Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Phil, RMCADGUY, went back to school and sold his precious yearling chucks back to the Dokais. I was incredibly lucky to have been in contact with them when they had just decided to part with them. Some of you will remember gorgeous Oliver!

Here is Oliver's brother, my beautiful huge Big Boy, measuring 16 inches at only 15 months old!

This is his favorite spot. He is a total love bug!

Xande also came to live with us, but she is still a little shy. I am hoping that living with Tehya will bring her out more. Phil, your kids are in very good hands!

Both of your boys are beautiful. Of course I remember Oliver and if I ever come for a visit I'm chuck napping him

Well, Kathy, if he gets as big as his brother your going to need a chuckwagon! LOL

She threatens to chucknap Waneta, too!

Kathy, you know if you do that, your grocery bill will triple! Waneta's pet name is Piglet, and those boys spend all day eating and head bobbing at each other!

They are beautiful! Are they ok head bobbing at each other?
Reason I ask is I seperated my babies because one was bobbing at the other,sometimes would chase the other away from food.
Both got to eat and bask but I didnt know what to do.
Now that they are seperate the non dominant one isnt doing as good as when she was picked on.....weird.
I kinda think I should put them back together.
But yours do Ok bobbing at each other?

I don't keep my males together, but they can see each other. Males will fight eventually if you keep them together. I think that keeping females together is fine, but I would hesitate to keep males together or even males and females together until they are at least breeding age.

Do you know what sex they are? Are they clutch mates? Are they the same age?

They are about 2 months old and growing.
They are clutchmates,from doug dix at deer farms. He told me he was pretty sure they were male and female.
They were the first calico chucks bred indoors.

Its just wierd that the "female" who was the one being picked on seemed to do better when she was with him.(assuming they really are male/female)
She still eats but ate much more when they were together.
She is so tame also,she will come to my hand and climb right up on it.
He is more flighty he will eat from my hand but runs more.He actually bit me today,during feeding but I am not sure if he thought finger was food,cause it didnt look aggressive.

I actually have a calico, hybrid Varius/hispidus female from a different person, and I have found that I cannot keep her with anybody. She is by herself because she became very aggressive, charging, head bobbing, chasing, etc.. She slowed down on her eating for a week or two, but eats fine now.

Hopefully someone with more experience with the two species or the hybrids will comment, but I know that the aggression from this girl got worse and worse, so she can't be in with others. I also have a friend who had to separate her male hybrid from her other chucks.

I would try to keep the male as tame as possible. Try sliding your hand under him to pick him up so that he gets the idea that your hand is the route to out time.

Is she aggressive with you too,or just the other chucks?
I talked with both Doug and A well respected reptile vet/chuck breeder here in phoenix.
Both said if I wanted to seperate them to do so,but didnt think I needed to.The vet said he sees this with his chucks but they develop a hierarchy and they will be fine.
Even so I went with my gut feeling at the time and seperated them.Still not sure if it was right move.

The female for sure knows hand=way out.Im just afraid to take them out since they are so small,I am afraid they will get under something out of my reach.
But I will work with the male ,food seems to do the trick

Here is a picture of them when they were still together,"female" is on right propped up.

Ah, your young Chucks need a child psychologist! LOL I have never kept Calicos before, but have a perfectly tame and mellow Hispidus who will throttle any other Chuck regardless of sex that is in the vicinity. He charges the glass when I hold them up to it and gapes and thrashes his tail. He is like a tatal split personality.

My solution with Aters is to put more Chucks into the mix! If there are four or five in the same cage, the aggressor usually gives up the chasing--too much work~LOL! However, lacking a bumper crop of other Calicos, I would probably separate them. That way, she won't be traumatized and will remain friendly. She'll begin eating more, as time goes on. It is too bad he is a meany, because Chucks are really social and enjoy sitting on each other and competing for food. The sight of one eating stimulates the others, but I understand that the Varius side of the male may be coming out, and they are often very aggressive with each other. Good luck!

Yea that boy needs a shrink bad.I just have a feeling hes gonna be a grumpy guy ,hopefully I am wrong because the last thing I want is a lizard who hates me and wants to take my fingers off.

I'll make sure to bring an extra large trench coat to hide both of the chucks in I don't mind the big feed bills as long as I don't add the cost together to find out the total I spend per month. If my husband ever found out how much I spent on greens he would have a fit. lol

Best wishes Donna with the new Chucks/family members. VERY pretty !

NICE PICS !
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PHEve / Eve

Nick told me you would be getting those two. I am very glad to see they went to a competent and loving home. It was a very hard decision, but school must come first. Please post as many pics as you can so I can keep an eye on them as they grow!

Phil