Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com Chahoua Gecko — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Weight loss, a shrinking tail base, or refusing all food (CGD and insects) for more than a couple of weeks
- Soft, rubbery, or bendy jaw/limbs, tremors, or a wobbly floppy gait — possible metabolic bone disease from calcium/D3 or UVB gaps
- Open-mouth breathing, wheezing, bubbling, or mucus around the nose/mouth — possible respiratory infection
- Stuck shed on toes or tail tip that constricts and darkens the tissue
- A female that looks swollen/gravid but is straining, lethargic, or off food — possible egg-binding (dystocia)
- Retained/stuck shed over the eyes, or eyes that are sunken, cloudy, or swollen
- Any wound, bite, or the tail suddenly dropped or injured — chahoua tails regenerate poorly, so injuries need prompt care
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- Low warm spot of 82-85°F (28-29°C), measured with a digital probe thermometer at the basking branch — no intense heat lamp needed 72-75°F (22-24°C) on the cool end; brief highs into the upper 80s are stressful, so keep the enclosure below the mid-80s overall A natural night drop is fine and welcome — 65-72°F (18-22°C), and as low as 65°F is acceptable
- UVB & lighting
- Low-UVB species. They can survive without UVB if given dietary D3, but modern best practice is to provide low-level UVB so they thrive: a Zoo Med T8 ReptiSun 5.0 or an Arcadia ShadeDweller Arboreal kit, aimed to give a UVI of about 1.0-2.0 at the highest basking branch. Keep the branch no closer than about 6" below a low-output lamp and provide shaded hides so the gecko can self-regulate. This is a nocturnal/crepuscular gecko, so keep UVB gentle — not the high output a diurnal day gecko wants.
- Humidity
- 60-80% average on a digital probe hygrometer, with brief dips to ~50% and spikes to 100% after misting being fine. Aim for daily wet/dry cycles rather than a constant swamp — good airflow prevents mold and respiratory trouble.
- Enclosure
- Minimum 24"L x 24"W x 36"H (60 x 60 x 90 cm) for a single adult, and bigger/taller is better — this is an arboreal climber that uses height, not floor space. A bioactive, heavily planted setup with lots of branches and cork suits them beautifully.
- Substrate
- A moisture-retentive, bioactive-friendly substrate: Zoo Med ReptiSoil, Eco Earth (coconut fiber), or Exo Terra Plantation Soil; a common DIY blend is about 60% organic topsoil to 40% coconut fiber. A drainage layer and live plants/leaf litter help hold humidity in a taller enclosure.
- Diet
- Omnivore. Base the diet on a complete powdered gecko/crested-gecko diet (CGD) — brands like Pangea, Repashy, Black Panther Zoological, Zoo Med, or Lugarti — mixed with water, PLUS regular live insects. Chahoua want and eat noticeably more insect prey than crested or gargoyle geckos. Feeders: appropriately sized crickets, dubia/discoid/red-head roaches, and gut-loaded locusts. Rough schedule: juveniles (0-12 mo) get CGD daily with insects every other day (1-2x/week); adults (>12 mo) get CGD every 2-3 days with insects about 1-2x/week.
- Supplements
- Gut-load feeder insects 2-3 days before offering, then lightly dust them with a calcium/multivitamin supplement — e.g. Repashy SuperCal NoD, or a calcium powder such as Arcadia CalciumPro Mg / Miner-All. A quality CGD already carries much of the vitamin/mineral load, so keep insect dusting light rather than heavy.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?