nasanerd09
New Member
- Messages
- 2
Hi everyone! I feel like I'm going to be such an oddball around here, but I'm excited to learn lots because I've come to adore geckos so much.
So my little guy (or girl maybe, I haven't been able to sex it) is a Mediterranean House Gecko I've had since about 2015. He's very cute, but so skittish (and fast...) so I'm only ever able to admire him from outside the tank. The story of how I ended up with him is a bit funny- so my younger sisters come running inside to tell me there was a baby gecko in our (drained) pool, and that the poor thing was missing a leg and part of its tail and it was just a baby and we had to save it. Being the conservationist at heart that I am, I told them that it was better to leave it alone, surely it would be fine. Spoiler alert, they did not in fact leave it alone, and brought it inside for me to see. Being confident that the gecko would in fact be fine on its own, I struck them a deal. If we could place it on the wall and it could run away to hiding then we would let it go, and otherwise if it proved it needed help we'd figure out how to keep it properly.
He fell off the wall. Twice. (I didn't place him very high, it was barely a fall). Accepting defeat, I put him in a ventilated box and started googling how to take care of a gecko. Since he's not exactly a common pet species I kinda went off of leopard geckos as a base and modified from there (for the record, based on what I've found care is a little closer to crested geckos), but it's largely been trial and error trying to get everything just right. His name is Stumpy, and he's definitely figured out the climbing thing by now!
I recently upgraded his tank to a bioactive enclosure, and although I enjoy the challenge (and getting to watch all the other living things in the tank) I've also been hyperaware of every single little thing he does because I'm so nervous he won't adjust well. Aside from the fact that he was out of his usual hide all day today (nocturnal, so while seeing him during the day isn't unusual seeing him all day is), he seems to be just fine. Pretty sure he ate almost all the adult isopods though, dangit.
If anyone else here has a house gecko like mine I'd sure appreciate some advice! I do love all geckos though, when Stumpy inevitably passes or when I have space for a second gecko (whichever comes first) I would love to get a crestie!
PS- I feel I should clarify that I don't necessarily agree with keeping wild caught reptiles as pets, but
1. Stumpy might have survived, but he probably did need the extra protection until he figured out how to climb with 3 feet, and
2. they're not native to my area anyways, they're invasive (though only really live in urban areas) so it wouldn't be much of an impact on the ecosystem. Nevertheless, I don't plan on keeping another one in the future.
So my little guy (or girl maybe, I haven't been able to sex it) is a Mediterranean House Gecko I've had since about 2015. He's very cute, but so skittish (and fast...) so I'm only ever able to admire him from outside the tank. The story of how I ended up with him is a bit funny- so my younger sisters come running inside to tell me there was a baby gecko in our (drained) pool, and that the poor thing was missing a leg and part of its tail and it was just a baby and we had to save it. Being the conservationist at heart that I am, I told them that it was better to leave it alone, surely it would be fine. Spoiler alert, they did not in fact leave it alone, and brought it inside for me to see. Being confident that the gecko would in fact be fine on its own, I struck them a deal. If we could place it on the wall and it could run away to hiding then we would let it go, and otherwise if it proved it needed help we'd figure out how to keep it properly.
He fell off the wall. Twice. (I didn't place him very high, it was barely a fall). Accepting defeat, I put him in a ventilated box and started googling how to take care of a gecko. Since he's not exactly a common pet species I kinda went off of leopard geckos as a base and modified from there (for the record, based on what I've found care is a little closer to crested geckos), but it's largely been trial and error trying to get everything just right. His name is Stumpy, and he's definitely figured out the climbing thing by now!
I recently upgraded his tank to a bioactive enclosure, and although I enjoy the challenge (and getting to watch all the other living things in the tank) I've also been hyperaware of every single little thing he does because I'm so nervous he won't adjust well. Aside from the fact that he was out of his usual hide all day today (nocturnal, so while seeing him during the day isn't unusual seeing him all day is), he seems to be just fine. Pretty sure he ate almost all the adult isopods though, dangit.
If anyone else here has a house gecko like mine I'd sure appreciate some advice! I do love all geckos though, when Stumpy inevitably passes or when I have space for a second gecko (whichever comes first) I would love to get a crestie!
PS- I feel I should clarify that I don't necessarily agree with keeping wild caught reptiles as pets, but
1. Stumpy might have survived, but he probably did need the extra protection until he figured out how to climb with 3 feet, and
2. they're not native to my area anyways, they're invasive (though only really live in urban areas) so it wouldn't be much of an impact on the ecosystem. Nevertheless, I don't plan on keeping another one in the future.
