Use this guide as a starting point alongside the detailed sources below. Health concerns, unexplained changes in behavior, or feeding problems belong with a reptile veterinarian.
Adult enclosure recommendation
Our recommended minimum: 2′ × 2′ × 3′ (61 × 61 × 91.5 cm), length × depth × height.
Usable internal space for 1 adult animal. One adult Mniarogekko chahoua; juvenile grow-out is temporary, and locality does not remove adult space needs.
Height is the usable internal envelope, including the space reserved for substrate and water. Check the remaining movement space and lamp clearance after installation.
Provide more usable space where possible; the opened sources do not establish a separate numerical preferred threshold.
Our minimum adopts ReptiFiles' 2′ × 2′ × 3′ (60.96 × 60.96 × 91.44 cm) adult recommendation for space between routes, retreats and measured climate zones. Smaller breeder housing is documented but is not our default. No experimental minimum or separate preferred threshold is established.
- Floor space
- Keep the full 2′ × 2′ (60.96 × 60.96 cm) footprint available, with connected routes between resources.
- Climbing space
- Broad branches, cork hollows and concealed resting places at several heights.
- Substrate
- Moisture-retaining soil or coir with leaf litter; no evidence-based fixed depth for a non-burrowing adult. Use clean paper during quarantine.
- Water
- Clean shallow water on an accessible ledge; evening droplets supplement it.
- Security and ventilation
- Secure ventilation, doors and cable ports; branches must not permit contact with heaters or unsafe lamp distances.
Meeting these dimensions alone does not establish suitability. Check the usable layout, environmental conditions, equipment clearance and the individual animal’s requirements before occupation.
References: [1]
Identity and commitment
Choose a documented captive-bred chahoua and obtain its established feeding record. This nocturnal New Caledonian gecko spends much of its time climbing and resting under cover. Plan for a long commitment, potentially beyond twenty years, including a dependable insect supply and a caretaker who can service the habitat while the gecko rests.
Space that works
Our recommended minimum for one adult is 2′ × 2′ × 3′ (61 × 61 × 91 cm), length × depth × height of usable internal space.
Use that footprint for connected climbing routes, several cork retreats and accessible food and water ledges. A taller or wider furnished habitat is preferred where practical, but evidence does not establish a separate numerical preferred size. This is our adoption of a specialist husbandry recommendation, not a scientifically validated threshold. Juvenile grow-out housing is temporary: make food reachable with cover and short routes, then expand with growth. Dimensions alone cannot provide a safe gradient, strong branches or shelter. The stated height is the internal floor-to-roof envelope, including bedding; leave connected climbing space and measured lamp clearance above it.
Conditions at occupied perches
Provide a warm upper perch at 82–85°F (28–29°C), a shaded cool zone at 72–75°F (22–24°C), and nights around 65–72°F (18–22°C). Secure a probe at the occupied warm perch and another in the cool refuge; control heating and verify the hottest reachable position. Offer daytime UVB (ultraviolet B) around UVI (ultraviolet index) 1–2 at the back with deep shade. Aim for a daily humidity cycle averaging about 60–80%, with evening misting and daytime drying. Measure away from the spray and avoid making every resting surface wet.
References: [1]
Insects are part of the weekly plan
Offer a complete commercial gecko food and regular live insects. For an established adult, alternate prepared-food and insect evenings, adjusting portions to weight and actual intake. Growing juveniles need more frequent access to prepared food. Gut-load feeders and lightly dust them with calcium under a supplement plan matched to UVB and the fortified food. Keep labels together so another caretaker does not add several vitamin D products. Do not replace complete food with plain fruit or a homemade smoothie.
Keeping it sustainable
Let a newcomer feed reliably before optional handling. Support the feet and body, keep close to a safe surface, and stop when it repeatedly tries to escape; never restrain the tail. Record comparable weights, appetite and sheds. Retained shed, weakness, an abnormal jaw or persistent weight loss needs a reptile veterinarian. Do not diagnose calcium deficiency from a tail shape and add extra powder as treatment.
Build a route map for a growing gecko
Connect the sleeping retreat to food, water and shaded perches with stable branches. Observe after dark to check that the gecko can actually use those routes. Retest attachments as it gains weight and ensure maintenance does not require taking apart its principal sleeping shelter. Soil or coir beneath leaf litter can buffer moisture; during quarantine, clean paper makes waste and feeding easier to monitor. A fixed substrate depth is not established for this arboreal species.
Where recommendations differ
The Chahoua Chamber describes a 1′ × 1′ × 18″ (30.48 × 30.48 × 45.72 cm) adult enclosure, while ReptiFiles recommends 2′ × 2′ × 3′ (60.96 × 60.96 × 91.44 cm). These are competing captive practices, not two tested welfare thresholds. We choose the larger layout for movement, separate sheltered microclimates and feeding access. Breeder room-temperature routines also differ from a measured basking-perch approach. Use the modest warm perch only when a cool refuge remains available; neither approach justifies heating the whole enclosure to the basking temperature.
Sources & further reading
Read the full recommendations and check details for your animal, equipment, and local conditions.
- ReptiFiles: Chahoua Gecko Care Sheet
- The Chahoua Chamber: Chahoua Gecko Care
- Sundown Reptiles: Chahoua Gecko Care
Original Creature Corner guide. Editorial fact and citation checks are recorded; independent veterinary review has not been performed.
