Hi readers,
My brother and his wife went on holiday for two weeks and they asked me to look after their rabbits and leopard spotted geckos. Way back in college I did a two year animal care course and I was lucky that the college I went to had an 'Exotic animal room' where there was snakes, tarantula, america bull frog and some other things. I didn't have much of a fear of anything before I started and doing the course give me a greater understanding of these animals too.
I can't remember when my brother got these two geckos but I know he was still living at home when they did as I have memories of them being in his bedroom on the desk. I though, have't seen the geckos that much since he moved out around maybe five or six years ago. When they've been on holiday someone else looks after them but this time they asked me and I thought it would be a nice change.
Rabbits are easy to looked after and I've had many in my childhood and teenage years, so there's no problems there. Geckos on the other hand, surprisingly, need a lot of looking after!
Firstly, there is a bit of a smell within the geckos' cage which can take sometime to get use to. Staying on top of cleaning them can help this.
Second, is that geckos eat live food. My brother has these two on large brown crickets and mealworms. The worms are fine but the crickets are super annoying! I had to move them out of my bedroom as that's the only place for the geckos to stay and put the crickets in my old room as I couldn't cope with the sound of them scuttling around in the plastic box! Also, the chirping does bug me, especially at night! I've sort of got use to this now, I just hope that there's not some crickets loose in my room as that won't be fun at all!
The geckos need feeding every other evening as they are nocturnal and they get about 6 crickets each, which have to be dusted in calcium power. In the morning, any remaining crickets have to come out otherwise they bite the geckos!
I am a rubbish cricket catcher! The best way I found was a cup and paper method but crickets are fast, they jump and are good at hiding! So, it's become a big task in the morning to try and capture them all and most of the time I don't succeeded.
Geckos do love the mealworms but they are all fat and nothing else, so they only get mealworms when they've not really eaten the crickets or as a treat.
They don't seem picky eaters but there are times like when they are stressed or shedding when they won't eat. So, I try and reduce the number of crickets when I think it's needed.
Speaking shedding; adults shed around once or twice a month and the geckos eat their shedding skin which is why before and after they don't eat or don't eat as much as they normally do. Geckos need a moist box and some special shedding spray to add them in making sure they get all their skin off. Sometimes, they need a human to get gets bits off their toes and tail.
I was't thrilled on this idea of using tweezers to peel dead skin off a gecko! But it wasn't that bad and the spray really helps in doing this. If I don't make sure all the dead skin is off, the blood supple to that area can be lost and the gecko can loose toes or tail tips! This has actually happen with these geckos as their last owner before my brother came to have them didn't look after them correctly.
Both geckos are friendly and don't mind being picked up. However, I've found that the one photoed above which is the darker or less spotted one, is much more friendly and often wants to be out of the tank and exploring.
Sometimes, she'll come to the door and stare out or try to climb up to show she wants out! Then I let her out for a bit of a walk around the desk but nowhere else as I don't want to explain to my brother that she's gone missing.
Afterwards, she'll climb back in again and go to get warm on the heat pad.
It's been interesting and fun pet sitting the geckos. I've gotten use to them now and it'll feel weird when my brother comes to pick them up later tonight. I'll be glad to get rid of the crickets though! For me, geckos are not a pet I'd like to keep as they do need lots of looking after and I'd rather have a animal that was soft, fluffy and cuddly!
Below, are a few more photos I took. I need to end this post now as I've got a story to write for my other blog. So, until next time!
(Photos all my own).
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