my reptile background.

My husband and I own our own farm, which is named Cicada Hollow. I have a menagerie of pets ranging from horses to reptiles. Last year, I discovered geckos and fell head over heels in love! I am now raising crested geckos and have numerous breeding pairs plus a passle of holdbacks, juvis and eggs! I also have three gargoyles, one breeding pair, one juvi and eggs. And I can't forget my chahoua, he's a PI male named Soldier.

I've joined this forum as I also own one bearded dragon, Cowboy. I'm hoping to learn more about the beardies so I can provide ultimate care for Cowboy. Cowboy isn't a special color, just your standard beardie, but he stole my heart and I love him just as if he's the most vibrant morph.

Pretty handsome devil you have there. Digging his name .... 8)

Welcome, Dorothy and Cowboy, to our humble home! You'll learn TONS here about Beardies, and I'm so glad to hear you already have lots of experience with reptiles. I'm sure you'll teach us a lot too! There are forums for other kinds of reptiles on this site too, so I know your knowledge will be helpful.

At the risk of sounding really stupid... What's a Gargoyle? (Besides an old stone statue that wards off demons...) And what's a Chahoua? Man, I thought I knew my pet reptiles and then I read your post... :lol:

Thanks for the welcome thusfar! I did a photo shoot with Cowboy today, so should post pics soon. I've got to get them edited and uploaded, but will post in the forum as soon as I can. Meanwhile, are a couple of picture of the crested geckos I raise. I'm raising all sorts of morphs, but these are a couple of my favorites:


Spotacus, my yellow dalmatian tiger. This is the first crested I purchased and she will hold a special spot in my heart:









Polly, my super dalmatian blusher female breeder:





Jackpot, my super dalmatian flame male breeder:





Lol...boy did you ask for it! Okay, Cresteds, Gargoyles and Chahouas are geckos which are of the genus Rhacodactylus. There are six species and two subspecies of Rhacodactylus. I'll just touch on the three I own. Crested Geckos are Rhacodactylus Ciliatus, Gargoyles are Rhacodactylus Auriculatus, and Chahouas are Rhacodactylus Chahoua. If you are thinking of getting into Rhacodactylus, I would strongly recommend this book: Rhacodactylus: The Complete Guide to their Selection and Care, Authors Philippe de Vosjoli, Frank Fast & Allen Repashy.

Here is a picture of my Gargoyle pair, Ricky & Lucy:





And Puzzle, my juvenile gargoyle:





My Chahoua, Soldier is my pride and joy. He's very sweet tempered, has the neatest coloration. I'm on the lookout for the perfect mate for him!







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Gorgeous animals! Thanks for sharing pics!

Wow they all look like they are smiling at us. :lol: What neat looking eyes too! Compared to Bearded Dragons how hard are Geckgos to care for? Do they have personalities like Bearded dragons?

Oh kinda off the subject but I have to tell everyone.. I was having a telephone conversation with my mom and was explaing the finer details of owning a bearded dragon. I explained to her that you can not have a female and male dragon in the same enclosure (well in most cases) becuase it can be hazardous to the females health. My mom inquired why and I told her that in the wild when the male and female mate the female will run off after the deed and find or burrow a hole to lay her eggs while the male searches for a new mate. If you put the male and female in the same enclosure, once they have mated, if the female can not get away the male will stress her out to the breaking point trying to mate with her over and over again (horny SOB) tee hee. Then as I was thinking about what I said I realized that the beardie mating ritual is not unlike humans in the fact that if we (being the females), can not seem to get away the males will stress us out trying to get more when we have had enough! :laughing6:

Now realize this is coming from a 31 year old with 5 year old twins. The more you think about it Beardies really are like us in more ways than one! :laughhard:

Hi Dorothy and Cowboy, welcome to the forum! :wave:

Cowboy is just to cute for words.. Seuzy thinks so too :love10: LOL..

Your geckos are gorgeous, nice job, they all have the koolest eyes!! So, are geckos like beardies in the sense of being handled? My older son wants a gecko, we've been to a few breeders here in San Diego and we held a few "crested geckos".
I thought that they were kinda jumpy, absolutely adorable but not very easy to handle, is that how they are by nature?

Another welcome from Missouri, go to school in Warrensburg and originally from St. Louis area. Cute beardie also.

Welcome to our little corner of the world! Cowboy is a handsome little devil - they don't have to be bright colors to be beautiful. I think its in the very depth of what makes a beardie a beardie - they just LOOK at you and you fall in love with them.

What awsome Geckos... although I refuse to switch my car insurance if that green guy has been around trying to convert them with stories about pie and chips.

(You're allowed to toss things my direction, now... :lol: )

Seriously, thanks for sharing all the great photos and glad you have joined us.

Sorry so long in replying to everyone, did I mention I work odd hours? Yack! I completed a photo shoot with Cowboy, so will be posting my second thread soon!

Due to all the responses (and thanks for making me feel SO welcome!!) I'll be answering a few of the questions in one reply. Hope that's okay to all. Please keep in mind that my answers on the cresteds will be VERY brief. If someone wants me to go into another area that I lightly touch, I'd be more than happy.

madrush":f1639 said:

Wow they all look like they are smiling at us. :lol: What neat looking eyes too! Compared to Bearded Dragons how hard are Geckgos to care for? Do they have personalities like Bearded dragons?

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taransteve":f1639 said:

My older son wants a gecko, we've been to a few breeders here in San Diego and we held a few "crested geckos".
I thought that they were kinda jumpy, absolutely adorable but not very easy to handle, is that how they are by nature?

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These two I'll answer together. First, crested geckos aren't like beardies at all, lol. But, cresties can be very fun pets. I'm actually crowded for space right now with my cresteds, but will not sacrifice Cowboy's area because I *need* him. He gives me something that the cresteds don't.

First care, VERY simple. Each crested needs a minimum of a 10 gallon tank. I strongly recommend paper towels as a substrate. You can use bed-a-beast and other extremely fine substrates but the paper towels are so easy to clean. Once you use them, you'll never go back! Juveniles need to have their cages misted 2x a day and adults 1x a day. I mist everyone 2x a day for humidity levels. Cresteds don't require special heat sources and they don't require special lighting, although I do recommend using a UVA bulb.

Feeding is very simple. I feed Clark's Diet (special powder formula) and Crickets (crix) dusted in Calcium D3. Some breeders also feed Crested Gecko Diet (T-Rex). Some feed baby food but I do not recommend this as there is no nutritional value. I feed my cresteds daily, alternating between crix one day and Clark's the next. Cresteds do not need to be fed daily and some adults won't eat each feeding. Crix shouldn't be left with cresteds for extensive periods of time, similiar to beardies.

Temperament. Lol... Each has their own. I have some of the sweetest cresties that will sit on your hand all day long! Then there are others that bounce around their cages, or try to leap from my hands when I hold them. Still another than used to bite me every single time I handled her...she's outgrown that with regular handling.

Which leads me to handling time. Cresteds aren't beardies. They do not do well to be carted around for long periods of time. Exceptions are those that have super temperaments and aren't stressed by handling. Normally, I try to keep my handling times down to about 5 minutes or so. I do have a couple that I will take out with me for demonstrations, but these are the quieter more laid back cresteds.

Brief interlude. Chahouas are the ultimate laid back gecko! You can not go wrong with one. They are extremely calm & quiet, and enjoy handling. They don't leap around either. Downside is they are harder to produce as the females don't cooperate when laying their eggs, thus they are not as available and will cost you a pretty penny. But, they are worth each of those pennies. Guaranteed!

Back to cresties. If you are looking to purchase a crested, I would look into paying the extra for overnight shipping and purchase from a breeder. Pet store cresties aren't handled, and if you find the right breeder they will give individual attention to each of their cresties. If you find the "perfect" crestie at a pet store, you can work on the flight issue by what we call hand walking, and that is simply allowing the crestie to walk from hand to hand. They may do this very quickly for a few minutes before finally settling down. Many times age of the crestie is a factor. ALWAYS handle your flighty cresties when sitting down near the floor (or similiar) so that if they take that flying leap, they aren't falling stories to the ground.

Thank you for all the kind words about Cowboy! I did fall head over heels for my "Chicken" as I affectionately call him. He reminds me sometimes of a hen taking a sun bath when he's stretched out underneath his lamp.
:mrgreen:

For those still interested in crested geckos, I am working on setting up a website and I do have available crested geckos for sale. Feel free to enquire. <grin> I'll post my website when I've got it up and running.

For those still interested in crested geckos, I am working on setting up a website and I do have available crested geckos for sale. Feel free to enquire. <grin> I'll post my website when I've got it up and running.

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WOW thanks for all the awesome info... I will definetely keep you in mind! My son thinks they're kool and likes the fact that he'll have a "different" lizard than Mom and Dad... He's almost 16 and likes repti's.... Thanks again for all the info! :wave: