Breeding for size - 70g and above?

[Michael]

Hi All,

Over the years, I've had a handful of PI chahoua who have crossed the 75g mark, and another few who have been over 85g or so. Unfortunately, I've never intentionally bred chahoua for size but the idea is crossing my mind for 2020 or 2021 because I have a female who just checked in at 86g, and I have another male who is on a similar growth track. I'd love to breed a gecko that ultimately ended up over 100g, if possible.

Has anyone here specifically bred chahoua for size, and what have your results been?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

Ive thought about it because I have a massive female (Ember) and a massive male (Applejack) but i just really love the babies that Ember has been producing with Basil and I would rather keep them together. Maybe one of their holdbacks though.

 

[Michael]

Ive thought about it because I have a massive female (Ember) and a massive male (Applejack) but i just really love the babies that Ember has been producing with Basil and I would rather keep them together. Maybe one of their holdbacks though.

How big is Ember now? Everything from that line has come out pretty big. Gormogon was huge!

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

Ember was 78g as of last week. By spring she will probably be ~84 (thats where she was last spring) and then she looses a bit over the breeding season.

 

[Evolver Reptiles]

Hi All,

Over the years, I've had a handful of PI chahoua who have crossed the 75g mark, and another few who have been over 85g or so. Unfortunately, I've never intentionally bred chahoua for size but the idea is crossing my mind for 2020 or 2021 because I have a female who just checked in at 86g, and I have another male who is on a similar growth track. I'd love to breed a gecko that ultimately ended up over 100g, if possible.

Has anyone here specifically bred chahoua for size, and what have your results been?

Thanks in advance.

Wow, what are you feeding them? What is your feeding schedule. I can't get mine over 40 grams.

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

Genetics play a pretty big role in that, if yours are mainland youre probably right on track for feeding them, mainlands typically stay under 50g.

 

[Michael]

Wow, what are you feeding them? What is your feeding schedule. I can't get mine over 40 grams.

My feeding schedule is something like: dusted crickets twice a week, fruit diet twice a week. They may get one extra or one less feeding in there, but that's about it.

Don't get me wrong... I have plenty in the ~65g range, which is about average for PI. Just a few come to mind at over 80g or so

 

[Speleomander]

How fast do your big chahoua reach those sizes (are they already extra large as yearlings)? I recently picked up a female who hit 50 grams before her first birthday and her mother is 85 grams. I'm hoping she'll be a big adult as well, but not sure if she's on track. For comparison, I hatched a female that is 38 grams at 7 months of age. I'm guessing by a year old, she'll be even larger if she maintains her current trajectory, but maybe that's not a good indicator of final size...especially since I don't know what kind of diet the first girl had before I got her and I feed mine insects regularly.

 

[LornaRedSky]

I have Nemo over 90 grams. I'd like to get a big girl to go with him and see how it goes.

 

[Michael]

How fast do your big chahoua reach those sizes (are they already extra large as yearlings)? I recently picked up a female who hit 50 grams before her first birthday and her mother is 85 grams. I'm hoping she'll be a big adult as well, but not sure if she's on track. For comparison, I hatched a female that is 38 grams at 7 months of age. I'm guessing by a year old, she'll be even larger if she maintains her current trajectory, but maybe that's not a good indicator of final size...especially since I don't know what kind of diet the first girl had before I got her and I feed mine insects regularly.

Something interesting I've noticed is that they tend to keep growing to about 5-6 years old, or even a little older. I believe that reptiles may actually grow forever, but their growth rates slow down as they age. Don't quote me on that right now - I need to dig up the source.

Anyway, I would say that 50g around the age of one is pretty normal. That gecko should continue to grow pretty well for the next year and a half, and even past that but at a slower rate at the age of 3-4 and beyond. Diet, temps and husbandry play big parts in growth too, in my opinion.

This thread has some additional information: https://chahouaforums.com/forums/threads/pine-island-growth-rates-at-1-year-old.78/

 

[Michael]

I have Nemo over 90 grams. I'd like to get a big girl to go with him and see how it goes.

Dang! Throw up some Nemo pics! I would love to see!

 

[ArborealsAnonymous]

Something interesting I've noticed is that they tend to keep growing to about 5-6 years old, or even a little older. I believe that reptiles may actually grow forever, but their growth rates slow down as they age. Don't quote me on that right now - I need to dig up the source.

Anyway, I would say that 50g around the age of one is pretty normal. That gecko should continue to grow pretty well for the next year and a half, and even past that but at a slower rate at the age of 3-4 and beyond. Diet, temps and husbandry play big parts in growth too, in my opinion.

This thread has some additional information: https://chahouaforums.com/forums/threads/pine-island-growth-rates-at-1-year-old.78/

Its called indeterminate growth pattern and is well documented in many reptiles as well as fish and some other things

 

[LornaRedSky]

Dang! Throw up some Nemo pics! I would love to see!

Took me a while to answer on this one but here is Nemo before feeding night. He's lost a few grams since last year during the summer when he clocked in at 92, probably because I feed bugs heavily over summer and don't feed them over winter. He was not fired up in the pic-younger pic on right fully fired.