Sunday, September 14, 2008

Double trouble


I have always been fascinated by reptiles. Even as a small child my favourite toys were a large cuddly crocodile (which was meant to be a draught excluder for the door but which I adopted as a best friend) and a rather long cuddly snake which was made for me. I always wanted my own pet snake or lizard but my mother was not exactly keen.

Well, recently my childhood dream came true. I visited a small shop specialising in aquariums and reptiles and got talking to the owner. I must have seemed keen as he let me handle one of the juvenile leopard geckos. She was so small and sweet that I wanted to take her home and that is exactly what I ended up doing. She is an albino leopard gecko, similar to the one in the picture above (from the web). I called her Bianca.


A couple of days later Isabel joined her from the shop. She was her tank mate there and so it made sense to me to have them both as they got on, rather than try and introduce a stranger later on. Isabel is a ghost leopard gecko which refers to the muted colouring she has which is similar to the one in the second picture which I found on the web. At the moment they are both far too shy to photograph and being nocturnal this would be a challenge anyway!

Leopard geckos are very docile creatures and are fairly undemanding in terms of care though handling live bugs to feed them takes a bit of getting used to. Good job I'm not squeamish! My two are still juveniles and only a few weeks old so are quite timid and hide a lot. They are already becoming more bold however and will calm down a lot by the time they reach adulthood. I'm looking forward to watching the m grow.

16 comments:

kenju said...

I admire their patterns and colors, but I wouldn't share my space with them.....LOL

pink dogwood said...

I am looking forward to hearing about them from you. I am very scared of most reptiles myself to ever have them as pets :)

Anonymous said...

I have geckos in my garden but they are not allowed in the house !
It will be interesting to meet yours, when they are ready to have their picture taken!

Anonymous said...

Very cool.

I had an Australian Dragon for a while which was truly an interesting experience. I wound up giving it to my niece who is a veterinary assistant.

Cheers.

Linda said...

Ah, enjoy your new critters! How is Bobkat liking them?

Moon said...

LOL @ kenju...I SECOND THAT!
Although I do like geckos, and I do look forward to you sharing pics of them when they become less shy.
My daughter would love anything reptile, but like your mom, I am not too keen to have that in my house either lol.

Melody said...

We have *dozens* of geckos which visit our balcony every night. They give me the *shudders*. I cannot sleep in the house if I know one has snuck inside. Imagine my horror the other week when I opened the car door to let Monet in on her side and one scooted in under her car seat!!!

Shephard said...

I absolutely love reptiles, and geckos are just beautiful. I love their soulful eyes. I could just look at them for hours.
Congrats! More photos!!!
~S :)

Gwynne said...

They're adorable! Your mention of bugs reminds me of our daughter...she owned a pet snake (that got lost somewhere in our house...I was not pleased!!) and a pet tarantula, but the crickets she had to feed the tarantula scared her to death. :-)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I bet they are very very dear....I am curious to know how Bob is reacting to them....
I love the little Gecko's ion mu garden, and I look forward to seeing pictures of them as they become less shy....! Congratulation Bob-Kat, on fulfilling a life-long dream.

Smiler said...

What cool new additions to the family they make! Congratulations! At one point last year I had mentioned Geckos saying that they were probably my favorite kind of lizard, but I think reading about having to feed them live bugs was a big deterrent, since unlike you, I am quite squeamish. Look forward to seeing your pics!

srp said...

My mom loves the GEICO ghecko but she would probably shy away from the real thing... no Australian accent you know.

What does the "Bobkat" think of them?

MaR said...

Happy belated bday!!! from cq's blog I know it was happy :)

JAM said...

Amazing looking. Have fun.

I'm more of a traditional dog/cat person myself. I'm sure geckos are much quieter than our four poodles.

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering what Bobcat things of them? Does he ignore them, tolerate them, or find them of great interest (possibly even as food?:D)?

Dianne said...

I'd like to know what Bob thinks too.

I have considered getting them myself. I love reptiles too! but I worry about Siren.

this will be fun! I'll live vicariously thru you :)