Chahoua X Crested Gecko Hybrids

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

Starting this thread to see if anyone has ever tried or is thinking about trying a chahoua x crested gecko hybrid project.

I myself am trying it for the first time this summer. It peaked my interest since I heard about it a few years ago and now I finally have a RTB proven female crested to pair with one of my male chahoua. We will see how it goes. Fingers crossed for copulation when I introduce them in a few weeks.

Does anyone have experience in this field? Successes? Failures?

 

[Little Chahoua]

Can I ask why?

 

[MelissaSR]

@TracyPD and I have chatted about it before, although they can reproduce together, pairing them up isn't always a guarantee you will get fertile eggs. I won't lie, I tried last season as I knew the chances of a lot of fertile eggs were low and I literally had a waiting list of good friends I trusted to take the kids. Every egg was infertile, the female was a seasoned breeder and laid beautiful eggs the season before that all hatched without a hitch when paired to another crested. The male chahoua is also proven (wasn't at the time). The copulation actually went well but the female crested I used was 78g, she was actually a few grams heavier than he was lol. So I would recommend if youre going to do it, being chahouas are known to not always get along when paired, be sure your crested is rather large so that she can defend herself if need be.

But what I will also add is this, don't pair them up if you don't already have well trusted homes lined up for them. Hybrids are not infertile and there are people pairing them to cresteds, and those outcrosses look like fugly crested geckos, they could easily be mistaken for poor quality cresteds. So if you're serious about it, find buyers first, or be prepared to keep them all until you can locate responsible keepers you can trust. And when I say a good friend, I mean 100% very few people I trust out there in the crested community, and those are the people who tend to buy them I have noticed. Get to known other community members to really learn what those people are about before you just rehome to the first buyer.

 

[Michael]

I'd only seen them in pictures over the years, but recently held one from Elizabeth Tomecek/Kawaii Reptiles and it was absolutely gorgeous. They are truly stunning animals in person - this one was red and orange with streaks of brown and white. I can certainly see the appeal in owning one just because they're so beautiful, but the point about long term ethics and responsibility of ownership shouldn't be overlooked.

Some examples I found with a quick google:

 

[Canvas_geckos]

I think Tony Gross produces some really stunning hybrids successfully. Me personally? I don’t want to risk one of my cresteds being eaten/killed/injured for the sake of the pet market. I really like my collection the way it is!

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

Can I ask why?

You certainly can ask why. Can I ask why not? I think the hybrids are super cool and gorgeous. I know it may not be "natural" but keeping reptiles in general is not natural.
I know some people may have mixed feelings about it and that's fine. Whether it's ethical or not ethical. If anyone has serious issues, or negative comments about it I would please ask you not to comment about it in this thread and message me directly. I would like this to be a positive and informative thread about the topic and not one's personal beliefs about the topic. Please and thank you.

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

@TracyPD and I have chatted about it before, although they can reproduce together, pairing them up isn't always a guarantee you will get fertile eggs. I won't lie, I tried last season as I knew the chances of a lot of fertile eggs were low and I literally had a waiting list of good friends I trusted to take the kids. Every egg was infertile, the female was a seasoned breeder and laid beautiful eggs the season before that all hatched without a hitch when paired to another crested. The male chahoua is also proven (wasn't at the time). The copulation actually went well but the female crested I used was 78g, she was actually a few grams heavier than he was lol. So I would recommend if youre going to do it, being chahouas are known to not always get along when paired, be sure your crested is rather large so that she can defend herself if need be.

But what I will also add is this, don't pair them up if you don't already have well trusted homes lined up for them. Hybrids are not infertile and there are people pairing them to cresteds, and those outcrosses look like fugly crested geckos, they could easily be mistaken for poor quality cresteds. So if you're serious about it, find buyers first, or be prepared to keep them all until you can locate responsible keepers you can trust. And when I say a good friend, I mean 100% very few people I trust out there in the crested community, and those are the people who tend to buy them I have noticed. Get to known other community members to really learn what those people are about before you just rehome to the first buyer.

Thank you for the advice! I wouldn't mind holding them back and watching them develop until I can find trustworthy people to rehome to. I know it's hit or miss with the eggs being fertile, just a project I wanted to try out because it would be cool to have A hybrid or 2 in my personal collection.

Are the hybrid x crested crosses really that ugly? I have only seen a couple. Is there any chance the hybrid could be crossed back to a chahoua? That might make for some questionable genetics as well if I were to sell any and people bred them to chahouas. That could only cause more confusion to the locality crisis lol. I will definitely have to keep that in mind.

 

[Little Chahoua]

You certainly can ask why. Can I ask why not? I think the hybrids are super cool and gorgeous. I know it may not be "natural" but keeping reptiles in general is not natural.
I know some people may have mixed feelings about it and that's fine. Whether it's ethical or not ethical. If anyone has serious issues, or negative comments about it I would please ask you not to comment about it in this thread and message me directly. I would like this to be a positive and informative thread about the topic and not one's personal beliefs about the topic. Please and thank you.

I Was thinking about same thing last year but I got to much mixed feeling about it. But you never know

 

[Michael]

If someone in this thread produces a hybrid, you can mark me down as a responsible new home for one!

 

[MelissaSR]

Most hybrids I see for sale are ugly IMO, only a few people out there breeding them produce those pretty red and orange ones. If you’re going to do it, think carefully on the crested you plan to use. Don’t just use any old crested, I would use something from strong red or orange lines as the people who produce the prettier ones are using beautiful animals. If you want the advice of someone who seems to only produce amazing ones, Charlie Casanova on Facebook is the one to talk to. His animals are simply breathtaking, and I really respect the work he is trying to do with them. As mentioned Elizabeth Tomecek is the other individual with top knotch hybrids. Those two people IMO lead the with the highest quality, beautiful animals. I seriously respect the both of them.

 

[Michael]

Most hybrids I see for sale are ugly IMO, only a few people out there breeding them produce those pretty red and orange ones. If you’re going to do it, think carefully on the crested you plan to use. Don’t just use any old crested, I would use something from strong red or orange lines as the people who produce the prettier ones are using beautiful animals. If you want the advice of someone who seems to only produce amazing ones, Charlie Casanova on Facebook is the one to talk to. His animals are simply breathtaking, and I really respect the work he is trying to do with them. As mentioned Elizabeth Tomecek is the other individual with top knotch hybrids. Those two people IMO lead the with the highest quality, beautiful animals. I seriously respect the both of them.

Is there any rhyme or reason to the pairings, or just putting two colorful animals together yields colorful offspring?

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

Most hybrids I see for sale are ugly IMO, only a few people out there breeding them produce those pretty red and orange ones. If you’re going to do it, think carefully on the crested you plan to use. Don’t just use any old crested, I would use something from strong red or orange lines as the people who produce the prettier ones are using beautiful animals. If you want the advice of someone who seems to only produce amazing ones, Charlie Casanova on Facebook is the one to talk to. His animals are simply breathtaking, and I really respect the work he is trying to do with them. As mentioned Elizabeth Tomecek is the other individual with top knotch hybrids. Those two people IMO lead the with the highest quality, beautiful animals. I seriously respect the both of them.

I have talked with Charlie quite a bit and got some good tips and info from him . He is the one who really inspired me to work with them, so my standards are high. I wasn't aware Elizabeth was into hybrids, but then again I don't follow her or know much about her. I will have to check out her hybrids.

The geckos I have in mind for my hybrid pair are pretty nice animals, so I am interested to see what the offspring would look like if it works out.

 

[MelissaSR]

Is there any rhyme or reason to the pairings, or just putting two colorful animals together yields colorful offspring?

When I had talked to Charlie about it he picked animals from strong color lines since thats about all the cresteds seem to bring to the table. Just like when breeding cresteds if you pair lets say two animals from unknown lineage you never know what youre going to get, but if youre focusing on color and pair them based on coming from lines that produce that color with great consistency, it seems to show up in the offspring. The less appealing ones seem to pop out from people using more drab than vibrant colors.

 

[Michael]

Has anyone crossed a Chahoua to any of the other New Caledonian species, like sarasinorum? Just curious.

 

[Little Chahoua]

The only other Caledonian species that I know that have been cross to Chahoua is the Gargoyles but what I have read is they and up molding the eggs with out success. But do any one in here know any successful incubation? Chahoua x Gargoyle

 

[Michael]

The only other Caledonian species that I know that have been cross to Chahoua is the Gargoyles but what I have read is they and up molding the eggs with out success. But do any one in here know any successful incubation? Chahoua x Gargoyle

There was a pic a few years ago of a Crested x Gargoyle hatchling. I think I have it saved on my home computer.... but nothing for Chahoua x Garg.

 

[Dragonborn Exotics (Ryan)]

I recall seeing a picture of a crestie x sarasinorum hybrid in a slide show. I think it was from a presentation that PDV and Allen Repashy at a reptile convention years ago. Pretty sure that's what it was.

I really wanted to try, and still might try the chahoua x garg, or maybe crestie x garg if that is really a thing. I have also thought about the idea of leachie x garg. That would be very difficult though. You would need a huge female garg like Large Marge 120g + and a really small male leachie, probably one that has just become sexually mature and is a Nu Ana.

 

[Ant01]

@TracyPD and I have chatted about it before, although they can reproduce together, pairing them up isn't always a guarantee you will get fertile eggs. I won't lie, I tried last season as I knew the chances of a lot of fertile eggs were low and I literally had a waiting list of good friends I trusted to take the kids. Every egg was infertile, the female was a seasoned breeder and laid beautiful eggs the season before that all hatched without a hitch when paired to another crested. The male chahoua is also proven (wasn't at the time). The copulation actually went well but the female crested I used was 78g, she was actually a few grams heavier than he was lol. So I would recommend if youre going to do it, being chahouas are known to not always get along when paired, be sure your crested is rather large so that she can defend herself if need be.

But what I will also add is this, don't pair them up if you don't already have well trusted homes lined up for them. Hybrids are not infertile and there are people pairing them to cresteds, and those outcrosses look like fugly crested geckos, they could easily be mistaken for poor quality cresteds. So if you're serious about it, find buyers first, or be prepared to keep them all until you can locate responsible keepers you can trust. And when I say a good friend, I mean 100% very few people I trust out there in the crested community, and those are the people who tend to buy them I have noticed. Get to known other community members to really learn what those people are about before you just rehome to the first buyer.

Is it possible to pair a hybrid with a chewie to get offspring that are healthy and attractive?

 

[Michael]

Is it possible to pair a hybrid with a chewie to get offspring that are healthy and attractive?

I haven't seen or heard of a combo like this, but it's an interesting thought.